Rick Blackwell HISTORY MAJOR TURNED industrial ENGINEER • MARRIED TO LINDA • adjunct instructor at GRAINGER college of engineering at u of i • great decisions facilitator for more than a decade
Ever imagined working for the U.S. State Department trying to craft foreign policy in a complex, dynamic world?
Then the monthly Great Decisions group at Hinsdale Public Library may be for you, as participants grapple with global issues like Mideast realignment and NATO's future to better understand the important layers and proverbial land mines that confront government officials.
"The materials are very good, and it takes you places that you probably wouldn't have bothered to go," said Rick Blackwell, the group's facilitator, of the nationwide program sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association.
That certainly would apply to the somewhat inscrutable High Seas Treaty, the topic of the next Great Decisions meeting Wednesday, Sept. 25 (see Page 20 for details).
"It's fun to think about how the group is going to approach the topic," he remarked.
Participants read an FPA article on the issue to prepare, and the meeting begins with a video overview. The prescribed materials serve as a jumping off point.
"I usually start with the article but then find other resources that are a little bit more current so the conversation is more topical," he said. "I will pose a question and then see where it goes. It's not always predictable.
"The group drives it," added Blackwell, estimating average attendance between 15 and 18.
Blackwell cited a recent discussion about the nation of Indonesia that stretched his perspective.
"In order to lead the group I had to do some reading, and then we all had to do some reading. And I think we all learned a lot," he said.
Some topics come up regularly, he said, especially ones concerning China because of its growing influence economically and militarily. Attendees are good about not straying into partisan bickering.
"I don't want to antagonize people," he said. "I don't want it to become that kind of discussion. There's nobody in the group who wants to start an argument."
The group, sponsored by the La Grange Area League of Women Voters, has a hybrid model with about half participating in person and the other half online. Blackwell said policy matters have long fascinated him. He acknowledged participants are almost all fellow retirees who grew up in the post-World War II era of America's ascendancy to superpower status. Blackwell said he would value a younger worldview.
"Do we actually have some thing valuable to contribute that other countries may not?" he posed.
First launched in La Grange, the group took up residence at Hinsdale's library about six years ago at the suggestion of a Hinsdale member.
"It's worked out really well. They give us nice meeting spaces," he said. "It's been a really nice relationship."
The Great Decisions books are available at the library for people to use. He said the name is a bit misleading.
"It's called 'Great Decisions' but we don't ever make one," Blackwell quipped.
Perhaps Great Citizens would be more fitting.
"We should be thinking about who we're voting for and what we should be doing as Americans," he said. "You start thinking about people and political systems. Those are useful thoughts to have as a voter."
- story by Ken Knutson, photo by Jim Slonoff
