Archives for November 2016

The Politics of Political Expression

November 30, 2016 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

Isn’t it true that we tend to live our lives in the “grey areas”, while we express ourselves politically in stark black or white terms?

Why is that?

Perhaps it’s because politics, in the U.S. and in other countries throughout the world, is like a team sport.

Think about it. Political parties market themselves much like sports teams…with colors, logos, slogans, heroes and such.

It would seem that the explosion of Donald Trump onto the political scene has only increased that “team” aspect.

And we like being part of a team, don’t we?

That need for “team” solidarity is embedded in our DNA. We feel secure as part of a team. There is strength in numbers, right? We like the popularity we experience with other team members. We like the solace of being part of a like-thinking tribe.

We believe it increases our chances of winning.

Even so, in the reality of our day-to-day lives we live shoulder to shoulder with opposing team members. And so far, we’ve been doing a pretty good job of it. Your co-workers aren’t all team members, are they? And yet you get along with them…at least well enough to get the job done…right?

But all that “kumbaya” is quickly tossed out the window as soon as politics enters the discussion and the polarization of team membership kicks in.

It seems that so far we’ve done a pretty good job at separating real life from politics. We’ve been managing the politics of political expression fairly well in the hum-drum of daily life.

Now, that’s actually a semi-facetious statement, since our real lives are governed to a large extent by what transpires, or fails to transpire, in politics. Nevertheless, the point is that we normally get through Thanksgiving Dinner without throwing a turkey leg at uncle so-and-so.

Of course, politicians on opposing teams hardly ever get along. And that often renders them basically ineffective. But we can’t live our lives that way…can we? If we did, boy what a mess that would be!

However, it also seems more and more these days that political expression is seeping into our day-to-day lives. That might be largely due to the time we spend living them on social media…don’t you think?

And perhaps for too many people, the politics of political expression translates into spending too much time posting polarizing memes on Facebook, or “mean tweeting” insults about the opposing team.

What happens when this polarization becomes such a predominant aspect of our lives that we as a society can no longer get along?

Can society survive that? Is it sustainable? What does it mean for future generations if society suffers complete breakdown as a result of the politics of political expression?

Kind of a scary scenario, isn’t it?

We could be headed in that direction. There are some strong indications that we are.

My message this morning is only this: maybe we should give that some serious thought.

The Impact Blinder of Black or White

November 29, 2016 by costaricaguy 2 Comments

This has been quite the month in the life of one David Scott Bowers (aka Costa Rica Guy)…

For starters, my most ardent supporter, and defender, for the last 55 years passed away at the beginning of it…my mom.

Right on the heels of that came the election of my “platonic” arch-nemesis, Donald Trump, as President of the U.S. Now I realize that’s not a good use of the adjective, but I use it only in the sense that, thankfully, we don’t have any actual relationship (never met the man). Otherwise, I’d surely be the subject of some seriously spiteful tweetings.

Finally, just in the last week, we’ve seen the passing of a larger than life figure who cast a shadow on all 55 years of my life on planet earth. I’m speaking of the passing of Fidel Castro.

I’ve long been inspired by the story of Fidel Castro, the revolutionary. You know the Cuban revolutionary misfit who, along with a ragtag group of around 80 men, set sail from Mexico to Cuba on the leaky yacht, the Granma. There was also a guy onboard named Ernest “Che” Guevara. I’ve written quite a lot about Che Guevara in this blog.

They were ambushed upon arrival to Cuban shores and out of the 80 some odd men that originally set sail, only around 18 made it up to the Sierra Maestra mountains in the interior of the island. From there they spent two years amassing a revolutionary force of peasant farmers who were successful in taking control of the island country and resting it from the hands of the U.S. backed and brutal dictator, Fulgencio Batista.

The revolutionary government of Fidel Castro started out pretty good, with laudable aims. Some of those were actually accomplished. For instance, did you know Cuba has one of the highest literacy rates in the world and that it produces more doctors than any other country of its size? It also is quick to come to the aid of other developing countries, as was witnessed recently with the Ebola epidemic in West Africa a few years ago.

But we also know that Castro gradually morphed from revolutionary hero to oppressive dictator. He suppressed the free speech of the Cuban people and jailed thousands as political prisoners.

What’s for sure is that Castro’s death is showcasing the tendency for us to think in black or white terms when it comes to anything politically tinged. I believe that’s not only true in the U.S., but throughout the world. If you’re a democrat, then all republicans and their ideas are bad…and vice versa. For people whose passions have been inflamed by Castro’s passing, he was either a monster or a saint.

However, the truth is that we don’t live our lives in those stark black or white terms. We rather tend to live them in the grey areas.

