Monday, February 4, 2008

Elections and Nationalism


I ran across this poem and it spoke to me during this election year.

My Country Awake
Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.


- Rabindranath Tagore

Asia's first Nobel laureate and named one of Time Magazine's most influencial Asian's of the 20th centurty, Rabindranath Tagore, was the greatest writer in modern Indian literature, a Bengali poet, novelist, educator, and an early advocate of independence for India. Tagore's influence over Gandhi and the founders of modern India was enormous, but his reputation as a writer and mystic has caused many to ignore his role as a political activist. In fact, one of his songs became the national anthem of India and another the national anthem of Bangladesh.

Tagore's travels lead him to write of the folly of borders and patriotism. He stressed the need for new world order based on cross-cultural values and ideas, the "unity consciousness." His ideal was the Universal Man. Tagore warned of the dangers of nationalistic thought. "Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity," he wrote.

In this U.S. election year, let us dream of a country where we are without fear and united, not with ourselves, but with the rest of world. Let us strive for unity and hope for Peace.

Let our minds be free to the possibilities of what should be and not what might happen. And with open hearts and minds, let our country awake to a new day.

Superbowl No Chicken Dance for the Patriots

It's nice to have a Superbowl where the game is SO much better than the ads. How many times have you spent the Monday after the game discussing the ads and not the game with your colleagues at work? Not this year. What a game!

I'm not a big football fan, nor did I have a preference for either New England or Giants going into the game. But, I couldn't help cheering for the underdog Giants as they came from behind in the 4th quarter. Now that's good football.

On to the Chicken Dance. As you may have read, KFC challenged any scoring player or Tom Petty to do the Chicken Dance during the game. If they completed a 3 second dance, KFC would donate $260,000 to charity. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy called it a case of "ambush marketing 101" and warned that any players participating could face stiff fines.

Chicken Dance winners and losers?

NFL is a big loser for even commenting on KFC's "ambush marketing". Why dignify the challenge with a response? Comment board traffic was overwhelmingly negative towards the NFL with one poster renaming it the "No Fun League".

KFC was a slight winner. They managed to jump on the Superbowl marketing machine without spending more than the cost of a press release distribution. They'd be a big winner if they had figured out a way not to seem so crass and opportunistic.

The players and Tom Petty were winners. Of course, neither the players nor Tom Petty Chicken Danced during the game. With the quality of the performances all around, they focused on winning the game rather than KFC or any of the other Superbowl hype. True professionals.

What a game! (Did I say that already?)