In response to Matt's positive comments about our 33rd President, Harry S. Truman, a reader points out that it was Truman who ordered nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

The reader asks how this jibes with Matt’s calling for a New Los Alamos, in which people will come together in a spirit polar to that which produced the H-bomb.

“It sounds as if you are speaking out of both sides of your mouth,” the reader suggests.

Matt responds:

That’s a great question!  It brings up the reality that if you’re going to comment on how you look at the world, you should be prepared to explain it!

First of all, I know that I sometimes do speak out of both sides of my mouth!

Truman’s decision to drop the bomb probably goes down as one of the most destructive decisions you could find at that particular point in time, or at any point in time, but one could also speculate on what destruction would have occurred if he hadn’t dropped it.

There are all kinds of measurements, and as we know, hindsight is 20/20.

You could ask, How many people would not be walking the earth because their father, grandfather, or great-grandfather got killed in vain in a particular country?  Were any of them the great inventors, scientists, or peacemakers who opened up the boundaries of health and politics and religion?

When we look at U.S. Presidents or world leaders, we see that they’re measured against the realities of their time.

Many people in the 1940s and 50s believes that Truman left office in disgrace.  Today, when we look at Presidents who did things out of a strong sense of convinction, we put him close to the top of the list.  He saw a problem, considered all options, and figured out what he thought was best for the country, regardless of what people thought.

One reason why our democracy is such a precious thing is that every four years, we can remove a President from office without anybody killing anybody.

Do we really want to put a President in office who worries all the time about whether every decision will be approved of by the collective mind of everyone in the country?

My idea for the New Los Alamos is to bring up a new paradigm, where the collective consciousness would not even consider using the H-bomb.

What are the ramifications of that?  We could go on forever...  If the north, south, east, and west of us are determined enemies out to destroy our country, then are we going to elect a pacifist?  Do we have any tools in our toolbox outside of “Might is right”?

I don’t believe that the human race can someday just wake up and be peace-loving and accepting of people who we’ve hated for eons due to their culture, skin color, religion, or the way they think.

I think we have to institutionalize being good to each other.  We have to find the right policy and the right format.  And when we do, I’m sure it will be so shunned, so loved, so debated, that we will take quite a long time to come to a conclusion about whether we made the right decision.

I believe that the only problem in the world is thinking there is no problem—and then, all of a sudden, we see a big white cloud go up and we think, “Hmm, maybe we should have rethought this...”

You can’t change the past; you can only learn from it.

I for one admit that I cannot penetrate the mind of anyone in terms of how and what they did or would do under certain circumstances in a particular job in a particular place and time.  It would be pure conjecture on my part.

I stand by my own decisions, knowing that things change, and I have to change my decisions if I’m proved wrong.  I have to accept that I am not infallible.  I, like everybody that walks this earth, make many mistakes.

I try not to look into the minds, souls, and hearts of other people, but to look into my own and, if there’s something wrong, instead of pissing and moaning about it, to do something about it.  If I don’t take any action, maybe I should keep my mouth shut!

When you enter into the waters of being an inquisitor of yourself, of appraising and criticizing what you’ve said and done, then you have to be a risk-taker.  It’s a constant education when something you knew was positively true, all of a sudden becomes doubtful.

That is a daunting and scary place to be, but if we’re going to go into this unknown place known as the future, we have to remember that all bets are off.

So put on your bathing cap and your goggles, and jump into the ocean.  It’s a long swim!

Matt