Flip Side

From the Urban Tarot, the Four of Disks; from the Principles to Live By tiles, Open-mindedness:

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. 

—Abraham Lincoln

          Scott calls this card - a version of Times Square - Disks Incorporated. Material power can grant security and comfort as well as the opportunity to create change in our lives and the lives of others. Yet attachment to this power can create a paranoid mentality, a mindset that fears loss and reacts through greed and selfishness. The empty Bowl is a symbol of an open mind (a nod to the story of the Zen master overfilling the teacup). Open-minded people don't mind having their views challenged, ask as many questions as they make statements, focus on understanding others (rather than being understood), are curious, let the other person speak freely, and can hold two conflicting concepts at once while assessing the merit of both. People with material power can easily slide into a dogmatic stance, pointing to their success as a reason they are always right. Lately I've heard employers complain that they can't find people to employ; they angrily grumble that all the 'free government money' given out during the pandemic lets people be lazy. Yet perhaps people simply got tired of working for low wages with no benefits and little appreciation. Others might have found alternative ways to earn a living when businesses were closed. There's usually a flip side to everything.

I often suggest that whenever anyone says, ‘I can’t find the workers I need,’ they should really add, ‘at the wages I want to pay.’ —Heidi Shierholz, economist