BUSINESS, POLITICS, AND CREATIVE THINKING

(an occult tribute to the Magahaga)

Perceptions of the Guamanian climate for innovation

One of the greatest threats to the survival of the George Bush & family political
philosophy is the neglect of the usual universal need to survive and, if possible,
one might suppose, that the present suppression of individual thought will
actually, eventually, spur creative endeavor.
In an odd way it is not unlike the idea that if you want to teach someone not to
put their hand in the fire,…you put their hand in the fire.
Some parents are disappointed when their children exhibit the independence of
thought and behavior they had, in some way or other, taught them was required for
their survival. For some obedience is the key to survival, a trade-off for being
left alone to secretly do what is desired, such as hiding pornographic magazines
beneath the mattress.
Recently Madeleine Zeien Bordallo who has, in one way or another, been guiding the
affective and intellectual developments of the Chamorro nation for a half century,
expressed shock when a group of Island mothers told her they wanted a deciding
voice in the future of their children and grandchildren and they seriously
questioned the wisdom of a massive military buildup on Guam that represented
approximately a 10% increase in the population of a group that is distinctly
different in their cultural orientation. Military people do not think, nor act,
the same way that island people do. When islanders wish to explore an erotic lead
they approach the matter in a variety of ways. At Anderson Air Force base that
culture enlists the services of the Sergeant who is the bar tender at the
Officer’s Club bar to function as a “john”.
Rather than being shocked that Guamanian mother’s desire to effectively express
their interest in securing a safe future for their children Madeleine should have
been overjoyed that such independence of action, after hundreds of years of alien
domination had finally taken root. Of course, mistakes can be made, but alert
individuals alter their behaviors when frustrated and act accordingly, but, if the
choice of individual decision making is withdrawn, and the population subjected
into obedience one gets a different set of responses…and those responses are
generally handled by a set of procrustean measures ill-suited for the development
of individual responsibility….a goal the United States Educational system has been
promulgating for several generations now. So, we are in conflict.
It must be recognized, however, that such independence of thought and action would
deprive Madeleine of her theoretical position as the representative in Washington,
D.C. of the people of Guam. The way that position functions, in reality, makes it
theoretical for the direction of the representation is not from the people to
Washington, but from Washington to the people , therefore, Madeleine does not
represent Guam, she represents Washington and, as Washington’s representative she
is expected to “make straight the coming of the Lord”.
After several hundred years of alien subjection one might be surprised to see a
successful grass roots movement to deter the proposed military buildup. Stateside
there are groups of people very much concerned about the ultimate significance of
an 11 million influx of Spanish speaking illegal aliens into the United States and
how that increase is likely to affect the larger society. Cionsider,if the
population of the United States is currently 300,000,000 an increase in population
comparable to that which the military proposes for Guam would be not 11 million,
but 30 million non-English speaking aliens.
Samuel Huntington, of Harvard, is right when he predicts a clash of cultures and
Manuel de la Gaza, of Columbia, knows it and probably wants it. As a matter of
fact initial probings in that direction were in evidence when about thirty years
ago both Princess Anne and Prince Charles separately made visits to the United
States and shortly thereafter (in Royal time about a decade,) their Majesties Juan
Carlos and Sophia of Spain also visited and both sets of royals stirred the
romantic imaginations of their once-upon-a-time ago compatriots.
For those who would make the judgment from my name that I am thinking
ethnocentrically I shall have to indicate now that I have 400 hundred years of
Spanish blood in my veins and am boyishly interested in the phenomenon of having
two notable Spanish as members of my family. Thomas Aquinas and Rodrigo Dias de
Vivar, “El Cid”. Of course, their direct influence on my life is probably minimal.

