FROM THE CORNER OFFICE
When children are young, friends often band together to form clubs. There are those who are invited to participate in the club and there are those who are not. Clubs can give their members a sense of identity, but at the price of exclusion to those who are not permitted to enter. Excluding others always has its price, and this price is not only paid by the persons excluded, but by those who would try to exclude others. Often, when diversity suffers at the expense of uniformity and conformity, there is little chance for progress or hope.
As children, we are born with gender and ethnicity. We learn religion. As we mature, we choose career paths. We develop political beliefs. We thus become part of large homogenous groups which have the potential to provide opportunities for diversity without exclusion. Alternatively, they can provide a trap which might create intolerance and ignorance. They can also stifle free thinking.
I distrust those who, based simply upon their identity as a member or leader of a particular group, attempt to influence us by invoking stereotypic thinking regarding themselves or others. I distrust those who speak the party line. The “party line”, whichever party it is, is intended to relieve us from the burden of having to think and make our own decisions. Why is there such a thing as a party “platform?” What happens if one disagrees with some of it? Can he or she not join that “party?” I wish we could look at candidates for office, exclude their gender, ethnicity, and religion from consideration, and look at what is in their heart, and not their party’s beliefs. Individuals are capable of great things, but only when they practice their individuality. We need great individuals to solve the challenging problems with which we are faced. We need to have the courage to look beyond the group icon or mantra and trust our own minds. After all, we are, in fact, members of the same “club,”... humanity.
Ron Kaplan
President of Operations
10/3/2007
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