Our Non-negotiable Essence

What makes you, you? What is your essence? What is the thing that, if taken away, you cease to be you, or cease to be at all?

There are many ways to answer this question. It may be found in your relationships – your children, partners, family and friends. It may also lie in the social roles you play – your profession and daily activities. It may also stem from your values, based on things like cultural heritage and ancestry, personal history and memories, sense of ethics and missions.

My essence is my expression. I think of my piano playing, writing, and lecture-presentations as facets of the same essence: the expression of my experience and encounters as I perceive and understand it. The feedback I receive for my work deepens my appreciation for everything and everyone, inspiring me to create even more. This continuous cycle shapes my path – my essence.

Now, what is the essence of the United States of America?

President Lincoln described it as a “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” vowing that it “shall not perish from the earth.” However, in recent weeks, political candidates who were rejected by voters in elections have been appointed to public office. Elon Musk, an unelected private citizen, has been exerting unprecedented, and likely illegal, political influence.

Multiple U.S. government agencies face the threat of shutdown. Despite being known as the “land of the immigrants,” United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) suddenly suspended all services last month. Flights were cancelled for tens of thousands of refugees who had already been cleared for travel. Despite our Founding Fathers’ declaration that “all men are created equal,” and are endowed with “certain unalienable Rights” including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – with its tens of thousands of food, medicine, education and disaster relief workers – has received stop-work orders. USAID’s website is now entirely blank; It is effectively shut down.

The U.S. has long been a leader in scientific research and innovation. However, with proposals to dismantle the Department of Education, the hostile rhetoric against higher education, funding freezes and cuts to research – including in climate and health -, anti-intellectualism threatens to have a devastating global impact.

In his inaugural address, President J.F. Kennedy famously encouraged us to “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” And he continued:

My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you but what together we can do for the freedom of men. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-john-f-kennedys-inaugural-address

What can you and I do to protect our country’s integrity – the very essence of the United States?

The above entry is based on my bi-monthly column “The Way of the Pianist” #147 to be published by Nikkan San on its Sunday, February 16th issue.