The Pledge

I pledge to

RESPECT everyone
LOVE everyone &
Actively LISTEN to everyone

Now I invite YOU to take the pledge  (Nominate two or more of your friends)

Please Click here for our Face Book page to take the Pledge today

Or if you do not have a face book page please Click here to take the pledge




Here is the detailed explanation of this Pledge


1. I acknowledge that my beliefs may be different from what others believe in.

2. This by it self does NOT make my Fellow Human Beings my "Enemy"

3. Starting today, I pledge to Respect and Love them

4. And spend more time actively listening to understand their beliefs.


Please Click here for our Face Book page to take the Pledge today

Or if you do not have a face book page please Click here to take the pledge

Thank you

An Open letter to My Fellow Americans

Here is The Solution to all our problems 

There is chaos every where.

It is because we as a nation are not united.

If we are to get public policies that benefit the majority, we need to adapt to the current conditions on the ground.

This is the summary of the concept I am going to share :

a. The ground game has changed

b. Unless we change with it - we will become Dinosaurs

Here is the detailed explanation :

1. Only 0.01% of the very rich and multinational Corporations have the money the Politicians need. They (the politicians) will not do anything that will harm their interests.

2. If the politicians do not get the money from them, they will loose their livelihood. And as you know 95% of the time Politician with the largest amount of money win the elections.

3. According to Ezra Kline's article, there is NOBODY to really read our petitions - it is the work of unpaid interns or the lowest paid folks in a politicians office that does it

4. The $5 donations we make are used to buy ads
They end up in the 0.01% bank accounts
This is hard earned money of the 99% - money that they need to buy food and staples for their families

5. According to Pew Research the 99% are polarized more than ever
And the 0.01% know this
The main stream media promote this division every day.
Due to algorithms of Google and Facebook this division is consolidated.
Even reputable political organizations like Moveon and Heritage add to this by high lighting the differences among the 99% and there by inadvertently pushing us to the two corners

6. As a Physician, I have patients who are both Conservative and Liberal
And most have the same goals - in fact I am amazed at how similar their wishes are.
But they do not talk to each other because both parties have been brainwashed into thinking that a person with a different ideology is their ENEMY

7. So what should we do ?
We need to work at educating the 99% - yes this includes the moderate Tea Party members.
Educate them and make them realize that we are not that different from one another.
Educate them that we are BORN with some of these traits (see below for the reference blog)
Educate them on how we are all being manipulated.

When the 99% unite, public policies that will benefit them will get implemented.

Different groups need to be approached differently
a. Christians and Catholics - using the frame work of god
b. Liberals - for the good of many
c. Conservatives - we need to learn to speak THEIR language - personal responsibility etc - see reference blog below for the science behind this statement

We need to do this NOW

And we HAVE to stop doing things that divide us 

Please can we try this for 2 months.

As the negative energy turns to a positive energy, we as a nation will start healing again...

Will you please share this with like minded friends

Please Click here for our Face Book page to take the Pledge today

Or if you do not have a face book page please Click here to take the pledge

Thank you

Sincere Best Wishes
Iresha Goonesinghe MD FACP FACC MACPE
California

References

1. Conservatives and Liberals think differently
http://pledgetoloveoneanother.blogspot.com/2013/10/pledge-to-love-one-another.html

2. The Pledge
On Face book Please Click here 
Or if you do not have a face book page please Click here to take the pledge

Insanity :)

Long ago doctors used Penicillin for Pneumonia

Now most bacteria are resistant to Penicillin - So most doctors have stopped using Penicillin for pneumonia. They use other Antibiotics.

When it comes to implementing and enacting Public Policies the ground game has changed.

So, why are we using the same OLD tactics to get things done ?
Obviously we are not going to "win" the game.
 - That is like using Penicillin for Pneumonia - The patient will die :(

So how can WE THE PEOPLE get the politicians to listen to us ?

Let us look at the facts on the ground (I know these facts are NOT FAIR - But we have to remember that these ARE the facts.

