Dear Donald,

I love this imperfect and yet remarkable country and the unique and still evolving experiment in individual empowerment, civic engagement and self-governance it represents.  And so I ask you, while there is still time, pause and consider two options.  Make the decision to play a much higher and more conscious game and serve the well-being of this nation or, if you are unwilling or unable to make this choice, step aside.   For we both know in our hearts that if you do not change your trajectory you and the obviously contrarian and reactionary administration you are cobbling together will be unfit to serve the majority of us in this Democracy and unable, therefore, to uphold the oath to Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States.

So feel into these two options.  Do this before any further harm is done; before greater divisions are created between the people of this country; before fear and hatred become a permanent virus in our way of life; before the hard won advances that have been made over the last 240 years in addressing some of our greatest challenges are eroded or, worse yet, reversed; and before the unique rights and privileges that belong to those of us who live in this Democracy are lost.  Yes, pause and instead consider some of the extraordinary and positive alternatives you can advance, if you work to serve rather than try to control or manipulate the people of this nation.

Donald, for reasons I still cannot fathom, you are standing at this very significant crossroads – in your own personal history and that of this nation.  And I am certain that what you do or fail to do over the next few weeks will make the difference between whether you contribute to ushering in a time of greater consciousness and positive focus – a time of genuine well-being and empowerment for millions of our citizens - or a time of darkness and despair.

In short, Donald, you have the opportunity to choose the real gold of wisdom rather than the fool’s gold of cunning, truth rather than deception, lasting contribution rather than cheap and transitory celebrity, and real understanding rather than manipulation and suppression. You can contribute to educating, informing, encouraging and supporting the people of this nation rather than demeaning and dividing us.

So please do not attempt to create another flawed and predictable architecture of aggression, repression and suffering - one that will, in the end, fail as surely as have all other such attempts before it.  Instead join the Community of Man and work to uplift this nation.

Donald, also know that doing constructive things may be more time consuming, but not more difficult.  In fact, you will find them easier to implement than programs at the opposite end of the spectrum because rather than raising people’s resistance and opposition – a thing that will surely happen in these circumstances - the people of this nation will welcome and celebrate the opportunity to help you to take steps that advance the greater good.

So, Donald, unless there is real malevolence in your heart, take the higher road. Take advantage of this opportunity and do something remarkable.  Be known as the visionary and architect of something timeless and magnificent, something infused with greatness.  And, in the process, finally do what you and millions of us have been trying unsuccessfully to do all our lives.  Fill that place inside of us that has, up until now, never been fully touched and nurtured and that longs to be healed.  Indeed, do what we were all born to do, learn to be better at being human.

So what do you say, Donald?  Are you willing to contribute to making this next stage of your life and the lives of millions of others in this nation daring adventures of hope and discovery, of growth, learning and celebration?  Are you ready to contribute to fulfilling the real scope and promise of this noble experiment in Democracy and in the process help this nation take its next steps toward creating a world where scarcity, fear, hatred, ignorance, poverty and violence are greatly diminished?

This is not a Pollyanna fantasy!  It is a real and achievable goal. All you have to do is turn away from the seduction of manipulation and toward genuine communication and collaboration.  All you have to do is remember the good advice Confucius offered us, “The superior man seeks what is right, the inferior man (only) what is profitable.”

Donald, while at this moment you may feel like a kid in a candy store, dreaming of great power, unlimited wealth and adoration, the direction you are going in will not lead you there.  Instead you will soon discover that you are walking blindly and backwards into the future.  So trust history on this, in the end your efforts will be ineffective, for the flow of humanity – while on the surface it may appear to be stalled – is moving unalterably in a higher trajectory. So don’t make the mistake of siding with the fearful and the unconscious.  You can’t out smart or outrun the lessons of history or do anything of true and lasting consequences alone.  No one can, Donald.  And as history clearly shows, those who believed they could found only isolation, despair and regret.

Donald, instead listen to David Llyod George’s wisdom. “Don’t be afraid to take a big leap if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.”   So cross the chasm of the limited and the reactionary by taking a leap of faith. Go for excellence, integrity and commitment to advancing the greater good.  It is a much more noble leap than stumbling your way toward infamy by trying to promote the dominance by the few over the many and imposing flawed and limited religious beliefs on a nation founded on religious freedom.

Come down out of that tower, Donald.  Come together in celebration and unity with hundreds of millions of Americans who want nothing more than to share their talents and resources and contribute to creating a better world, one in which everyone can thrive and prosper, inherit their originality and uniqueness and heal what divides us from ourselves and from each other.

In the spirit of service to humanity,

George

George Cappannelli

CE0, AgeNation

Santa Fe, NM

January 1, 2017