by Jishi Santos

Created on: May 30, 2009

You have your philosopher. Think.

A Red Indian stood with one foot in the river as he looked at the steep majestic walls of the Grand Canyon. His other foot remained firmly planted on the bank keeping him well balanced. He thought to himself 'this land is mine' and I will learn to preserve it for it is all I have. He swam for a while in the Colorado river and flowed downstream but always within reach of the bank so he wouldn't be carried away. He kept in touch with the flow of life this way and always went back to his tribe to help plant the next maize crop. Yes, life was good and he had heard about the Anastasie who painted their pots with small triangular patterns and wanted to trade with them some of this corn he was growing. Life was good but not without its battles. Tribal territory was jealously guarded and he had seen death, but never so much death as his son would see when the white man stole his beloved land. Geronimo was his son and he fought for freedom. He has gone down in history as a hero to the Indians. No doubt in his soul searching as to why life had turned out the way it had for his people, he became a philosopher too. I would like to nominate him and his people as the first American philosophers.Maybe if they need one now, go and talk on the reserves they have been placed on. See if some wisdom doesn't come out of the conversations to balance the imbalance of American internal and overseas policy. This has not been based on much philosophical thought, but rather centering around the dollar. Do not take offense Americans if you are reading this, for in Australia we have done the same thing to our aborigines, so we all need to learn.

America needs a philosopher who can bring things 'down to earth', for what goes along with being the most powerful nation in a military sense is ego. There is no denying this and it leads to unrealistic expectations out of ordinary people. Many were against the American involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11, but in many ways it was the Bush administration's ego that pushed them to consolidate their position in world affairs after this attack on their homeland. The first action towards a respect for all life that a would be American philosopher leader should bring about would be total disarmament and ridding the country of nuclear weapons, only held in case of outside threat. Look how America seems to panic over North Korea and Iran all the time, yet they invented the nuclear weapons program.

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