VandenBerg’s Views

Whether it is flowers, house plants, vegetables or trees, we care for them and do our best to nurture them, keeping them healthy.  One of the ways we care for them is by pruning; removing stems, leaves, branches and blossoms that are hurting the plant.  We do this because we know that removing the diseased or otherwise non-productive parts of the plant we make the plant stronger as a whole. We do this to help the plant thrive.  Often the plant will die if these unproductive parts are not removed.  We prune out of love for the plant, not out of hate for the parts we remove.  We prune with the same understanding with which we discipline: in the long run, everything will be more healthy.  And when we prune we don’t try to justify why we prune, because pruning in itself is a good thing.

In 1965 my father was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.  As in 1965, the only known cure for melanoma is surgical removal of the cancer.  A sort of pruning of the cancer, really.  Without pruning, the melanoma will course through the body and kill the body.  In order to save the body we cut out the cancer.  This is logical.  So logical in fact that you may be wondering why I choose to dwell on the subject.  There is no love lost for the cancer that is removed from the body.  The cancer is seen as unproductive to the health of the body.  We remove the cancer out of love for the person.

So, where does that bring us?  All this talk of gardening and cancer?

We all want our society to be healthy, whether it is our immediate family, our neighborhood or community.  If our society is thriving then it benefits us as individuals.  If our society is ailing then we also are adversely affected as individuals.  It is logical that we want a strong society, whether it is our family or our country.

It also makes sense that if we want to be members of a healthy society then we need to actively work to make our society better.  By each member working to a common goal of a healthy society each member of the society has an investment in the society.  Because each individual has an investment in the society each individual has an obligation to ensure the society grows.  The growth of the society also is the vehicle of growth for the individual.  A rising tide lifts all the boats, if you will.  In order for each of us to thrive as individuals we must ensure that the society thrives; we reap the benefits of our gardening skills.

If we look at the example of society as a garden we can draw many comparisons.  In a garden we plant seeds or bulbs, we weed out the unwanted foliage, we nurture the young plant so it may mature and we reap the benefit of our labor in the bearing of fruit, or flowers, for us to enjoy.

Unfortunately it is here where logic ceases to exist.  While we all agree that pruning a dead branch from a tree is good for the tree and we all agree that removing a malignant tumor is good for the body, we stop agreeing when discussing removing unproductive people from our various societies.  Why is this?  Is there confusion about what makes a society healthy?  It is not logical that a person who does not contribute to the society makes the society stronger.  In fact that person has the opposite effect; by consuming from the garden without working in the garden this person harms the other gardeners.  Why would you want a person who is harmful to the society, and by association you as an individual, in your society?   Even if you are the most altruistic soul on the planet, having a harmful person in your society makes it harder for you to be altruistic.

It is this lack of logic that harms our society, whether the smallest one, our family, or the largest one, our planet.  This irrational approach is detrimental to the planet as a whole and to each of us as individuals.  Simply put, we, the members, or gardeners of society, are killing the garden.  Why?  It is as if we want our societies, and therefore each other and ourselves, to fail, not to thrive.

So what is the solution?  Changing people is the solution.

We need to change the way a person considers his or her part of any society so this person realizes that to be a member requires each of us to contribute to the society, not just to take from the society.  The more productive members a society has, the better the society will be, whether it is a neighborhood, a town or a state.  Being a productive member of a society helps everyone and must be encouraged, but also recognized as a duty that isn’t optional.

We need to instill in people to not be afraid of saying, “Hey.  You need to help out around here if you are going to be here.”  We have lost the ability to keep each other and ourselves accountable.  We need to be accountable for our actions since, as members of a society, our actions directly impact other members.  As good gardeners we need to tend to our garden often and with a resolve that our garden will flourish.  Sometimes we all need a reminder that we need to work with the society if we are to benefit from the society.  There should be no stigma attached to reminding a member of the society of his duties and responsibilities.

And, we need to not be afraid of pruning the society when it needs to be done; of weeding the garden so the tomato plants can thrive, of cutting out the cancer so that the patient will live.  It is the courage to prune that will save us as a race, and the illogical fear that dooms us all.

Copyright 2009 Mark D. VandenBerg All Rights Reserved