Wise Muslim, My Hopeful Friend

Some good people moved in and out of my life.  Hard to find them when you don’t even remember their names.  I remember “Emmy”, an Iranian-American videographer and artist, with whom I created many a television commercial.  An excellent man I haven’t heard hide nor hair in decades.  He was a good man.  An honest man I trusted.  A wise man.  This from 1991.  – JDW

As difficult as it is to communicate a single thought, it seems impossible to explain adequately the obstacles facing the human race.

Environmental devastation is global – water we can’t drink, air we can’t breath, fields we can’t till. In our society, children go to bed hungry, schools graduate illiterates, the mentally ill wander our streets aimlessly, the homeless are helpless to help themselves. We medicate ourselves with drugs, tobacco & alcohol, television.

As planet Earth slowly fades, as our country fails to provide for its citizens, many of us, individually, fall short of fulfilling our potential. As examples, our leaders offer little hope.

We created these problems of today, because we didn’t take care of them yesterday. There is no one to blame but ourselves; we’re the people who haven’t demanded solutions. As citizens in a democracy, we must speak out, we must voice our opinions. Most of us haven’t. It’s time to be loud.

As a child living in a suppressed society, in a big family struggling to survive, I dreamed of coming to America. I dreamed of a land of opportunity and liberty and justice for all. As a young man I left my homeland with $50 in my pocket and determination in my heart. Nothing could stop me. Not the borders, not the oceans, not the distance. Nothing. I traveled through 40 countries before I reached my dream land, America.

Here I am, not because of a little dream, but a big dream. I had a goal, and the motivation & determination to make my dream come true. We need that same drive as a nation. The U.S.A. is a truly remarkable country with a vast beautiful land, plenty of resources, energy, science and technology. But….

The people are asleep. They sleep in the sense of not knowing what they have or what they can do with what they have. The whole world looks to us as a leader who could change the path of humanity for the better, for generations to come. And we sleep with no clarity of purpose, going on headed in the wrong direction. We sleep.

I stepped on American soil on July 19, 1969, the same day an American first stepped on the moon. I felt a kinship with that astronaut for, like him, I had traveled far in search of a dream. I was proud to be an American that day; I remain proud to this day. Over two decades in the U.S.A., I have become more convinced than ever: this is the greatest country in the world.

Not as great as it could be.

We must be clear about our principles. We must show we are worthy of world leadership by caring for all the basic needs of all of our citizens. Only then can we begin the process of leading the world toward prosperity.

From the dawn of man, humans have struggled to provide for their basic needs. That has been our common goal. When we provide for those needs, only then we can explore our desires and find purpose in life. That is our COMMON GOAL, ensuring that everyone has his most common requirements satisfied.

Is it not strange the most advanced nation on earth continues to struggle to feed, house and clothe millions of its citizens as we enter the 21st century? Isn’t this a clue something is out of harmony?

Our failures tell me we lack a sense of caring for our fellow man. We aren’t interested in finding solutions to our problems. We’re asleep at the wheel of fortune.

What is wrong with having a decent life and living in peace & harmony without headaches, so we can have time to have dreams and make dreams come true? Shouldn’t that be the goal of us all?

If you think a decent life for everybody is an unrealistic goal, if you doubt that loving one’s fellow man involves caring for him, trusting him, respecting him… stop reading. My words are wasted on you. You don’t know what I’m talking about.

It should be obvious to those who do know…if we take care of the basic needs of all of our citizens, we can as a nation be a land of dreams-come-true.

But how can you feel healthy, when more than 35 million of your countrymen don’t receive adequate medical care? How can you feel educated when millions are unable to read? How can you take pride in your home when so many others don’t have shelter? How can you enjoy a meal when so many children go to bed hungry every night? How can you enjoy your work when so many others can’t find employment at a fair salary?

How can you understand what’s happening all around when you show such little understanding? Who are we, where are we, where are we going? It seems about time we answered these questions.