Thinking in this polarized way is at the root of many of the problems we face in American society and throughout our world. The election of Donald Trump certainly seems to have exacerbated this type of thinking.

I would call this mode of thought the impact blinder of black or white. It blinds us from the truth. The real truth is rarely found in the black or white of political propaganda, lately expressed in mean tweets and non-factual Facebook memes, but in the grey areas of actual facts.

So, a lesson we can and should learn from these momentous events of the month of November 2016 is this: always step back and ask, what are the facts? What is the truth?

The truth is that Castro did some good stuff and he did some bad stuff. He did stand up courageously against the imperial inclinations of the world’s greatest superpower. He also failed miserably in the human rights department, especially in terms of upholding the rights of his own people.

We will get along with one another and progress as a society when we stop thinking in terms of the black or white nature of political propaganda and instead embrace the actual truth. The truth that applies across the board.

You see, the truth is the truth and facts are facts. They bear no political or ideological affiliation. They are not democrat or republican, capitalist or socialist.

Why not remove the impact blinder of black or white thinking and instead wilfully embrace facts and truth?

Expat Mindfulness

November 23, 2016 by costaricaguy 2 Comments

Donald Trump is President. That’s a fact.

That will mean different things to different people. Some will rejoice. Others will lament.

But what will it really mean, in general, for people and planet?

More than likely it will mean change. Things are probably going to change in the U.S.A. and in the world. The question is, will they change for the better?

I’ve been writing in my blog for quite a while now that America, and the world, does in fact desperately need a change in direction. I just don’t believe that Donald Trump is the right one.

Trump’s election will most likely usher in a renewed sense of “putting America first”, or of “American Exceptionalism”…as if the rest of the world just doesn’t matter all that much.

And in that effort, jobs will likely be created. Heck, the stock market is already rallying in anticipation of all that pent-up demand being released into the market-sphere.

However, I have a sense that there are many, millions even, like me who believe that a heightened emphasis on money as the measuring stick for human prosperity in the context of a zero-sum, us versus them, world view, is not really the right direction to go in.

It certainly wasn’t the direction strongly suggested by that anti-Trumpian counter-revolutionary named Bernie Sanders…now was it?

However, in my estimation, that’s exactly the direction in which “we” are going…at least for the next four years.

I’ve been operating on dual “career paths” in the last couple years. One in which I espouse this mindset I call “impact mindfulness” in my blog, Revolutionary Misfit, and in books, like The Impact Revolution and The Revolutionary Misfit Manifesto.

And the other where I tout the Costa Rica expat life and offer services for guided Costa Rica Expat Tours, or Costa Rica Expat Consulting, to anyone who thinks they might like to give Costa Rica expat living a try.

I have decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for those two paths to merge into a concept you might call Expat Mindfulness. And the change that has now been unleashed in the world, in the form of the Donald J. Trump, is a prime motivator behind my thinking.

Certainly this epiphany is part economically motivated. I do anticipate that many will decide that the direction the U.S.A. is going in just ain’t consistent with their values anymore. I believe that might give rise to more demand for my services.

Hey, we’ve all go to make a buck…right?

But there’s more to it than just that.

I’m thinking more in terms of tribe building.

If you’re one of those who might be thinking of making a change as drastic as leaving your country of birth…well, I want to give you some solace and some inspiration.

Solace in being part of a tribe of others who are of similar mindset. And inspiration in the form of a cogent reason to make your expat move…

Expat Mindfulness.

What Costa Rica offers is the opportunity to simplify one’s life…to reduce the clutter. It offers the opportunity to learn to be happy with less. The ticos, or citizens of Costa Rica, are wonderful examples of that.

Because, you see, the last “change” that the world needs is an even stronger sense of the accumulation mindset. That what really matters is my capability as an individual to become “super successful”, measured in terms of my ability to accumulate more stuff in a dog-eat-dog competitive context.

On the contrary, what the world needs right now is love, sweet love…to steal from a song.

No, really, what the world does need is a heightened sense of togetherness…of the Big US.

What the world needs right now are more people willing to put their impact over their self-interest.

What the world needs right now are people willing to reject the impact blinding messages whispering that what’s most important is accumulation of more, more, more…even if it comes at the expense of people and planet.

Hasn’t our planet indeed been sending us ample signals as of late about the folly of that type of thinking and doing?

Trump and those who lifted him to his current position as most powerful man on earth seem to want to just completely ignore those signals.

But our planet will return the favor and ignore us unless enough of us rise up and resist.

