The Editor, Sir:

The current presidential primaries and caucuses in the United States have brought to the fore the hotly debated issue of 'experience versus judgement'. Simply put, 'experience' is the knowledge, skills and expertise derived from one's involvement in particular events, while 'judgement' is the ability to make good decisions based on available evidence.

Ideally, 'experience and judgement' should be complementary and compatible in that one's judgement should not only be based on the availability of evidence, but also on one's knowledge, skills and expertise.

Long years of service

From my observation in the current political debates in the US, what many people refer to as 'experience' is nothing more than long years of service or involvement with particular events. But lengthy years of service should not necessarily be equated with knowledge and expertise. In many cases, long years of service on the job is no more than a lengthy association with an old failed system. In other words, this lengthy association is nothing more than making the same mistakes over and over again.

This state of affairs is akin to Albert Einstein's definition of insanity: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Richard Nixon, a former president of the US, was said to be rich in 'experience' in terms of knowledge, skills and many years as a political guru in Washington, DC. Yet, in terms of judgement, "he was weighed in the balance and found wanting". His extremely poor judgement during the Watergate scandal brought about his eventual political demise.

Now we are confronted with two Democratic Party hopefuls in the US, one of whom has put her so-called 'experience' on a pedestal, while the other is extolling the virtues of his judgement. There is no doubt that Hillary Clinton has more experience than Barack Obama in terms of her lengthy years of political service. But she exercised very poor judgement in voting for the invasion of Iraq.

On the contrary, although Obama's years of political involvement is somewhat limited, he exercised good judgement in opposing the disastrous Iraq debacle.

It may be said that Obama has developed and is still developing a great deal of knowledge and expertise in the political arena. From my perspective, if he continues to combine these skills with good judement, he will be an extremely positive force on the world scene.

I am, etc.,

RUPERT JOHNSON

email:

r.b.johnson@sympatico.ca

Toronto, Ontario

Canada