What Is Wisdom?

I read an interesting article today, written by a very interesting author, that raised the title question. It was a piece of political commentary, so read it, or not, as you will, but it made me think. Nephi said that learning and wisdom were not necessarily synonymous, and the former without the latter was a very dangerous thing, especially to the learned one who had no wisdom, but that learning was a good thing when the one who had it was not so full of himself that he would no longer listen to anything beyond his own thoughts.
Wisdom can be learned in academia. The classical liberal education was designed just for that. A major portion of it was a study of Western and classical philosophers combined with history so the student could see what brought about success and what brought about failure on the world stage. There is wisdom in philosophies that were developed and tested over the course of many centuries, even if they were sometimes lacking in truth.
Modern academia, in the main, seems to have thrown all of the wisdom of the ages out in the belief that anything older than memory is at least suspect if not actually evil, at least to the extent that evil is acknowledged at all. Modern philosophies tend to be developed, not by looking into the past and considering the measured results of actual decisions by real people, but by projecting the wishes of the present into the an imaginary future. For the present learned, it has the advantage that it cannot be tested or refuted, because the past is dead and beyond consideration. If some deem the philosophy flawed because it has failed so far, they just haven't given it enough time. There are still devout communists who believe that the dialectic will yet come true in just a few more years.
I think this is one reason that there is such a disconnect between the coasts and fly-over country. Wisdom can be learned from the right kind of academics, but it is far more easily learned from experience. People who are not insulated from the consequences of decisions learn quickly what works and what doesn't, even without a background in classical history. They develop a practical philosophy for living that would be easily recognized, if it were articulated, or could be articulated, by any of the old philosophers, who might quibble over details, but not broad strokes.
Too many people in academia and other "disciplines" only learn to think right and to think forward and so continuously stumble over obstacles that would easily be visible if lighted by the experience of the past, or even the present.
William Buckley's statement that he would rather be governed by the first 500 people in the Boston phonebook than the faculty of Harvard carried a lot of truth in it. The latter class of people could do considerable damage, if only because they would be thoroughly convinced of their own rightness and righteousness in every decision, and because academia today is so monolithic in its culture that there would be no dissenting voices to question the direction of march. They would march right off a cliff, all the while proclaiming that once they reached the bottom, they would find the promised land. The former, at least, would argue about the direction of march, and those that lost would would be looking for problems, so they could warn the others that the cliff was getting close and be heard.
Mosiah held the voice of the people is fairly high regard. He undoubtedly knew that they wouldn't get everything right and that it would be a messy process, but that it was uncommon for the voice of the people to choose iniquity. In modern terms, people who are not thoroughly convinced of their own infallibility and superior learning will muddle through. They may move slowly and in fits and starts, sometimes this way and sometimes that way, but on average they move in the right direction.
Government does need specialists for its operations. Agencies are not easily run by those inexperienced with large organizations. It is also good for those that govern to be advised by those learned in the areas of decisions that must be made. The decision makers, though, need wisdom more than learning and there doesn't seem to be nearly enough of that. Part of the problem is that the wise tend to not stick their nose into other peoples business which means that they are not attracted in great numbers to the business of government. It is difficult to come out of government with your honor, much less your reputation, wholly intact.

Sacrifice

We often sing "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." As a statement of faith it contains an ocean of meaning. We can see a little bit of the surface, illuminated by experience, study and testimony, but even more is hidden in its depths that is only opened by revelation. Much of what I wish I knew about it, is still hidden. To a certain extent why sacrifice brings blessings is known through scripture, but the question of how is much more mysterious. In many cases, such as the payment of an honest tithe, it amounts to a combination of faith and obedience. A specific blessing is promised in exchange for a specific activity or behavior. In other cases the tie is less direct or specific, especially when both the sacrifice and the blessing are made and received by more than one individual.
I started thinking about this again yesterday when I heard about the helo that crashed near here that killed seven soldiers. It was just an accident, of the kind that can almost be predicted statistically. In every so many thousands of flight hours, on average, there is bound to be a fatal crash, but even death by accident, for a soldier at war, is called the ultimate sacrifice. The magnitude of the sacrifice, as judged by those who survive, is only evident in the medal that is presented to the next of kin.
What blessings come from the willing sacrifice of a soldier? Or that of the more than 4000 who have now died during this war. If a war could be fought without a single life lost, would it be a war worth fighting? The value of a prize is generally measured by the cost to obtain it.
I am in the camp that firmly believes that this war is both right and just. I do not minimize the mistakes that have been made that unnecessarilly added to the costs in material, money and lives, but no enterprise that in anyway involves people will ever be without them. To the question "Was it worth the lives lost?", my answer is yes. I believe that when the true history of the world is written, without being clouded by the prejudice of having lived it, this war will be seen as one of the opening acts of a great work among the children of Ishmael.
The gospel must be and will be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Obstacles to that end will be overcome, usually by many years of labor on the part of good men and women of every kind. It took close to sixty years to bring down the Iron Curtain and establish the conditions that allowed the gospel to reach those nations that were behind it. The cost is counted in the trillions of dollars, and for all that it was a "cold" war, many tens of thousands of dead. Was it worth the cost?
Blood sacrifice was once required for the remission of sins. After Christ, it is no longer required, but there is something in the nature of a life willingly lost in a good cause that opens the windows of heaven. The nature and scope of the blessings that follow may not be readily apparent or follow immediately, but they do and will come.
I can see here the difference that is already being made. Iraq may still fail as a nation. More and more of the labor required to build their country is being placed in their own hands. I dont envy them the task of building a free and prosperous country given what they started with and their recent history, but we were quite a small and struggling nation for many years before we were firmly established in the world too. I don't think they will fail, though the nation that they build for themselves may not be precisely what we would like them to be. Only time will tell.
What blessings will come to us will be more difficult to see. There is the fact that we haven't seen another attack like 9/11 yet, but that is only temporary. I am sure that it will happen again at some point, but that kind of safety is a small thing.
Nations are raised up and destroyed according to the Lord's own purposes. Rome established the conditions for the Primative Church to be established. The nations of Europe nurtured and spread Christianity throughout the world. The United States was established so that the Modern Church could be restored. But the United States was still a small and insignificant in the world when that happened. Many decades passed before we were "lifted up above all nations" as Nephi put it.
But "To whom much is given, much is required," and we have been given much. No other nation in the history of the world has had so much influence in the world. The greatest empires of the past have not so thoroughly dominated the world as we can and do, whether it be in the economic, political, military or scientific arenas. That kind of greatness and the prosperity that comes with it must come at a price. Part of that price is that our good men and women cannot do nothing and allow evil to prevail, even while the world hates us for acting. We cannot fight every war, nor depose every tyrant, at least not all at once, but neither can we do nothing in the face of evil, or we will assent to it, and that is the surest way to lose or place in the world.
It may be that in other than the very distant term, the only blessing that we may see from the sacrifice of our dead, is that we remain as we are. The lone superpower, hated or distrusted and simultaneously envied by all, yet depended on to act because no one else will. If the time ever comes that we lose the collective will to stand against evil in the world, then we will have outlived our usefulness, and another nation will be raised up in our place, perhaps even literally.
I can live with that, or die for it. Either way, I will be in good company.