Now, you can choose to resist at home, or abroad (in a place like Costa Rica!). If you’d like to give Expat Mindfulness a try…

I am here to offer you a hand in that effort.

In addition to the blog you are reading right now, learn more (and participate) about Expat Mindfulness at one or all of the following locations…

The Costa Rica Expat Tours website

The Costa Rica Expat Living Facebook Page

The Impact Revolution Facebook Page

On Moving Forward

November 13, 2016 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

There are certain facts that we just have to face in this life.

Donald J. Trump is now president of the U.S.A.

My mom is no longer with me.

Those are two that have hit me within the last two weeks like a ton of bricks. Nevertheless, both have become facts of life that I must live with…while moving forward.

It’s an understatement to say that the last two years of my life have been the toughest to date. And the last two weeks the toughest of those last two years.

I’ve always considered myself to be a very optimistic person. But in the face of all this, it’s damn hard to remain that way.

But, really, what are my choices? What are our choices?

Oh sure, we can despair. We can give up hope. We can give up trying to make our lives better…and the world better. We can give up on making an impact. After all, our vote certainly didn’t seem to matter.

However, giving up is not the answer. Not for me…and not for you.

I launched a GoFundMe campaign about two months ago. I’ve revised the description a couple of times, as if words might matter. I’ve always suffered under the illusion that they do.

The bottom line is that even though I am resolutely determined to move forward, I still need a little help in doing so. I can see a glimpse of light, but there’s still a ways to go before I reach it.

I woke up this morning as determined as ever to move forward, despite the uncertainties of my life. I woke up determined to move ahead in spite of Trump’s victory.

It is what my mom would want me to do.

I have many projects and goals I am trying to move forward on…

My real estate business – both residential and commercial…
My Expat Tours – which are directly connected to my success with real estate…
My Vacation Tours – for Costa Rica and Colombia…
My Writing – I want to offer my books in written form…
Podcasts – I want to start two: one for The Impact Revolution and another for Expat Living…
Indigenous Arts and Crafts Sales – a sustainable business I’ve been involved with successfully in the past, which is a great way to have an impact…
Hydroponic Gardening – I put this one on the back-burner over the last year while I focused on real estate. That was probably a mistake and I want to reignite and reinvigorate the effort.

Many things on the above list I can move forward on right now and I am doing so. Some things, however, require funds that I just do not have at the moment. That is a major reason for launching this campaign.

I have a clear set of goals for each and I know that I can succeed…with a little help from my friends.

Speaking of help from friends, I wanted to take a moment to thank a few friends who have lent me some light…

Chris Palazzari
Dianna Adams
Teresa Berlin
Scott Sherman
Ed Flaspoehler
Michael Weiner

Most of this light was contributed directly to me, i.e., it does not show up in the official campaign results. But that doesn’t make it one iota less impactful. I want to thank each of you from the very bottom of my heart for what you did for me…for the light you extended to me. You are all a blessing and I will never, ever forget.

I am going to be OK. Our nation will be OK. Our world will be OK. But only if we stick together. Only if we remember that we’re all on this planetary ship together. Only if we put our impact over self-interest. Only if we refuse to be blinded by the insidious and erroneous mindset of us versus them. There is no “them.” There’s really only one Big US.

The truth is that we don’t have to all think alike, politically or otherwise, in order to realize that the best path for moving forward is one of connection and cooperation.

So, I am reaching out, not just for help, but also to extend encouragement. Don’t give up hope. Stay in the fight.

Our world is depending on your impact.

My GoFundMe Campaign

Because we all get by with a little help from our friends.

The Fabric of Society is Torn

November 5, 2016 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Most of us have probably had the experience of taking off in an airplane in stormy weather. It’s a bit disconcerting isn’t it?

And just when you have convinced and braced yourself for the ensuing fiery crash, the clouds part and sunshine and blue sky appears. That’s always a very good feeling isn’t it?

Well, right now I’m in the clouds, convinced and braced for the ensuing fiery crash.

Oh for sure, I’ve been through dark clouds before. But, not quite like this.

Not with the experience of my mom passing…something that only happens once in a lifetime…like birth and death.

Not with the experience of seriously not knowing where my next meal will come from.

Not with the experience of failing at just about everything.

And not with the experience of feeling as if the fabric of society is torn…

I’ve never experienced anything like this in my lifetime. I didn’t live through the Civil War, or the Great Depression. Perhaps those tumultuous events were similarly disconcerting. And of course, the 60’s were a decade of societal upheaval. I was a bit too young to really be able to say I “lived through them.”

But the 60’s, in many ways, made us better. Will that be the case…this time?

I don’t know.

We all want to cast blame for all that is happening. And we now have the platform of social media in which to do so in a very public way.

