Punishment and Blame are two distinctly American conceits. I learned this years ago while reading about cultural competency. This was something I thought people who wanted to give my nonprofit company money would want to know I cared about. I didn't.
Until now. The thing is this... Different cultures react differently to things. And in good ole America, we look to place blame. Then we look to punish the one we blamed in step one.
That's it. We don't, as a nation, go any farther than that. I don't know why that is. It is another reason why I don't feel American and don't go out of my way to identify myself as American abroad. I want to blame (and punish) somebody for this but I'm trying hard not to.
What I want to do is to find out what happens of nobody (and no thing) gets blamed or punished. What do we do then? Do we get on with our lives? And what does that entail? How does that work?
My goal for 2010 is to really be interested in what happens to the world if:
- I don't change anything;
- I don't control anything;
- I don't blame anyone; and
- No one has to be punished.
