The National Day of Memorial and Mourning was a profound success as an international audience honored those who had died in the 'Rebellion of '08' on January 17, 2008. Now, a year later, the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. volunteers were wrestling with ways to change the American philosophy and culture - from one of selfishness and greed to a refreshed genre of generosity and goodness. John McCain had coined "Equilateralism" as new term to describe America's reform. But it was important that this became more than just a 'buzzword' - there had to be a depth of intense commitment behind it that Americans could, and would, embrace.
Around the globe, there were examples of socialistic, communistic, capitalistic and democratic societies, all of which had seen specific degrees of success or failure. The United States itself had been perhaps the most successful example of a capitalistic democratic republic in this history of the modern world. But there were two small nations that enjoyed unique and civilized community that had proven to be effective means of calm and consistent governance.
On the northern coast of Borneo in southeast Asia is the tiny country of Burnei. After gaining its independence from the U.K. on January 1, 1984, this small nation became a Constitutional Sultanate government wherein the government provides all medical care, and subsidizes the costs of food and housing for its citizens. Officially designated as Negara Brunei Darussalam, the country's natural resources include petroleum, natural gas and timber. Petroleum exports account for 50% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is estimated at an annual $9000 per capita, among the highest in the third world. About 275,000 Bruneians make up the population, comprised of 63% Muslims and 14% Buddhists. Malay is the country's official language, but English and some Chinese dialects are also spoken with fluency.
On the southeast slope of the Himalayas lies a country half the size of Indiana known as the Kingdom of Bhutan. In 1960 the monarchy abolished slavery and the caste system, and emancipated women. Thirty-eight years later, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck curtailed his absolute monarchy and published a draft that proposed shifting the country to a two-party democracy. In 2006, the king relinquished his throne to his son, Crown Prince Jigme Kheshar Mangyal Wangchuck. The draft to transform the country into a democracy has yet to be ratified after ten years. Still, the nation's 750,000 residents enjoy a gross annual income of $1400 per capita. 75% of the citizens are Buddhists; 25% of Hindus, and most speak the official Dzongkha language. There is some Nepalese and Tibetan dialects also spoken. The country's natural resources include timber, hydropower, gypsum and calcium carbide, much of which is exported to India, along with spices, handicrafts, fruit, cement, and precious stones. Unique to this tiny country is the inherent philosophy that "Gross National Happiness" is more important than "Gross National Product", making it consistently one of the "happiest" places on Earth as measured by many international organizations and publications.
O.U.T.R.A.G.E. researchers were giving serious consideration to these two nations. Could such simplistic philosophies be enmeshed in a society with three hundred times the population? Could 'gross national happiness" replace the American madness for making money and piling up wealth?
For years, psychologists have seen countless clients who found it easier to be rich than to be happy. Their wealth, of course, afforded them the opportunity to mask that unhappiness with expensive cars, lavish homes, luxury vacations, and gaudy jewelry. And, down deep inside the portals of their souls, most well-to-do people knew they were getting ripped off every time they bought another $10,000 diamond bauble. For a while, the glitter gave them a sense of 'happiness' in being able to tell the world, "Look what I can afford!" - and when the glitter waned, the jewelry was tucked away in a drawer only to be brought out on special occasions, or quickly replaced with a glitzier, gaudier gemstone that might provide another moment of happiness. Rich men collected ex-wives that glittered for a year or two and then were also tucked away in some out-of-the-way Tudor mansion off Ponce deLeon Bay where old 'trophy wives' went to die. A wealthy women would spend fortunes on cosmetic make-overs designed to keep her gigolo from moving on to something more glittering with bigger boobs.
"Self-made millionaires" worked at jobs they hated just to keep the money rolling in; battered wives stayed with philandering husbands, trading a life of comfort and privilege for the inconvenience of misery and gloom. Friendships started or ended based on the size of one's portfolio or real estate holdings. 'Happiness' in America had become so - plastic.
Determined to improvise a means of bringing true happiness to America's population, O.U.T.R.A.G.E. philosophers and social engineers tried desperately to bring meaning to "Equilateralism". If there was more equality, so the reasoning went, there would be less competitive clamoring for money, power and influence. The theory made for a great 'white paper', but trying to put it into some defining action plan proved exasperating. When composing the Declaration of Independence, America's founding fathers went through grueling periods of frustration. Surely, Lenin experienced periods of desolation as he tried to develop his concept of the proletariat and the establishment of a classless society based on the doctrines of Karl Marx. Hitler's "Mien Kaump" was certainly didn't flow effortlessly and quickly.
O.U.T.R.A.G.E. was, in effect, rewriting America's most important documents. Such valiant assignment called for unfettered