Politics, quite simply, is composed of endless attempts at surface solutions to surface problems. If one suffers from a bacterial infection, the doctors may work hard at controlling and abating the resulting fever. However, as long as the bacterium is living within the body, there will always be fever. The bacterium must be eliminated.

In centuries past, much work has been done to eliminate human suffering throughout the world. Yet suffering remains. The homeless are still homeless, the hungry are still hungry, and children still die in great numbers every single day.

The source, the “bacterium,” is in the heart of humankind. Herein lies the root; the cause. Until the bacterium is recognized and treated, there will always be the fever. Confucius hit the nail on the head when he stated: “To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”

The writer lives in Georgetown.