Foundations

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Often I see people who have been admitted to a psychiatric hospital
after hitting
bottom.  They have nothing.  At first, it seems
difficult to know what to do.  The guiding idea, though, is
always the same: you have to establish a foundation.  That
means a safe place to stay, food, water, clothing, etc.  



(By the way, the photo has nothing to do with psychiatric patients.)

We can spend a lot of time trying to figure out whether to put the
person on Geodon, or Abilify, or whatever.  But the fact is,
the foundation is more important that the pharmacotherapy.



Likewise, when it comes to foreign policy, it is important to keep in
mind the concept of a foundation.  



Our current foregin policy rhetoric is all about "spreading democracy"
and "homeland security."  I am somewhat hopeful that we are
going to see a change in this.



A case
example, drawn from the early years of the the Bush
administration:

Accompanied by international rock star Bono, O'Neill
spent over a week touring villages with no safe water, AIDS hospitals
with woefully inadequate care, and mingling both with national leaders
and ordinary Africans. 



More remarkably still, this conservative former CEO returned from his
trip determined that the United States should do something substantial
and concrete to assist Africans, particularly in the areas of clean
water and AIDS. O'Neill's problem-solving instincts had been set in
motion by what he saw on his tour, and he became convinced that with
concerted American assistance, it might be possible to make dramatic
improvements in providing clean well water and basic care to mothers
with AIDS in a short period of time, with a relatively small amount of
money.



Unfortunately, upon returning to Washington, O'Neill failed to
stimulate much interest in the Bush White House in following through on
the hopes raised on the African tour. Top Bush advisors like
Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, while not wholly dismissive, were
concerned that O'Neill had gone "off message" and worried about the
geopolitical implications of an initiative in Africa.



Bush himself remained largely unmoved by a personal, face-to-face pitch
from O'Neill to at least fund a $25 million demonstration project to
provide clean water in Ghana–and also made it clear that he
was not amused by the publicity O'Neill had received on his trip.
Bush's inner core of advisors, led by Dick Cheney, had no use for the
initiative, either. Eventually, the idea died.

Paul O'Neill was upset about this.  When he learned how little
it would cost to provide clean water to African communities, he
concluded immediately that it had to be done.  It was so
simple, so inexpensive, and could have such a huge benefit, that it
was, as kids today say, a no-brainer.



It never happened.



Instead, the American People continued to hear platitudes about
spreading democracy and homeland security.  Platitudes do
nothing without a foundation.  



Now, it appears that the American voters have seen through the
showmanship.  I don't know if the villages in Africa will ever
get their water, but maybe they have a chance now.  I do know
that it would be a much better investment than the war in Iraq.
 Cheaper, too.