In order to transform we have to do more than just change things on the outside; we have to look deep inside ourselves. This is true for a country too; the US won’t transform until we’re willing to look at ways our public policy isn’t aligned with the angels of our better nature.

Only when we address the unnecessary suffering in our midst will we transform. Only when we become more reverent toward the earth will we transform. Only when we stop leading with brute force will we transform. Only when we’re willing to right historical wrongs will we transform.

A US president in the 21st-C should have as much understanding of the internal dynamics that cause people to change, as of the external dynamics that cause policy to change. We must treat more than symptoms; we must also treat cause. Otherwise symptoms simply morph into new ones.