The government doesn’t deserve all of the blame, especially when so many of us don’t exercise our rights. Celebrating the Fourth of July every year doesn’t make you a good American any more than going to church every Sunday makes you a good Christian. There’s more to being a patriot than waving the flag.

As a nation, we appear to take so much for granted we don’t truly appreciate our bounty. It’s like building a bridge. One generation knows there’s the need for a bridge across the river, so they build one. The next generation remembers the bridge wasn’t always there, so they are grateful for its construction. Later generations use the bridge as if it always existed. They can’t imagine a time without it.

Someday soon, new bridges will be needed to replace the old, and I wonder how we will build them.

While Europe unites, and Japan grows, and democracy becomes a way of life for tens of millions of our brothers & sisters around the globe, we take the bridges for granted. We’re lulled to sleep by politicians who would rather fight abroad than heal at home.

What happens to us after we’ve depleted our energy and resources fighting for cheaper oil? What happens after we dedicate our science to machines of hurting rather than to instruments of healing? What happens to us after we send our youth to the battlefield instead of college? What happens to us?

Will we sleep as other nations prosper, while other peoples build and grow stronger? What will we do when we find ourselves alone?

Will we go to war with the rest of the world?

Who would be “the good guy” then?

I am just a humble citizen, Iranian by birth, American by choice, but I know this much….

All of us were born without being asked. Suddenly, here we are, in the middle of the unknown, surrounded by contradictions, conflicts and the question of survival. It is our mission in this life to determine who we are, what we are doing and where we are going.

What we have today is the result of decisions made by those who came before us. It’s the sum total of man’s history. The present is a part of that past, and it’s our duty to see that our deeds today lay the groundwork for a better tomorrow.

We, the people, as individuals, created homes and towns and cities and countries and societies to make survival easier. We created these “organisms” so that we could more easily satisfy our basic needs. Some had the desire and anxiety to possess more than they actually needed, so they sought power. With that power came greed.

Competition for power continues. That’s what war is. Yet, it seems to me, the truly powerful nation is one which cares for its citizens, ensuring ALL have their basic needs answered.

True power begins at home. Not in the jungles of Southeast Asia, not in the deserts of the Mid-East. True power begins in the ghettos of our cities and on the rural backroads. In the fight against disease and illiteracy and homelessness and hunger.

True power is exercised by leaders, not by politicians.

True power is an aware, involved, active citizenry. True power is a people awake.

I believe we must start thinking in a new way. We must begin to understand the essential values of life are LOVE, RESPECT, and TRUST. We must realize these tenets are more powerful than any bomb. We must begin to believe love, respect and trust are pragmatic, practical, and ultimately effective means by which to ensure the continued success of our country.  Not to mention the continued survival of our species on this planet.

War isn’t going to save us. Because war isn’t the answer to the problems which face us. Love, respect, and trust are.

I realize some of you may feel this is unrealistic “pie-in-the-sky” thinking. History is full of bloodshed. Mankind has always fought among itself. Always. That doesn’t make it right, does it?

No. And where has all that spilt blood left us? Spilling blood again. That’s hardly the type of progress we need.

I have hope for a better tomorrow. From the dawn of humanity when the first baby drew his first breath, nothing has helped man except for that kernel of hope tomorrow will bring a better day.

I have hope the peace makers will rule. I have hope the people will awaken from their slumber; that they will take an active role in the way this society is managed and how our resources are spent.

I have hope we can truly set an example for the rest of the world to follow. I have hope as a nation we begin to live according to those beliefs we profess to have.

I have hope our children will be fed, our homeless housed, our ignorant educated, our sick cured. I have hope every one of us will have his basic needs met.

This is the hope that keeps me going. That someday, hopefully tomorrow, we can agree our common goal should be a new world order based on love, respect, and trust.

Each individual one of us can make a difference. And we cannot wait until tomorrow to begin. The whole world is watching us.

Wake up.