One of the more disturbing developments in Guam was the report of the Standard
Achievement Test scores for 2006 where it appeared as though the longer one stayed
in the schools of Guam the dumber one got.
While that was a dramatic conclusion of considerable interest I couldn’t quite
believe it and reconsidered the implications of that report. One of the
hypothesis emerging from this startling information was that the statistics did
not represent what the actual intellectual achievements of the group were, but, on
the contrary, signaled the rejection of the values those scores represented…
somewhat like creating an effigy of someone whom one fears and burning it to
symbolically get rid of their influence over your life.
If that hypothesis is correct then what we may have here is one form of creative
response to getting your hand burned by a hot flame. If you don’t like something,
avoid it, or, better yet, reverse the relationship to the fire which is what the
Magahaga women in Guam were doing much to the surprise of Madeleine Zeien Bordallo
whom I know, from personal experience, likes to have things her way and doesn’t
mind who, or what, may get hurt along the way in achieving that purpose. Others,
with greater social sensibilities, do not possess that brand of chutzpa.
According to report there are two major sources of income for the island of Guam.
They are Japanese tourism and the economic development generated by the presence
of the American Military. The dangers of the second of these has been explored,
the dangers of the first have not. I have often wondered why no one seems to be
concerned about the high concentrations of human waste being dumped into the
environment of our food supply as what happens when a tourist ship docks in the
harbor. That is a hidden danger. Less hidden is the socially disruptive presence
of thousands of tourists descending on a single community. The economic advantages
do not compensate the society for its loss of integrity when the fabric of its
cohesiveness is torn.
I admit that I am somewhat schizophrenic when it comes to deciding which I
prefer, the comfortable status quo when I know what is supposed to happen next or
the adrenalin producing fascination with the unknown. It can be something like the
interesting adventure of consuming a meal produced by a master chef where the
sequence and variety of tastes is so (excuse the pun) consuming that it vanquishes
business, political, religious and aesthetic discourse and the only descriptive
sounds of sensual pleasure are “ahh”,” hhmmm”.” oooh” and “yummy” . A beautiful
example of that experience is caught on film in “Babette’s Feast”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OptBJANzdic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e9tJrHpU80
Grant, then, that change, development, and evolution are requirements for survival
where we give up eating each other and having sex with siblings because the
practice tends to make us subject to diseases it only remains for us to choose the
most desirable direction for change and that would seem to be a situation in which
the range of choices is sufficiently great to allow us to see differences in
potential outcome. That is accomplished by not merely allowing, but rewarding the
kind of mind-wandering (a characteristic of the creative thinker) that sometimes
distinguishes the social odd-ball . Creative effort does often require solitude if
only because in the company of others one’s own divergent thinking gets shoved
aside by the energetic “togetherness” so prized by would be democratic societies.
The survival of the lonely is problematic.
The frightening aspects of social isolation can be so disruptive of organization
that a divergent mind having been thwarted in his legitimate experimentation and
thrown out, as it were, from the well-behaving group, may well, join, in protest,
a group not so well-behaving and they, as a group, prey upon the legitimate
desires of the conventional mass population to function as a society. This is a
form of social cancer. It is often encouraged, but not necessarily intentionally
so, by the fearful apprehension of difference and of change where the response to
difference is repression.
In the field of what passes for education, but is really merely training, it is
what the term STANDARD ACHIEVEMENT TESTS implies…that is, a standard achievement,
NOT outstanding, but “most common”, not different, unusual or contributory, but
standard. It is, regrettably, something like the phrase “No child left behind”
which seems to suggest that every child will pass and be like every other, but the
phrase fails to clarify that the real result is that no one gets ahead because
none will be left behind. If the program really wanted to achieve a form of
excellence it would not have overlooked the fact that there are differences in eye
iris, voice patterns and fingerprints , but these days these differences are used
mainly as a controlling tool to make sure that everyone behaves the way someone
“out there” wants them to behave, or not behave as the case may be.
The wiser move would be to guide the process of decision making so that it does
not violate the principle of individual universal freedom…expressed sometimes by
the phrase “I’ll watch you grow and you watch me grow”.
As the reader knows full well, even Guam is not immune to anti-social
developments. My contention is that a society that identifies, guides and assists
those among them, perhaps more perceptive than the majority, in matters community
concern they may be better prepared for the identification and implementation of
workable solutions to whatever problems arise.
Without the moral practice of identifying and implementing solutions to problems
the likelihood of beneficially being able to act on your own is diminished.
Frustrating the creative urge, the urge to investigate is not the way to go The
investigative curiosity of an individual seems endless and while there are risks
and dangers involved those efforts that have proved successful account for all of
those developments that have proved beneficial and productive of social
contentment. This “contentment”, however, is not the final goal, it is merely
a momentary plateau from which, hopefully, other advances might be made by other
inventive minds. What is wrong about responding with a “No”, out of a spirit of
authoritative rejection, is that it discredits invention and difference. It
rejects experience.
In this regard Major General David Bice’s ununiformed appearance at the meeting
with Madelein and the magahaga was insufficient to allay the perception,( on the
part of a citizen from a country 10,000 miles away,) that this group of mothers
was being fed empty assurances and Madeleine’s assurances were to no avail
whatever. Everyone there knew from experience that is was merely rhetoric.
Madeleine’s insistence that she is reviewing every day all the events on Guam and
in Washington that affect Guam as though all that was ever needed was her
attention and her attention alone, and all anyone needed to do was to inform her
office and she would attend to the matter as though others were of no real
consequence. How comforting to be assured that our active participation was
superfluous. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3e1jM0fKrE
In the face of other evidences of military discipline in Iraq Major General Bice’s
reassurances of proper behavior are not reassuring.
After the event pictured here, this military person, England, I believe, by
name, was returned to the United States and a concerted effort made to create her
a heroine for her behavior abroad. Fortunately, it did not take off, but Monica
Lewinsky made it on to the lecture circuit I suppose because some people may have
been stimulated looking at the mouth that had pleasured a president.
We are, it would seem, at a point in our development where it is impossible, and
unwise, to believe what we are told by those who would be our leaders and are now
thrown back upon our personal resources and if the behavior of the Magahaga group
is any indication I am considerably relieved to know that they exist, at least on
Guam if nowhere else.
Paul Henrickson, Ph.D.,
Malta, February 2008
www.tcp.com.mt