By guest blogger Sadako Red [see disclaimer]
[March 15, 2020] Duty is the essence of humanness. No words written are more pointed to the reason modern men and women are so unhappy … unhappy because they fail to realize that not doing one’s “duty” is the denial of our obligation to act righteously. For the past several weeks, I have been on President Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force (as a support staff member); you know the one, now lead by Vice President Pence. Let it be known that I never shy away from a difficult job, even those things that seem impossible from the outset and neither do I dislike it when criticized. A personal philosophy of mine is there is great merit doing my duty as a United States’ citizen and, besides, I enjoy being at – what the military says – the tip of the spear. Alas, this article is not about me or those engaged on the front lines of doing the hard job of fighting the Coronavirus, it’s about those who fail and continue to fail to do their duty.
I will begin, briefly, with the failure of the government of China to do what most believe is necessary to protect its citizens against the terrible impact of the virus. Noteworthy is the fact that at its highest levels, they have been neither forthcoming about this virus nor have they shared critical data and access to the WHO and American CDC specialists. We should also remember the Chinese ophthalmologist Dr. Li Wenliang, a real hero in my eyes, who first tried to tell the world that China was hiding something malevolent, only to be imprisoned and silence by Chinese authorities for “fabricating lies” about the disease’s deadly potential. He would later die of the very illness he tried to warn us about and that the Chinese government’s attempt to keep it hidden. Unfortunately for the people of China, the protection of its citizens is not a priority, as that distinction goes to the autocratic Communist Party of China (the CPC). The CPC is the founding and ruling political party and sole governing entity and thus the CPC must be protected at all costs. Ever wonder why true democratic nations are better places to live.
Just as the corrupt WHO leadership was complimenting China on its response to the virus, we were finding out the truth behind the autocracy’s actions, the implicit concurrence of their military, and the blocking of practical medical solutions by low-level functionaries. Did they do their duty? If you see your duty to the political state and only the state, then yes, they did their duty. But, no moral parade is necessary to know they failed their duty to their citizens. They kicked butt by locking down 10s of millions, constructed (shoddy) buildings to concentrate those infected, and repeatedly lied and distorted the truth about the disease and still do so today. Can the world believe the Chinese spokesmen who claimed the Coronavirus is under control as measured by declining infection rates? Are these men, who are the voice piece for their government, doing their duty for the CPC or for their citizens? I think we know the answer to that question. Remember, duty doesn’t melt away, no matter how much we might wish it to. Simply put, duty, there ain’t enough of it.
Sadako Red’s Previous Posts:
- Fear, there Ain’t Enough of It
- Courage, there Ain’t Enough of It
- Race Relations and Observing Failure
- Thoughts from Sadako Red as a Young Man
- What I saw was Bizarre
- Leadership is not a Popularity Contest
- The Most Difficult Task is to Unlearn Untruths
- Why Cities like Washington D.C. are Prone to Fail
- Stupid is as Stupid Does … City of Baltimore
- Thoughts from Sadako Red as a Young Man
- Race, Leadership, and Moral Failure
- City of Baltimore: When Leaders Fail
- City of Baltimore: Stuck on Stupid II
- Weak Leaders, Politicians, and Racism …
- City of Baltimore and Race: Stuck on Stupid
- Lead by Example and Show Some Dignity!
- Fear: Racist, Sexist, Homophobe Accusations
- The U.S. Army, Race Relations, and Manhood
- Race: Leadership and the Lack of Leadership
- A Failed Management Culture in the VA
- Race Trumps and Leadership Fails
- Race, Character, and the Government
Once again, you are one of the best guest bloggers for Gen Satterfield and I certainly (as others here have noted) appreciate your writings. Please keep them coming out way.
Yes, I agree with you Greg. This blog is the place to be if you want to get some ideas of leadership and get it quick.
A coronavirus cautionary tale from Italy: Don’t do what we did
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/13/opinion/coronavirus-cautionary-tale-italy-dont-do-what-we-did/
Great article. Thanks Mr. Red.
I second that comment. ? While I may also be relatively new to this leadership blog, I feel at home. Thanks all. Oh, BTW, I really enjoyed reading Mr. S. Red’s past articles.
Your comments are greatly appreciated and welcome. General Satterfield has assured me that I can write and publish all I want on his blog. So, with that, I will be signing off for a few weeks due to my commitment to the nation and fighting to Coronavirus.
Best of luck with your “duty” to our country.
Thank you Sadako Red. Good luck and bring back some leader lessons learned. I think you will be picking up a few.
Hi Folks! I’m a recent convert to this blog. I hope also to make a contribution. Appreciate solid feedback.
Welcome “the ace.” Anytime you want to write, I think you will find that we always treat people respectfully here and are quick to give appropriate feedback.
For those new to Gen. Satterfield and his leadership blog, you will find at the end of many regular guests, a list of past articles. I recommend reading them from the bottom up instead of top down. That way, you get a flavor of how the guest, SR in this case, has increased in logic and can follow it better. Also, SR is one of the best guest bloggers I’ve ever read. Just my opinion. ?
Thanks Janna. Good advice. I too recommend searching for Guest Bloggers and get a regular dose of some of the better writers.
Good article with Sadako Red today. Of course, I’m one of SR’s biggest fans and love all his work. The more articles the better.
Apocalypse Meow, great article about the virus panic: https://knowledgeisgood.net/2020/03/14/apocalypse-meow/
A great quote from the article about a man witnessing the panic in a grocery store.
“So, eager to immerse myself into the media-created zombie apocalypse, I bulled my way into the store and found myself in the middle of a reasonably accurate re-enactment of the Fall of Saigon. A grim, pushing, swarming locust-like army of shoppers was busily stripping the shelves bare. There was no bread, milk, cheese, bottled water, toilet paper, paper towels, bleach, or hand sanitizer. Canned vegetables were in short supply, and the frozen food section was being rapidly depleted.”
Ha ha…. run for the hills. It’s the media-created zombie apocalypse.
Gil, you took the wind right out of my sails. Thank you so much for being the first to jump on this. I do believe the media, in their sense of self-righteousness, has gone over the top with this coronavirus. I believe that Gen. Satterfield has established the right, measured tone.
The ‘corrupt’ World Health Organization. Who would have known this to be the case. I guess that is what happens when a tinpot country gives up one of its corrupt officials to lead this org. Too bad for the world when they spend more time on trying to get people to be “trans” than to fight off future deadly viruses.
Sadako Red, thanks for a great article; good balance between hard-hitting, humor, and spot-on info. I would like to read more articles from you as I’m know the rest of us would agree.
You’re back! Thank goodness you are back online with Gen. Satterfield at his leadership blog. It has been too long Mr. Red for you to go without an article. Of course, you have a giant fan club here. Oh, now that we are now locked away in our homes, maybe we will now have more time to strike up great discussions.
I agree with you Martin so I’m proposing a few more topics for Sadako Red. First, HONOR there ain’t enough of it. Then INTEGRITY, then SERVICE. Anyway, everyone have a great weekend and stay away from infected people (hard to do I know).
Yes everyone, SR is back in the saddle. I’m happy to read his writings anytime. Loved this article too. Once again he is kicking some serious butt.
Yeah! ?
I’m one of his oldest fans!
hI everyone, i’m new to this blog. thanks for having me here. i hope to give some signficant input. ; – 0