Changing Horses

There is an old saying that you dont change horses in the middle of the stream. I suppose that it could be extended by saying, unless you have to. Yesterday, General Petraeus was relieved as MNF Commander by General Odierno. This is good news. Just like you dont change horses in mid-stream, you dont change generals in the middle of the fight, unless you have too. Sometimes the general might be killed or otherwise become incapable of continuing. Then you would have to replace him out of necesity. Sometimes he might be so incompetant or reckless, that you might replace him so as not to provide aid to the enemy by having someone working for the other side in charge of your own. That isn't the case here. We are changing generals now, because the one was successful and solved the problem that he was sent to handle. The new one has his own, but different, issue to deal with. The old one is being bumped up the ladder to apply his solution to a broader arena. It can't be pleasant for the rest of the nations of CENTCOM to know that the general who smashed the insurgency in Iraq is now in charge of the entire region that spawned them. Overall, I think this is one more indicator that conditions are improving.

Future Operations

I had been assuming that I would be going on R&R sometime in November. Well, I finally asked what my approved dates were, I was a bit surprised. AS it happens, my R&R dates are in early February. I would get back into theater about a month before demobilizing and going home for good. I am not sure that I understand that, but I told the Master Sergeant that I would take whatever was left after everyone else since I didn't have a pressing need to get home, like a child's birthday. For a minute I even considered skipping it all together, but now I think I will take it anyway. The timing is pretty good for getting arrangements in place for when I come home for good a month later.
I got an email from a coworker a while back to updated me on changes at work. I have been thinking about whether or not I should return to my former employer. The company has changed a lot since I started there, and I am not sure that it is a good fit for me anymore. It may finally be time to move on. If so, this little trip to the Middle East could be a convenient way to make a clean break with enough of a nest egg to get me into my next job. If anyone from work is reading this, please dont take it personally. It is just something that I am thinking about now.

Some Welcome Changes

The weather seems to have changed for the better. The Heat stress condition didn't go to RED until 1100 yesterday. Two days ago, I made the 10 minute walk to a contractor's office for a notice to proceed meeting on my first project and barely broke a sweat. I hope this means that fall is here now. Of course it also means that, sooner or later, the walk to the showers in the morning is going to get cold.
We also reorganized our office space not long ago. There are fewer people in my office now, so the air conditioning can actually keep up with the bodies that are left.

A Word From Our Sponsor

I just found out that the Division Public Affairs Officer and Media Operations Group have put up a blog site to talk about what is happening in Basrah. Their job is to make things look good, but it is easier to do when things are good. In his second post, he writes that his first time over here, the first thing he did after stepping off the plane was hit the deck for a rocket attack. I have heard the alarm only three times in the six weeks that I have been here and heard the explosions only once, so things are much better. Anyway, even coming from the division media spokesman, it is another source of news about the area. Maybe you will find it interesting.

Brought to you by Multinational Division Southeast - The Basra Blog

A Few Links For Yesterday

We must always remember

11 September 2008 8:46:40 AM -- American Airlines-Flight 11

11 September 2008 9:03:11 AM -- United Airlines Flight 175

11 September 2008 9:37:46 AM -- American Airlines Flight 77

11 September 2008 9:37:46 AM -- South Tower Collapse

11 September 2008 10:15 AM -- United Airlines Flight 93

11 September 2008 10:29 AM -- North Tower Collapse