(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Soft Power of Biden/Harris [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-25 We, as Americans, have never been nurtured with the concept of soft power. We're told from cradle to grave to be firm, unyielding, unbending, never allowing room for doubt, always hustling, always competing with everyone, looking out for number one. We swoon with admiration for the glitzy, "whiz kid" tech bro, or super cunning titan of industry with all their shiny yachts, private jets, and offshore stashes of wealth. We mistake their super cunning for actual intelligence. They perch atop the pyramid of control gained through force, coercion, hidden deals. Hard power is all they understand. There can only be winners and losers, strong and weak, the survival of the "fittest". That's the world of hard power. What's soft power? This is a state of mind that recognizes the nuance within every living being and things. These are the people who, with real intelligence and compassion, strive to relieve suffering and inspire everyone from within to discover their own inner strength to carve out truly beautiful lives. It's not a hierarchical power. Anyone can weld it. Wealth is not a requirement. Too much wealth can bury it. Soft power is someone like Benjamin Franklin, a stovemaker and lightning rod inventor from Philadelphia, who managed to persuade an absolute monarch like Louis XVI to bankrupt his nation in support of rebellious colonies break away from a fellow king. Soft power resided in Rosa Parks, with the simple act of not giving up her seat when a segregationist bus driver told her to. Today we have the example of President Biden and Vice President Harris. While way too many eyes are fused to the never ending details of the former Guy's four trials, while we wait to eagerly dissect the next rant, President Biden has managed to persuade Egypt and Israel to allow at least some humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian refugees. He went to Israel to quietly encourage the government to not let the horrific tragedy of October 7th open the door to mutual genocide. That's barely noticed. I suppose it's so much easier to watch a lumbering clown with fascist fantasies spew venomous word salad than it is to follow the difficult balance of negotiations with Israel and the Gaza Strip. Because there is no "winning side" should this battle be allowed to rage out of control. Compassionate negotiations use soft power. We don't understand soft power. We're not encouraged to know it even exists. I came across only a brief mention of VP Harris' diplomatic missions to countries in Latin America, to discuss with their leaders ideas and strategies to make their citizens lives better, so they wouldn't feel they had to flee their country in hopes of better lives . Now she's going to head a National Gun Violence Task Force to get information and develop strategies for gun safety. I've hardly seen it mentioned anywhere except through my Senator newsletter. That's another aspect of soft power. It tends to take effect behind the scenes, hidden by all the flashy clickbait, obsession over gender, sex scandals, and tales of violence. It can take years before the effect is finally noticed. Hardly any of it makes for "good television". The oldest president in our nation's history has spearheaded the greatest infrastructure and investment of green energy so far, despite the MAGA trying to do everything to stop that from happening. Now their Congress soap opera and the Trump court soap opera are tearing our attention away from that, in hopes that all this investment for the future can still be pulled out by the roots. I can see it every time I notice a new electric car charger spring up on a street where I hadn't seen one before. In the suburbs here, it used to be one out of every 25 houses had solar panels. Now it's every 15 or so. Oyster harvests in the Chesapeake Bay have started to considerably improve. How many of my neighbors even bother to look up from their phones? That is what puzzles the media about President Joe Biden. They keep bleating out "But he's 80 years old!" Like every single human being who manages to reach 80 ALL have to be backward looking blithering victims of dementia. We cannot understand how an 80 year old head of the most powerful country in the world puts all his energy to projects that he himself will probably not live long enough to see. At 63, I'm not sure I will either. It's the soft power of empathy for not just the younger generations, but the generations yet to come, that he uses his presidency to plant the seeds that younger generations will nurture. He believes in doing what he can for his grandchildren, and every grandchild in the country...and perhaps the world. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/25/2201594/-Soft-Power-of-Biden-Harris?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/