Majority of Americans have chosen a side  Republicans or Democrats. A few of us are still hanging on to be Independents.

Is there going to be a time when parties can cross the divide and  vote with the other side without getting ostracized by their own party?

Is there going be a time when senators will vote with their conscience rather on their party lines?

I strongly believe that day will come, though further deterioration may occur before that. At that time both parties will reverse the direction they are pursuing currently, stop radicalizing their party manifestos and come to a compromised platform that have benefits of  ideas from both parties.

I know and understand at this point if you are ready to stop reading this article.  

Recently, I read some chapters on Chinese Philosophy in “Sacred Texts of World” by Professor Grant Hardy. I like to share some of the lines from that book to raise hope and appeal for better future.

In the Chinese philosophy book of anecdotes and conversation of Mencius (Mengzi) contains these two anecdotes.

Human nature is  inherently good, and evil comes when people ignores the basic impulses of compassion, righteousness, propriety, and  wisdom. For example, people instinctively feel distressed, alarmed and gasp when they see a child who is about to fall in a well. Even though not everyone runs to rescue, a kind of compassion to extend a helping hand will come naturally to all human beings and it is due to innate human qualities which are basically good.

Bald Mountain was once beautifully wooded. A new city grew nearby. Because it is close to a large city, its trees all fell to the axe. It is not that beautiful like before. However, as days pass and with good rains, it is not without greenery anymore. And then came the cattle and sheep to graze. That is why today it has a scoured like appearance. On seeing it now, people imagine nothing ever grew there. But this is not true, and it is not the nature of the mountain.

Just as the beauty of the mountain is hacked away one tree at a time, Individual’s good qualities are lost slowly over time, had been hacked away day after day.  Just as planting trees and giving some care, mountain can be reclaimed so are the humans’ original qualities which can be recovered with study and introspection.

As a society we need to stop further deterioration consciously, deliberately, and immediately.  For this we need to relearn compassion, politeness, tolerance, graciousness and other virtues. You may ask,  how do we do that?  Answer is in the book of Analects (Confucius Teachings)

子貢問曰：有一言而可以終身行之者乎？子曰：其恕乎！己所不欲、勿施於人。

Zi Gong [a disciple] asked: “Is there any one word that could guide a person throughout life?”
The Master replied: “How about ‘reciprocity’! Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”     Analects XV.24  (Wikipedia)