Ken Wilbur gives a simplistic, but dead on, definition of people with left wing ideals and people with right wing ideals. ( This is not a definition of Democratic and Republican ideals because those categories are quite broad with many varieties.)
If we ask the question - why are some people poor in the US?
The left wing answer is because those people were not given the same opportunities as others, the deck is stacked against some people in our country. So the answer is because of outside circumstances and deficiencies.
The right wing answer is because those people do not have efficient work ethics. Many people in this country have pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps and succeeded. So the right wing answer is because of inner circumstances and deficiencies.
So, who is right?? A more enlightened answer is that both left and right are correct- its a little of both. And to most efficiently create a solution to the problem, it would be best to address both parts of the problem.
President Bill Clinton was proposing something just like this years ago- The Responsibility and Opportunity Welfare Program. It was a stroke of genius that appealed to both political polarities. Soon after, Mr. Clinton lost any sort of power he wielded in D.C. with the Monica scandal and the welfare program never came to fruition.
This is very similar to the differing world views of those who are on a spiritual path and those who are not. Yogis, Tantrikas, Buddhists, Sufis, Kabbalists- those on a spiritual path think the best way to change the world is from the inside out. The world will be peaceful on the outside when all of its people are peaceful on the inside and the way to accomplish that is thru spiritual practice. So many Yogis, myself included until just a few years ago, drop out of political conversation and are not interested in social change. Many do not even vote.
People who are not on a spiritual path think the best way to change the world is by getting out there and letting their voice be heard by politicians.
What would happen if we tried to change the world using BOTH methods? Do the inner work AND the outer work.
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Social activists should become yogis because yoga teaches that action remains an outgrowth of restless, unguided thoughts until and unless the body, mind, and spirit are united.
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