A Room with Two Views

WWH – My mind is a room. There are two windows in it. From one window, I see a cloudless sky and hear birds chirp; a bee buzz, and brooks babble. I try to bring the inspiring sight to the attention of my other self, but when I tell him what he’s missing he says, “Your eyes and ears are playing tricks on you. The view out my window is nothing but dark, foreboding skies. You are simply naïve, gullible, or wearing rose-colored glasses. Your view is one of false optimism and hope!”

He beckons me to look out his window. The view is completely different. Outside are misery, greed, pollution, starvation, and war. He says, “Look carefully. This is the reality of the world. This is the view from my window! Keep your eyes glued to it, for then you will have no disappointments.”

I tell him that he’s a downer… that his view is one of cynicism and hopelessness. He’s been watching too much mainstream news. He tells me I am a childlike, dewy-eyed, simpleton, who refuses to face facts. I challenge him, “Are all intimations of altruism gone forever then?” He simply raises one eyebrow as if to say, “What do you think? When was the last time you saw any nation act out of altruism?”

I point out all the international attention heaped upon the trapped Chilean miners and
the aid that was sent to help rescue them from the bowels of the cavernous, tunneled
earth. For weeks, rescue teams and mining experts from around the world tried to
perform what seemed to be a miracle. With the cooperation of many countries and the
charity given selflessly and without ulterior motives, the world watched with quickened
heartbeats as each Chilean miner was brought safely to the surface. It was touching. It
was emotional. Many who watched the TV coverage were brought to tears out of joy and
relief. “Is that not an example of altruism?” I ask my friend.

He replies, “Yes, the actions of many were altruistic. But don’t you find it ironic that the
United States… no, the entire world, would give its riveted attention, sympathy and well-
wishing to the plight of one person or a few individuals, and then turn a blind eye to the
hundreds of thousands of innocent people who are being killed, maimed, raped, and left
homeless in places like Rwanda and Somalia? How come we haven’t stepped up to the
plate there?”

I shrug and say, “Brother, you really are a downer! I can think of a number of incidents
where the United States has acted out of pure altruism with no ulterior motives.” He
dares me. He stares me down inside my own head, and dares me to rattle off acts of
altruism performed by the United States.

“When we sent troops into Kuwait to protect their sovereignty and push back Saddam’s
invading Iraqi army,” I begin.

My other self laughs. He simply replies, “What’ve you been smoking? It was all about the
oil, silly, not Kuwait’s sovereignty.”

I say, “OK, how about Kosovo? The U. S. and NATO came together to stop the
displacement and genocide of hundreds of thousands of Muslims.”

My “friend” laughs again and says, “For every person who thinks this coalition acted
out of altruism, there are others who think the statistics of casualties were grossly
overblown and compared to the Holocaust only to get the public’s support. There are
even some who think the ‘coalition’ was just using ‘genocide’ as an excuse to finalize the
disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.”

“I am getting tired. I am getting depressed. I think I want to look out this other window
again. Look at this view.” I call him over to my window. “There’s Haiti right after the
earthquake. We rushed aid to them. Doctors, food, water, medicine, tents… are they
not from the heart? Is that not a sad event but with a beautiful and generous response?
And how about Japan? A triple disaster of unheard magnitudes and consequences. We
and many other countries immediately came to their aid with all the resources we could
muster.”

“OK, OK… settle down!” My cerebral roommate jokes. “I will give you Haiti. Satisfied?
Yes we sent in Navy ships with medical and other supplies. But most of the real work
is done by individuals and non-profit organizations. The Red Cross, Doctors without
Borders, World Vision, and yes, even Brad Pitt. That’s how the work gets done… through
individuals and groups, and yes, it’s very nice when the tools of war are used for saving
lives, not killing them. But I saw the new Navy recruitment ad on TV and the tag line
was, ‘A Global Force For Good’ and damn how I wanted to take it literally, I wanted
so much to accept it at face value, and yet… and yet… I kept hearing the tag line as
something sinister… ‘A global force for good.’ Whose good? Who gets to define ‘good’?”
Have I been deceived so many times that I am now cynical of those who wish to be
perceived as altruistic? Has it come to that? Or do I have good reason to be skeptical of
their motives?

“Come brother; look out your rosy window at Japan. There has been a massive
outpouring of humanitarian aid from 93 countries. So many people do what they
do out of compassion, love, and empathy. So many are truly altruistic, and to the
extent a government will support those individuals and organizations, to the extent
a government will commit its military resources to be used to rescue, recover, and
rebuild… that government is being altruistic, or at least the men and women who serve
are being altruistic. Who knows for sure what our country determines is in its own self-
interest?

“Now come back over here to my window. See the line graphs from the Dow Jones and
Nasdaq, the Nikkei and Hang Seng, the S&P Euro 350, CAC and DAX layered all over
the devastation? Did you hear the rumors you should invest in potassium iodide? Did
you know that the “re-insurance” industry is expecting a windfall over the next few
years? And the commodities markets… boom time! Wherever capitalism is in jeopardy,
we bring in the Marines!

