Some twelve years ago, I read The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel Huntington.  It was a brilliant book and became a framework for much of my thinking, even for more mundane things.  He argued that civilizations have become more important than nations or states.  An example would be our Western Civilization speaking romance languages, compared to the Eastern Civilization or to the Islamic Civilization as examples.

My takeaway was comparing civilizations to tectonic plates on the Earth’s surface.  Remembering your college class on continental drift, these tectonic plates drift around on the Earth’s surface very slowly.  However, when they do collide in very-slow-motion, several things can happen.  One tectonic plate may rise on top of the other, explaining the Himalaya.  Or, they may begin touching each other, despite their continuing movement.  Because they are still “drifting,” pressure builds up wherever they touch.  If that pressure is released slowly, it is barely noticed.  If that pressure continues to build, it will eventually be released — as an earthquake, explaining California.  Civilizations are the same.

Carrying the concept of clashing non-tangibles is also useful for more mundane thoughts.  Most everyone can readily see the clashing of religions, but how about the clashing of cultures or mundane social patterns?

I keep thinking about a young lady we met on our last trip, who is bright, cheerful and should have a good future — except she is heavier every time we see her and dresses more like a farmhand than a bright, cheerful young lady who could have a good future.  It is not her fault.  She knows nothing about nutrition and healthcare.  Her parents also know nothing about nutrition and healthcare, except you shouldn’t eat foods that don’t taste “good.”  Her school may have an elective course in nutrition, but it should be required.  I know the Republican position is that parents should be the “mommy-state” and not the school, and I agree, but the parents were never taught anything about nutrition either.  When does the chain of ignorance get broken?

With respect to dress, public schools are not charm schools, I understand that.  Yet, I remember the last three weeks of Officer Candidate School in the Army had several classes on table manners and appropriate off-duty behavior, including clothes.  Even the Army thinks it is important enough to spend tax dollars teaching what is not obvious to most.

When pressure between the tectonic plates of health and healthcare builds, a premature and slow death is more likely to occur.  When pressure between the tectonic plates of social expectations and social awareness builds, missed opportunities result and at what cost to GDP?

There is a cost to doing something, and there is a cost to doing nothing.  Which is greater?