The application of an ethical mindset (beyond coaching)

So a couple weeks ago, I went to a Marine Corps workshop on leadership.  I wrote about the basics of it for Volleyballmag.com.

This blog is the first in quite a while that isn’t really about coaching–even though it was provoked by it.  This is about politics and also was influenced by an article at The Atlantic.  You should read it–but one of the conclusions is important.  The two major parties do not look at the Constitution in similar fashion.  Since 1992 (the start of the destruction of the GOP by Newt Gingrich), Republicans refer back primarily to the Republic’s early years–basically before the Missouri Compromise.  Democrats?  Believe it or not, their references almost all initiate from within the Republican Party.  The catch?  Their references all come from the Radical Republican era of 1865–1876.

Anyways, all this percolated in my brain.  Please remember, too, I’m a registered Republican.  Yes, I’m an old white guy.  The thing is–somewhere along the way, the GOP veered away from the ideals that attracted me to it long ago in my youth to become the monstrosity it is today.  As it stands, the GOP will go the way of the Whigs before the end of this century.  Deservedly.  Its current stance on trade, immigration, education, voting rights–all are on the wrong side of history and are reversed from the party’s policies of its first 130+ years of existence.

Anyways, what’s this got to do with the Marines?  Yeah.  A big part of the workshop was the constant emphasis on ethics and personal integrity–that those are qualities that separate a Marine officer from others.  If a Marine officer holds himself accountable to a higher standard, he will hold his men likewise, thus insuring that the Marines remain an elite military force.

One thing was mentioned by three different officers in three different seminars/lectures: Under no circumstance should a Marine officer trade short-term gain at the expense of his/the Corps’ long term, core values.  To improve a sports team, they recommended using that as a framework.  I was glad to hear that–it was re-affirming as I’ve put ethics and morality ahead of winning on the scoreboard since I became a coach.  Still, in the two weeks after getting back, I’ve been ‘practicing’ with ethics, applying that statement to any situation I could.

I realized that starting with Newt Gingrich’s takeover of the Republican Party, the GOP has done *exactly* what the Marines say not to do–they’ve traded short-term gain at the expense of long-term values.  Has it worked?  Short-term…absolutely.  Senate Republicans are appointing judges left and right, a “Republican” is president, Republicans govern a majority of states.  But what has the price been?

• Alienation of a large majority of non-whites

• Alienation of non-fundamentalist Christians

• Hypocrisy–fundamentalists declaring Trump to be a true Christian for instance

• rollbacks on free trade agreements

• reducing environmental protection (go and look–the EPA is Nixon’s, Bush II created the first ocean ‘preserve’ in the US, the national park system–Republican…heck, conservative and conservation…same basic word)

• allies’ loss of confidence in American values

• the tearing up of international agreements–including some negotiated by Republicans

It would be easy to go further.  Every one of these, though, has helped win elections.  But to what end?  Where has the gain been for the medium or long term?  Is the health care system getting better?  What about the national debt which will *double* in the next decade to nearly $30 trillion? (about $85,000/American in 2030 or about $200,000/worker)

Long-term, the GOP needs to find its principles and act on those.  I dare you to tell me what Republican principles are.  The closest you’ll find is their declaration upon Obama’s inauguration that “We will oppose any legislation he proposes.”…but that’s not really ‘principle’, is it?

What needs to be considered long-term?

1. Climate change

2. The rise of China

3. World demographics–from Russia’s shrinking population/economy to the continuing untapped potential of India and all of sub-Saharan Africa

4. The interplay of science-ethics-religion–just because science CAN do something, SHOULD science do it?

5. International agreements regarding cyber-conflict…needed to prevent the possibility of nuclear war based on hacking/tampering

6. the national debt

So after all this rambling–think about your actual ethics and values.  Do you value the long-term?  (We have a generation that has generally proven to think ONLY in the short-term…everyone after the Boomers MUST do better).  How do we take your values, my values, and work to fix those problems, to make sure the long-term is squared away?  It’s not easy.  I know that.

It leaves me with a thought from Ronald Reagan and his philosophy of politics–something also forgotten by today’s “Republicans”.  Reagan understood there was not going to be agreement on things like abortion, that all that issue did was stir up fanatics on both extremes (which it has…).  So–why don’t we ignore the issues where we know there is no room for agreement, leave them alone, and focus on what we can get done?

His attitude sums up Republicans (and Democrats really) through most of the 20th century.  We need to get back to that.  Now.