{"id":181,"date":"2019-07-03T01:31:13","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T01:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/?p=181"},"modified":"2019-07-03T01:31:13","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T01:31:13","slug":"america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html","title":{"rendered":"America Needs a Declaration of Interdependence"},"content":{"rendered":"

There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it. It was a land where people stated with confidence, \u201cI am right and you are wrong.\u201d These were words of conviction, courage, strength, and moral certainty.<\/p>\n

No one was ever heard to say: \u201cI might be wrong,\u201d \u201cPerhaps I\u2019ve misjudged,\u201d or \u201cMaybe you have a point there.\u201d For these were words of weakness, doubt, cowardice, and moral ambiguity.<\/p>\n

When differences arose between the people of this land, instead of looking for the Truth, they looked for evidence to support their positions.<\/p>\n

When differences arose between the states, those in the Red States would say: \u201cWe are the ones who\u2019ve made this land great. Our success is built on hard work, family values, and love of flag and country. We don\u2019t understand you people in the Blue States \u2014 your ways seem so strange, so un-patriotic.\u201d<\/p>\n

These Red State people were right, of course, and they were determined to save the land they loved.<\/p>\n

But the people in the Blue States would respond: \u201cWe look around and see a land where corporate greed is the order of the day. Looking good is more important than being good or doing good. You wrap yourself in the flag to hide your hypocrisy. You are the ones who created this mess we\u2019re in today!\u201d<\/p>\n

These Blue State people were right, of course, and they were determined to save the land they loved.<\/p>\n

And the gaps between the Red States and the Blue States grew wider and deeper.<\/p>\n

When differences arose between people of different colors, those of one color would say: \u201cWe have worked for many years to create a land of equality for all our citizens and we have come a long way. Why, we even elected a black President not long ago! Why can\u2019t you people stop fighting a battle you have already won and appreciate all we have given you? Ours is truly the Promised Land.\u201d<\/p>\n

These people were right, of course, and they knew it.<\/p>\n

But those of other colors would reply: \u201cThe playing field is still not level and we are too often treated as second-class citizens. You vow that you value diversity, but hollow tokenism is all that we see. Your \u2018Promised Land\u2019 is really the Compromised Land! How can we be happy, with so far still to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

These people were right, of course, and they knew it.<\/p>\n

And the gaps between people of different colors grew wider and deeper.<\/p>\n

\"Arguing\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And so it went in this \u201cLand of Rights.\u201d Group after group defined what was right, and took a stand against those who were wrong.<\/p>\n

\u2022 It happened between those who believed the health care system was broken, and those who believed that the health care system was the best in the world.<\/p>\n

\u2022 It happened between those who believed the globe was warming, and those who believed that the climate was just fine.<\/p>\n

\u2022 It happened between those who wanted to liberate the world for democracy, and those who warned that democracy at home was in danger.<\/p>\n

\u2022 It happened between those who believed that money makes the world go around, and those who had to go around with no money.<\/p>\n

Everyone was right, of course, and they knew it.<\/p>\n

The many gaps grew wider and deeper \u2014 until finally one day, all activity ground to a halt. Each group stood firm in their righteousness, glaring with proud eyes at those too blind to see The Truth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"crying<\/a><\/p>\n

People were frightened and angry. Hysterical demonstrations erupted here and there as people grew more frustrated. Violence was a real concern … and the land grew grim and gray.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then one day, a strange new sound was heard in the land. \u201cUh, maybe I was mistaken,\u201d someone said softly.<\/p>\n

A collective gasp of disbelief was heard in the land. Who could be saying such a crazy thing?<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps you were right, after all,\u201d someone else said quietly.<\/p>\n

The people looked around to see who could be uttering such nonsense.<\/p>\n

But the two voices persisted … and after a while, some of the people began to listen. They listened with uncertainty at first \u2014 but they listened. And as they listened anew, they began to see anew … seeing fellow human beings where they once had seen only enemies.<\/p>\n

Here and there, people joined together to act upon their common interests. With each new joint effort, people\u2019s trust in one another grew. They found a new faith in their ability to shape their own destiny \u2014 together.<\/p>\n

They stated their new beliefs in a \u201cDeclaration of Interdependence\u201d …<\/strong><\/p>\n

All people are created equal \u2014<\/strong>
\n but each develops into a unique individual.<\/strong>
\n All people are endowed with certain inalienable rights \u2014<\/strong>
\n but each must assume corresponding responsibilities.<\/strong>
\n For the happiness of all depends on the commitment of each<\/strong>
\n to support equality and individuality, rights and responsibilities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this land, people had learned how two rights can make a terrible wrong.<\/p>\n

