Building trust

Submitted by Lindsay
Melbourne Australia!

A team is not a group of people who work together,
 it is a group of people who trust each other. - Simon Sinek

(5/2021) Joe Biden has been president for just over four months, possibly the most productive four months in American history, and has already produced a nation that is being restored to its true greatness. The cheers have been heard around the free world, the relaxation of tension a collective sigh of relief. The most electrifying example of this is his condemnation of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, his moral and ethical standards revealing the values of a true statesman, things that would not have happened had Trump still been there.

We all know that his electoral victory was the result of rebellion, the spilling over of the anger and disillusionment of ordinary people who realised they had been sold the dreams of an egomaniacal tyrant, who had his own interests as first priority. Now things are starting to be repaired, for the reality to emerge from the smoke, for cooperation to become the way of the future.

And there’s very little the GOP can do about it. Twelve years ago the Tea Party were in full swing; attacking Obama, healthcare, calling for bank bailouts, demanding smaller government and taxes. Now, President Biden presents a ‘nice guy’ image, the benign face of a decent person who can be trusted. People really like him, they like what he says, they like what he is doing. He is not afraid to call out things that are wrong, as the Floyd case shows, nor is he afraid to introduce, and get passed, enormous sums for reconstruction, and soon for financial relief.

And, wonder of wonders, he proposes to increase the tax that the very rich pay. In other words, he is helping push the scales of inequality the other way – very slightly, of course, but enough to point to the future.

So, we here in Australia are very jealous of you. Your anti-viral production and inoculation rates are sky-high, unemployment is down, and the economy is bouncing back. There are positive messages, smiles, ideas that are real, (none of which we have - just excuse, frowns, hollow promise, scandal and insensitivity), and that most rare thing in politicians, the appearance of honesty.

Of course he came to the Presidency as production began to increase, which was partly due to Trump’s tax cuts, but mostly from the superior efficiency of your industry and the freedom to innovate by your leaders in all fields. He has the vision to lead, the will to succeed, and a team that looks to be capable of achieving it.

What will hold this back is the yoke. That thing around the neck of all leaders, the weight of the past. The blinkers of success that blind the wearers to the periphery. The inability to see the possibility of failure, leading to making the worst decisions possible. In your case, it was the belief you were better than anyone else. And it was true, industrially, financially, in innovation and invention. But winning the second world war, (a reminder, you did not do it alone), was the thing that blinded you. It became the picture that was paraded before the nation, one that no one could not be derided.

That belief became the motive to fight wars that seemed right – Vietnam, Afghanistan, skirmishes in Central America, the Middle East. Hundreds of fights, none of which were won. Coupled with the idea that your brand of Democracy was the only way countries could be successful, and had to be imposed if there was opposition, did nothing but increase feelings of horror, unfairness, loathing and hatred.

But the notion of superiority remains, and is one that shapes American domestic and foreign policy. It stems from conservatism, the desire to keep the good old days coming, to value the safe and comfortable past more than the scary future. It was, and still is, the banner of the Tea Party and its branches, but it is also totally undemocratic.

Conservatives tend to put their own interests ahead of others. This has led to the pernicious stranglehold that ruins American life: The God of Money. Americans are forced to serve this soulless entity, while its high priests have always tried to set the rules. President Biden surely knows this, having served for so many years in government, and he has a pretty good idea of what his administration is in for.

But his standing in the electorate is so high that the opposition has no way of throwing mud. His smile is the shield, his twinkling eyes the defense, and his initiatives the weapon. It will not be easy for him to achieve some of his domestic ideas, but that may not bother him, as his international standing is now so great that the free world is beginning to look at him with admiration.

He has called out Putin and his cyber tactics, has told China where he stands, got out of Afghanistan, ignored north Korea, and now has put climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas omissions front and centre to every free nation. The journal ‘Foreign Affairs’ says that global leadership such as that doesn’t fit a foreign policy for the middle class, but it’s hard to imagine that he sees himself as a ‘Global leader’, ready to take on the world’s troubles. That was the downfall of all previous administrations, as pride in being American overcame the ‘Member of a global community’ that today is the only way to see your country.

China sees itself in that role, and is hell bent on imposing it on everyone, but the same fate awaits it because it is driving the world to greenhouse Armageddon. As of last year, it was responsible for emitting fourteen thousand metric tons per annum of combined greenhouse gases. This is close to equal the rest of the world, and if there is one thing China is afraid of, it is loss of face.

Joe doesn’t have to say a word, just point to what the rest of the world is doing.

He is building trust among the leaders of the free world, and, as Simon Sinek wrote, teamwork is based on trust.

It is not just Australia who are mighty glad to be part of that team. Trust has been absent, now it is shining.