• 95% of the time the person who wins an election is the person who has the most money.
• And only 0.01% of us have the kind of money the Politicians want.
• Therefore Politicians are forced to hob nob with the 0.01% and make them and the multinational Corporations happy.  Otherwise THEY are going to loose THEIR job.

Even the so called SMALL Political PACS that we have  DO NOT have the kind of money the Politicians need.  So the politicians will "listen" to these small PACs ONLY IF the policy is okay with the 0.01% of us who are very rich and the large multinational Corporations.

Conclusion - Money IS NO LONGER our Strength


And those $5 donations - think about what happens to them - they will be used to buy advertisements in the Main Stream Media - currently owned by 5 Large Corporations.  So basically YOU made these large Corporations and their owners richer.  And YOU lost the $5 that you need to buy food for your family :(

So WHAT IS OUR STRENGTH ?

Our strength lies in NUMBERS

That may be why there is a constant attempt by some to divide us

Conservatives vs Liberal

Muslims vs Christians

Male workers vs Female workers

Pro choice vs Pro life

Union workers vs Non Union workers  etc etc etc

For the first time in the US we have been brainwashed into thinking that a person with a different ideology is "OUR ENEMY" 

Not a fellow American with a different point of view

We in turn play in to this theme by demonizing folks that have a different point of view.  And this theme gets reinforced.

We HAVE TO CHANGE this division NOW

We have to learn to accept that 

a. We have different Values

b. That a person with a different set of Values is NOT our Enemy. But just a Fellow American

c. We have to make a PERSONAL pledge to actually LISTEN to one another

d. Learn how to SPEAK to others using THEIR own language

And did you know that we are BORN with certain ideological traits.  This fact is being used to divide us.

Click Here to learn more about this concept

As we begin to understand each other's point of view, negative emotions like Anger, Hate, Fear, Frustration will be replaced with POSITIVE emotions like Love, Compassion and Respect...

One by one as we unite, we will become more and more powerful.

And with that power the 99% can once again get the politicians to implement Public Policies that will benefit us all.

As medical doctors I believe that this is the biggest Public Health problem we are encountering.  

Also I believe our political PACS should use these resources to #UniteTheUSA - trying to educate the masses of what is happening to us.

Trying to support Politicians is NOT going to get us any where from a Public Policy point of view

Please will you join me ...

Please Click here for our Face Book page to take the Pledge today

Or if you do not have a face book page please Click here to take the pledge

Together we CAN make this world a better place ....

Photo by Artmuseums com

Uniting the United States of America

The Solution to all our problems ?

Recently one question has been in the forefront in my mind...

Why cannot we get public policies that benefit the majority implemented ?

After spending many hours studying the data I finally began to understand the situation.

The Good News is that WE HAVE A SOLUTION !

Here is the summary of my findings :

1. Politics 101 - 95% of the time the person who wins an election is the person who has the most money 

2. Money

Only 0.01% of the people in the US have large amounts of money.

If you earn $145,000 you are in the 1 %

The average income of a working family is only 50K
46.5 million of Fellow Americans live below the poverty line ($1.25/ day)

Politicians need money to win elections.
And just now only the 0.01% and large Corporations have the money.
So they are forced to hob nob with them and cater to their needs.
Otherwise they (the politicians) will loose THEIR livelihood.

They (the politicians) gain nothing by hanging out with us.

3. Customer Service

In addition to the politicians not wanting to listen to us - they do not even have the MAN POWER to listen to us.  Most of the petitions that are sent to their offices go unread.  The ratio of customer service personnel to the number of people they have to listen to in an electorate is something like 100,000 to one - and most of these are minimum wage folks or interns.

4. Media

Main stream media now belongs to 5 Corporations.  Everytime WE donate money, they end up in their coffers - majority of this money then end up with the 1%

5. Us vs Them mentality - this is the scariest fact

The "main stream" media, facebook and other Social media have been very successful in dividing the 99%

Conservatives vs Liberal

Muslims vs Christians

Male workers vs Female workers

Pro choice vs Pro life

Union workers vs Non Union workers  etc etc etc

For the first time in the US we have been brainwashed into thinking that a person with a different ideology is "OUR ENEMY" 

Not a fellow American with a different point of view

We in turn play in to this theme by demonizing folks that have a different point of view.  And this theme gets reinforced.