“How come we’re not in the Congo and Uganda where children are being taught to kill

each other and little girls get raped routinely? Why is our altruism non-existent in those
places? Where were we during the incredible floods in Bangladesh? Perhaps it was not
in our nation’s best self-interests to intervene. Perhaps there wasn’t anything in it for
us.”

I looked glumly at my self and said, “Brother, you are going to die an early death with an
attitude like that!”

He smugly replied, “The way things are going, that might be for the best.” Then, in a
world-weary voice, he said, “Remember, for all the happy, scenic, views you get out of
your window, and all the dark, polluted, disfigured ones I get out of mine, your days and
mine are numbered just the same.

“What’s your take on our actions in Libya?” And he curled his lip in a most cynical
fashion as he awaited my reply.

I did not acknowledge his smirk, but calmly replied, “From the outset, I felt this was ‘the
good fight.’ War is never good… but there was an honorable morality behind this one.
When Obama said Gadafy must go and he would help enforce a ‘no-fly’ zone, I felt
happy on behalf of the resistance. When missiles destroyed the Libyan army’s planes,
tanks, artillery and munitions, I was pleased Gadafy could no longer use them to kill
his own people. I immediately and instinctually regarded our intercession as an act of
humanitarianism and altruism. I have no doubt thousands of innocent people would
have died had we not stopped the Libyan army’s march to the east.”

“Well, my friend, we share the same room, but seldom agree. This time I must withhold
judgment for the time being. Gadafy had to be stopped from committing genocide. But
I have been burned too many times and the view from my window is still clouded over
and waiting to clear. I will not know if this was a truly altruistic act until it is finished
and done with. We don’t get oil from Libya but the Italians and French do. And we do
enjoy having our military bases and airfields on their soil. And it is in our best self-
interests to protect corporations and capitalism wherever they may be.

“I have seldom known the United States government to act out of altruism unless doing
so also served its own self-interests. If humanitarianism and altruism were truly our
national policy, it would be equally applied to all regimes which are oppressive. But it
is not. Remember we backed the resistance in Afghanistan and look who the resistance
turned out to be!”

“There you go again. Can’t you ever find the good and selfless in anything? Certainly it
must still exist!

“It does,” my friend conceded. “It exists in the hearts of men and women, both as
individuals and the charitable groups to which they belong. It exists among those
citizens of the world who may not be able to help in person, but donate money and
supplies. On this we are in complete agreement, but it happens too rarely. There is
almost always self-interest at the heart of any government’s actions abroad. It is the

behaviors of individuals who display the altruistic kindness you seek. Gaze out the
window of your choosing… the one with the nice view if you prefer, but remember that
there are two windows in this room.

“The United States is at its best,” my friend said as we approached each other in
reconciliation, “when it has no hidden agendas and no ulterior motives. When it comes
to the aid of those in need around the world, be it the result of war, disease, drought,
natural disaster, or tyrants. The United States used to be perceived as the hero. Maybe
we just had our heads in the sand. Or maybe by getting smart, we have found good
reasons to be cynical. The United States always seems to have a hidden agenda or
ulterior motive that we don’t find out about until it’s too late. I only ask you to find that
curious.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Well, our government lets corporations be persons. We hear it discuss privatizing or
completely eliminating Social Security. It cuts programs for the poor and the already
marginalized, but gives tax breaks to the rich in an era when increased revenue is a
top priority. The government cuts safety nets for the most vulnerable in this country,
and blames the working class and unions for our miseries, while millions of Americans
remain unemployed and the rich get richer. Do you find this humanitarian or altruistic?

“Don’t you find it curious… that a nation which can be so generous and responsive
when coming to the aid of others around the world, and spends billions of dollars in the
process… be so fucking stingy when it comes to helping its own? Who decreed doing so
would not be in the country’s best self interests?”

I felt sorry for my friend. He was like a kid who lost his childhood. I sang to him a Dead
tune. “Look out of any window, any morning, any evening, any day. Maybe the sun is
shining, birds are winging or rain is falling from a heavy sky – what do you want me to
do, to do for you to see you through?”

He answered with watery eyes that became mine. “I want you always to be looking out
both windows at the same time. And when it’s time to close your eyes and quiet your
mind, I want there to be light in this place where we both now stand as one.”

To contact Phil or find out more: check out his website and blog For a copy of HUNGA DUNGA
Phil Polizatto is a graduate of The School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He was a feature writer for the overseas division of UPI, a copywriter for CBS, and an award-winning corporate film producer. Mr. Polizatto is a published poet and a regular contributor to Worldwide Hippies as well as a variety of other arts and literary journals. Hunga Dunga is his first published novel. He resides in the Pacific Northwest.