Advice for President Obama on Positive Engagement

Max's advice for February 18, 2009

Dear President Obama,

Max grew up as the son of a man who knew 'ALL' the answers to the problems of the world. Max's father said so! Many times, his father let everyone know that anyone who didn't know that he had the answers was a turkey or a knucklehead.

The famous Ma Bell, the second most powerful force in the world (next to God of course), thought so much of Max's father's opinions, that she made him 'Supervisor of Troubles'. This is true!

The advice Max promised you, President Obama.

Do not accept a 'No!' when engaging with friends and enemies!

Max is one to speak on this. Too many times he has accepted a no when a little gumption would have resulted in continuing the negotiations. You don't want to become a Max, do you?

Of course not! In your role as president of one of the most important nations of our time, you need to find ways to move forward toward workable goals and results.

There are going to be problems because every nation needs jobs, every nation is suffering in this economy, every person is (according to most) a child of a Supreme Being!

No! It can't be done! We can't agree! All variations of this negative thinking need to be shown as short sighted. Naysayers don't need to be banned. They just need to be educated.

Many people believe that we cannot solve the current big hairy problems without being pulled into new big hairy problems. These people don't understand American history. They don't remember that many people thought we couldn't get rid of the high taxes England levied on us to fight their wars. They didn't think we could have a democratic system without going into complete anarchy. They didn't believe that we could allow people to bear arms without leading to a revolution. Minorities and women didn't think that they would ever really have the right to vote.

There were always people who said it can't be done. Some said we won't ever let it happen. Others said we will never win no matter how hard we try.

Though the vast majority of people in the United States believe you should do the things you promised in your campaign, a very large portion have deep doubts about this.

In dealing with foreign nations, many believe you will not be able to solve the difficult role of trade to create a fair and balanced process.

Mr. President, any time they say we can't, you need to repeat the "Yes we can!" in your mind.

The truth is there is nothing that we can't do. Some things will take time. Some things dealing with fairness issues can take years, decades and even centuries. What we can do, what we can always do, is to keep our eye on the goals and take steps, no matter how small, in the direction of achieving the goals of the people of America and other free people across the world.

Trade is a difficult area because some situations lead to the concept of "win-lose". Sometimes it needs to be that way. Other times it is "lose-win" and again sometimes it needs to be that way. If done right, any situation that begins like the two previous cases should be worked until it becomes a "win-win" situation.

An example is trade with third world countries. Recently I met a Presidential candidate from Malawi, a third world country with huge natural resources. Trading with a country like this has to start out as a "win-lose" situation. The dollars we put in cannot be returned in kind given the development and current situation of the people.

Yet starting with a "win-lose" (they benefit - we don't) can, if monitored and followed with good planning, turn into a "win-win" situation. This is a possibility that can only be accomplished over time, which can be decades.

As an example, Malawi is one of the most impoverished nations on the planet. Yet it has a stable democratic government with a tradition of free elections. The land currently lacks irrigation which gives it a single growing season, yet the nation has a favorable climate and plenty of water. It could be a bread basket nation. It has forests and minerals that have value in the modern world, but the country has no real means of marketing some of these.

Education of the people as a whole is a major reason that the nation has not progressed like other nations that gained independence in the same decade.

Helping to gradually grow a nation like this could be the best way of moving it from a net importer of aid into a net exporter of food. It is important that nations like this grow, not with a massive stimulus which destroys the fabric of the nation, but rather with steady aid that is discontinued once the basic goals of the nation are met. The goal with many of our trading partners should be balance where they "buy" what they need and sell us what we "need". This can allow them to grow more prosperous every year without the risk of skewing the nation away from their own beliefs and values.

There are other cases that will be different. This one might not be a simple as Max makes it look. Yet the answer never comes from "We can't do that!" when we are talking about doing what we know is right.

Max wishes you well in all your choice efforts.

Max writes about greenways, rare diseases, timely topics, places to eat, travel and other issues of interest. He encourages you to add your comments.

Link one is about getting to yes!

Link two is about using mind mapping to get to yes!

Link three is to a World Beat interview on the issues of getting to yes!