Scientists are beginning to prove that we are BORN with a set of basic values. We "hear" and "talk" a different language depending on what we believe in.

Here is my ONE PAGE blog on this topic

http://pledgetoloveoneanother.blogspot.com/2013/10/pledge-to-love-one-another.html

Two practical examples I came across recently -  

a. Some Conservatives who truly believe in GMO labeling are unwilling / scared to sign a "Move on" petition

b. A person who desperately need medical care is refusing to sign up for "Obamacare"  

"We the people"  need to understand what is actually happening to us.
Then we need to take steps to reverse this situation.

The Solution -  We need to UNITE and bring people with different political ideologies together 



And here is one way we can do that 

1. Click here to find out what basic political ideology you have.


2. Next understand what Cognitive Dissonance is.  Remember we all have this.

3. Start sharing your newly found knowledge with your friends and family. And let them realize that a person with a different political ideology / belief is not their enemy.  But just a fellow human being with a different opinion


4. Explain to them how we are being pushed apart by the main stream media and other organizations.


Remember, you have to  learn to speak to our fellow Americans - using THEIR own ideological language

5. Promote the Pledge to 
Respect Everyone
Love Everyone & 
Actively Listen to Everyone

Please Click here for our Face Book page to take the Pledge today

Or if you do not have a face book page please Click here to take the pledge

6. Once we promise to love one another -then we will be able to listen to each other

7. Then and then only will we be powerful enough to make the Politicians actually listen to us and create the public policies that the 99% will benefit from.

Pledge to Love One Another

Did you know that we are born with certain traits ?
These traits lead us to have either a Liberal or a Conservative outlook in life.

These same traits are seen all over the world - in the US, The Middle East, Asia and in Africa.

See this Ted Talk from Jonathan Haidt which illustrate this beautifully
http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html

According to Prof Haidt, we are born with a basic set of values.


Conservatives seem to emphasize five Values :

• Avoid Harm and Protect the weak 
• Be Fair
• Respect Authority - this is a good trait as long as the folks in a position of Authority are good people.  Otherwise Conservatives can be mislead by a person they respect.
• Group Loyalty - This may lead a person to abandon right and wrong in order to safe guard the interest of the group - just now gun control comes to mind
• Purity - in the eyes of a conservative this is why they find it hard to accept issues like Gay rights and abortions

Liberals seem to Emphasize Five Values :

• Avoid Harm and Protect the weak  
• Be fair
• Instead of authority, they believe in equal power
• Instead of Group Loyalty, they are willing to invite others in - Immigration policies come into mind
• Purity - just now this is manifested as a purity of the food we eat - issues with GMO foods come to mind

This has been the moral truth for centuries.


Each individual looks at life through their own set of values.
And each individual ALWAYS thinks that THEY are right and the other person is wrong - that is our default.

So, why does it feel like there is more anger and hatred among us now ?

Well, that is because something HAS changed...


What HAS changed is that a lot of organizations mostly in the US have tried and (in my opinion) succeeded in defining folks with a different ideology as 'THE ENEMY'


This has created an anger and a hatred that is destroying ALL of us
Both as Individuals
And as a Nation


We are not able to make good decisions if our main emotion is anger.
As most religions state, the best decisions are made when we are calm and neutral


So what should we do ?
How can we resolve this issue ?

The SOLUTION  is Simple

First we have to ACCEPT the fact that a person with a different ideology is NOT our enemy. He / She is just another individual with a different point of view.

Next we have to relearn to ACCEPT people as they are.

Practically speaking this will only happen if we shut off the TV and Radio and start LISTENING to one another again.

Once we realize that a person with a different ideology is NOT our enemy,  we can start focusing on Eliminating the Hate and Anger within us.

Please help me to get as many people as you can to sign this Pledge



Please Click here for our Face Book page to take the Pledge today

Or if you do not have a face book page please Click here to take the pledge



As Hate turns to Love and Understanding, We will and CAN make this world a better place ...

Thank you

Iresha Goonesinghe MD FACP FACC MACPE
California