Thang Nguyen 555

Emperors of the past wouldn’t secure their title and the land without being ruthless. Luckily we have since evolved i.e. less poverty and scarcity, more computing power.

Yet, despite all those extra accessories from FWD to AWD, Skype to Zoom, we still have the same O/S: win-lose, 1% vs the 99%, US vs ROW.

Why are we duped into caring more about “from zero to 60 mph” torque than our slow response to human touch!

“What does that profit a man/woman, to gain the whole world…”.

In “Never Let Me Go”, Ishiguro took us on a futuristic fast ride, whose robots could even develop capacity for empathy. Quite a commentary on the human condition.

People are dying left and right (the dead are stacked up in outdoor freezers), while the living wish to be in other times and places – certainly not America and certainly not 2020.

We spend a large part of our days looking for foods – money to buy, to store, to cook, to eat and to clean. More of us than last year stand in food bank lines. Others in covid testing lines. The brave/irresponsible ones in TSA lines (to travel).

The rest, I included, just stay put. While uncorking the wine, breaking the bread, I get to think of Empires and Emperors. Of Pompeii excavated bodies, some still in “never let me go” hug, instantly frozen in time.

How are we doing as a human race. From 1-5 with 5 as most satisfactory.

Right now, I would give it a 3.5 (Ethiopia just produced 40,000 refugees, while Musk climbed past Gates to be Numero Dos) despite Dow at 30,000.

I am glad the US can get on with pandemic and priorities.

With Climate Change and Global Change. With China and Russia, with Regional Pact and Inter-Continental Pact.

It’s Thanksgiving week. In years past, while in position to recruit new hires, I used this time to ramp up additional head-counts, of budgeting and pro-acing (even “sandbagging”).

I wish the President Elect well. His cabinet and First Lady. His first year and subsequent years.

I know he will do us right.

We deserve no less and vice versa, he deserves our devotion and dedication.

Already he “gets” the wisdom of team, of empathy (all-female Communication team) and diversity.

Our world needs more than fast foods and fast cars. We need the care of the soul which past Emperors neglected to their detriment.

When the chips are down, what’s our “eulogy CV?” That he/she cares a lot about external things at the expense of his/her own soul? There is a time for everything: a time to die and a time to live. Now is the time to live well; to take care of our selves and our souls. We need vaccines for both body and soul.

Never let go of your own self. Gotta to have it first, before giving it away.