We want to say it’s the fault of the democrats, or the republicans, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, the minions of either, the military-industrial complex, neoliberalism (guilty!), and so on…

But the real truth is that the “one” who’s at fault is…

US.

We are at fault and perhaps the prime reason is our stubborn unwillingness to listen to each other…and really try to understand one another.

You see, people do what they do and think what they think for deeply personal reasons. And that even applies to deplorable mindsets like racism, or sexism.

I’m not implying that we should accept these ways of thinking. The ideas themselves should be roundly condemned. But we shouldn’t be so quick to accuse, judge, and condemn others who we think might harbor them. Rather we should try to understand why.

As Steven Covey wrote long ago in his famous 7 habits book, “seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

Taking to Facebook and insulting those who think differently is not the way to mend the fabric of society. And right now the fabric of society is torn and frayed. I believe this hyper-media culture that has formed around us, and that is being technologically propelled to ever more intrusive levels, is only making it worse.

This election could be a turning point, or it could mark the complete unraveling of society as we’ve known it.

It will only be the former if we stop insulting one another on Facebook and Twitter and start trying to understand and cooperate with one another, despite our differences.

As the great English philosopher, Bertrand Russell, once said…

Love is wise, hatred is foolish…

In this world, which is getting more and more connected,
we have to learn to tolerate one another.

We have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don’t like.

We can only live together in that way. And if we are to live together and not die together…

We must learn the kind of charity and tolerance that is absolutely essential to the continuation of human life on this planet.

Yes, the fabric of society is torn.

But it can be mended…

The question is, will we?

Sorry for my metaphorical mixing in this, admittedly, platitudinal post. But to end it I will say that I’m completely confident that the clouds will part for me personally…the sunshine and blue sky will finally appear…

I can only hope the same clearing will occur for “US.”

image credit: ChantelSchmitt Flickr via Compfight cc

For Mom

November 3, 2016 by costaricaguy 2 Comments

Here’s another post from the distant past, inspired, in part, as was yesterday’s, by the book…The Road Less Traveled…

OK, I’ll admit…at the time I wrote it, I was having some “love” issues…

I seem to be writing a lot on this topic of love, relationships, and, you know, really yucky stuff. I promise I’ll move on soon, but humor me, please, for a moment, whilst I soothe my sore ego.

In Scott Peck’s book, The Road Less Traveled (which I recommend for anyone with problems upstairs, which pretty much means everyone, including YOU), he dispels some myths about the nature of true love.

For Peck, it all comes down to extending oneself emotionally, physically, financially and in all others ways, for the spiritual growth of another human being.

I’ve always thought of true love as being unconditional. In other words, if you claim to love someone, but only extend that love if they behave in certain ways, that’s just not love.

Love in return for performance?

Does that really sound correct to you?

I will love you as long as you buy me things, take me places, and please me in the ways I demand. The emphasis always remaining me, me, me…

Doesn’t that sound more like…self-love?

However, I’m afraid many people have that kind of idea about love. As soon as the performance wains, probably due to exhaustion, their “love” for the other dries up…

and they move on to the next ego-feeding source.

Now, there are some good models of unconditional love, in real life, as well as in religious mythology.

However, the best example that I can think of is a mother’s love, specifically my mother’s love.

And trust me on this, it ain’t easy being my mother! Tweet it Out!

Granted, that’s a different kind of love than the romantic type. But only in certain respects.

In keeping with Peck’s definition, we should love our partners with that same brand of unconditional love.

We should extend ourselves even when nothing flows back our way in return.

My mother does that on a consistent basis. And not just for me, but for most everyone.

Sometimes I believe she feels a bit exhausted. I can see it in her face, or hear it in her voice, but she keeps on extending nonetheless.

Why?

Because she has real love in her heart. She doesn’t expect, nor demand, a certain level of performance in return.

Now, I’m sure she’d prefer to see a bit of it, i.e., performance, if she had her druthers, but disappointment in regards to such wishful thinking is never a condition to her extending.

I tend to take for granted how fortunate I am to have someone who loves me in this way. You ever do that? Don’t!

Hence this post is for mom, and dedicated to her shining example of unconditional love.

Save for my children, no human being has ever loved me like that…

not even close.

I never have to worry that if I mess up, really bad, she will stop loving me. If that were the case, well, I don’t believe she’d still be answering my phone calls.

But she does and she’s there for me when I need her, always.

I know she reads my drivel from time to time, so, mom, if you happen to catch this one…

thanks and I love you.

post update: my mom passed away October 31, 2016…she will forever be the greatest model of unconditional love that I’ve known...

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