They saw how little courage it takes to point the finger of blame \u2014 and how much courage it takes to extend the hand of partnership.<\/p>\n

And they realized how little wisdom there is in defending a narrow right \u2013 and how much wisdom there is in seeking a broader understanding.<\/p>\n

Most important of all, the people of this land had learned that the quest for Truth is never over and the challenge is always the same:<\/p>\n

To stop fighting long enough to listen and learn from others who differ; to try new approaches and build new relationships; and to keep working at a process that never ends.<\/p>\n

\"PatrioticSunset\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr. Warren H. Schmidt is the coauthor of this piece. It’s based on\u00a0his 1969 classic “Is It Always Right To Be Right?” published in “The Los Angeles Times” and adapted into an Academy Award-winning animated short film in 1971.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. Warren H. Schmidt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it. It was a land where people stated with confidence, \u201cI am right and you are wrong.\u201d These were words of conviction, courage, strength, and moral certainty. No one was ever heard to say: \u201cI…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[190,179,83,194,187,87,193,195,188,191,192,189],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blue-states","tag-conflict","tag-declaration-of-independence","tag-declaration-of-interdependence","tag-democracy","tag-freedom","tag-income-inequality","tag-polarization","tag-political-divisiveness","tag-race-relations","tag-racial-inequality","tag-red-states"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerica Needs a Declaration of Interdependence - The Power of Positive Doing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"America Needs a Declaration of Interdependence - The Power of Positive Doing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Power of Positive Doing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/bjgallagher.9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-03T01:31:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/files\/2019\/03\/Argue-5-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BJ Gallagher\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BJ_Gallagher\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"America Needs a Declaration of Interdependence - The Power of Positive Doing","description":"There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"America Needs a Declaration of Interdependence - The Power of Positive Doing","og_description":"There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html","og_site_name":"The Power of Positive Doing","article_author":"www.facebook.com\/bjgallagher.9","article_published_time":"2019-07-03T01:31:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/files\/2019\/03\/Argue-5-150x150.jpg"}],"author":"BJ Gallagher","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BJ_Gallagher","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html","name":"America Needs a Declaration of Interdependence - The Power of Positive Doing","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/files\/2019\/03\/Argue-5-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-03T01:31:13+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-03T01:31:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/#\/schema\/person\/292eb60ddcbaff3a3f8e410708bd9b10"},"description":"There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/files\/2019\/03\/Argue-5-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/files\/2019\/03\/Argue-5-150x150.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/2019\/07\/america-needs-a-declaration-of-interdependence.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"America Needs a Declaration of Interdependence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/","name":"The Power of Positive Doing","description":"Beliefnet Voices - BJ Gallagher","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/#\/schema\/person\/292eb60ddcbaff3a3f8e410708bd9b10","name":"BJ Gallagher","description":"BJ Gallagher is an inspirational author and speaker. She writes business books that educate and empower, women\u2019s books that enlighten and entertain, and gift books that inspire and inform. Whether her audience is corporate executives, working women, or a group of college student, her message is powerful, positive, as well as practical. She motivates and teaches with empathy, understanding, and more than a little humor. BJ\u2019s international best-seller, \"A Peacock in the Land of Penguins\" (Berrett-Koehler; third edition 2001), is now in 23 languages and has sold over 400,000 copies. Her recent books include: \"The Power of Positive DOING\" (Simple Truths) and \"If God Is Your Co-Pilot, Switch Seats\" (Hampton Roads). Her new book, \"Your Life Is Your Prayer\" (Mango Publishing) will be out in April 2019. BJ and her books have been featured on CBS Evening News, the Today show, Fox News, PBS, CNN, and other television and radio programs. She is quoted almost weekly in various newspapers, women\u2019s magazines, and websites including O the Oprah magazine, Redbook, Woman\u2019s World, Ladies Home Journal, First for Women, Time, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, Denver Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Orlando Sentinel, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and MSNBC.com, among others. BJ also conducts seminars and workshops. Her clients include: IBM, Chevron, Nissan, John Deere Credit Canada, Volkswagen, Farm Credit Services of America, Raytheon, Marathon Realty (Canada), U.S. Department of Interior, Veterans Administration, among others. BJ is the former manager of training and development for the Los Angeles Times, where she was responsible for management development, sales training, customer service seminars, diversity training, specialized programs for women, and the development of high potential managers.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.bjgallagher.com","www.facebook.com\/bjgallagher.9","www.instagram.com\/bj_gallagher","www.linkedin.com\/BJ Gallagher","https:\/\/x.com\/BJ_Gallagher"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/author\/bgallagher"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/434"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions\/189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thepowerofpositivedoing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}