5/23/2023

My Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            What do you eat for breakfast? I eschew cereal & eggs. Instead, I eat the news. If I ingested food, I’d be hungry by 10:00. Consuming the news satiates me.

            One of today’s morsels in “The Diplomat” was an interview with Amitav Acharya about his new book about Burma researched by “stealth” with young folks he calls “Thought Warriors,” who are non-violent, resisting “the junta with their mind, their courage, & their thoughts, rather than with their weapons.” I’m adding it to my summer reading list.

            I was nourished by “My neighbor lived to be 109. This is what I learned from him.” by

David Von Drehle (DVD). It made me think that I might be a Stoic described as “the philosophy of freedom & self-determination, one that seeks to erase envy, resentment, neediness & anxiety. Its pillars are wisdom, courage, temperance & justice. It is a philosophy of radical equality & mutual respect… We govern nothing but our own actions and reactions.” Are you a Stoic, too?

            Did you see “How truth about debt sets a nation free” in the CSM? Excellent news, well written, with the concluding paragraph that soothed my nerves. “Greece’s comeback from debt deceit will be in the background at the G-7 in Hiroshima. Financial statistics can be as dry as dust. Yet when officials are open & honest about such data, it can lubricate the world economy.”

            Speaking of debt, should I be hopeful that you & KMM had a “productive meeting?” Do you think that daily phone calls will do the trick? Do you think that conflict can be constructive?

            That’s the question that’s driving me these days, as I ponder what kind of agreement would be helpful to Washington Commons to maintain positive neighbor relations. Should we have a Conflict Resolution Team or a Community Support System? Maybe a Reconciliation Commitment or a Peace Pledge? Perhaps we should just study Stoicism.

            BYBS,