Obama and Putin - "They don't see the sky"

You can't solve a tranformational problem with a transactional solution. 

What follows (and I can't attest with certainty to whether the pictures are in the correct order) is what happens when two transactional warriors meet.

Trying to see "eye to eye" only leads to a stalemate.  The reason for that is that when you're a hammer the world's a nail and when you're a nail, it feels as if the world is out to hammer you.

What we see here are two men determined not to be the nail.

(For a solution to this stalemate go to the end of the pictures)

 

The story is told how years ago a man from a very primitive tribe came to Manhattan and was asked by a resident, "What do you think of New York City?"

The man paused thoughtfully and responded, "They don't see the sky."

The "sky" is not what is, or even what will be tomorrow or in a year.  The "sky" is what could be.  The "sky" is a future so grand that it will cause transactionally myopic people to drop their quid pro quo, zero sum, short term focus to change history. 

The Apollo Moon Mission that JFK proposed was when he declared in 1962 that by the end of that decade, we would dedicate ourselves to putting a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.  What Moon missions have in common is: a) a date; b) a visualizable end goal; c) are impossible and completely aspirational at the time one is declared.

Obama and Putin, Russia and China, the Muslims, Arabs and Jews, the Blacks and Whites and Hispanics, the elderly, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen y, Millennials, etc. all need a Moon Mission so grand that we will all want to live into it.

I don't know what that might be, but I will start the ball rolling by stating that nearly all of mankind love their children and especially their grandchildren.  That may not be so apparent when men are caught up in their hubris, ego and "war games," but it is readily visible when you look into the eyes and hearts of nearly all mothers and grandmothers.

So, "I believe that this world should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of making the world safe for all new infants born into it where they will be provided with healthcare and the resources to succeed and find happiness and fulfillment in their lives."

There's your date, a visualizable goal and something that is currently impossible and aspirational.  That's what makes it a Moon mission.