Sarah Stanwood asks; “This may be an inappropriate question, but I’m interested in who you supported in the presidential election. I know Cultural Maturity doesn’t take sides as far as the political left and political right. But you also make clear that that does mean the same as being middle of the road. Do you think one candidate was more culturally mature in thinking and policies.”
Charles Johnston responds: “Your question is fine. And you’ve also framed how Culture Maturity approaches such questions very well. The concept of Cultural Maturity proposes that all critical questions ahead require fully systemic understanding and equally systemic policies. The best of the political left and the political right each have contributions to make to this systemic picture. But that is very different from saying the task is just adding positions together. It is also very different from assuming that each kind of position, in a particular context, has an equal amount to contribute. Certainly it is not to assume that particular candidates have equal contributions to make.
This past election provided a striking example. To me there was no debate. I see Barack Obama as demonstrating cultural mature capacities to a remarkable degree. He has had to deal with some especially difficult challenges, and things have often not gone well during his tenure. And there are certainly times when I would have make different choices. But I think we have been very lucky to have him in office during these difficult times. The important question as far as this site is just how capable he is of culturally mature leadership. I think one of the reasons that he often irritates fellow democrats is that, more often than not, his thinking tends to be systemic, rather than conventionally liberal. I think we would have been making a big mistake if we hadn’t put him back into office.