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Reality Check<\/p>\n
Or<\/p>\n
Is This Thing On?<\/p>\n
December 4, 2011<\/p>\n
By: Robert A. Grier<\/p>\n
I don’t focus a whole lot on the here and now, but rather the future. It isn’t a secret that I am concerned about the current practices and choices of our government and society as a whole. I hear lots of politicians saying they have solutions. Then there are the wonderful political parties. There are a few major groups in the current political arguments and both are wrong. I say that absolutely because the problems still exist! Each side seems to seek a resolution for the \u201cnow\u201d, with little regard for the \u201cnext year\u201d or next generation. Well, they say they have concern\u2026<\/p>\n
I love to use real world scenarios and analogies that every person can relate to and understand. Here is the analogy on whether or not these folks want the problem solved. Pretend that you are alone in a desert and there is no food. A day has gone by and you are hungry. What would you do to get food? How about a week having gone by? A month? How about a month has gone by and your child is almost dead from starvation. What would you be willing to do to get food? I bet that given the proper motivation, such as seeing the potential that your child will starve, that you would make the necessary efforts to solve that particular problem LONG before it got to the critical stage.<\/p>\n
Now what about all of these promises and efforts and so on that we have heard from the politicians? Does it appear that they are \u201chungry\u201d enough to take action? Add this little piece of intel to the puzzle and you should really be scratching your head. Our FEDGOV has had EVERY CONCEIVABLE resource made available to it for DECADES and we still have problems? Really? So now, take the starving in the desert analogy and replace it with a picture of a guy sitting at an \u201call you can eat \u2013 free\u201d buffet and still watching his child slowly starve.<\/p>\n
Yet, the collective \u201cwe\u201d stills buys the BS promises and explanations of why things aren\u2019t getting done by our FEDGOV. We still get mad when things go wrong. We still feel betrayed after being repeatedly lied to and cheated on. Folks, that is insanity. A brilliant manager once explained his ease of governing by the premise that when he figured out that he was spending major time on the same loser employees things got fun. After that realization, he spent the bulk of his time praising, training guiding and mentoring the 90% that wanted to do it right.<\/p>\n
The largest complaint against Republicans is that they don\u2019t care about people and care only for money and big business. The focus of the complaint against Democrats is that they care too much for the people while seeking to punish the businesses and the people building those businesses through taxation and redistribution of assets. I recognize that there are more sides and parties and blah and blah. However, for the sake of brevity, I will focus on the major players.<\/p>\n
When setting out to solve a problem, you should probably start with identifying the problem. In this case, we have dysfunctional systems and most, if not all, of the blame rests with the central government; or does it? It is a hackneyed, but very appropriate conundrum, \u201cWhich came first the chicken or the egg?\u201d Which came first – the overbearing and overreaching FEDGOV or the entitled, short sighted, lazy individual?<\/p>\n
A few folks will get lost here searching for the appropriate group or person to lay blame upon. I don\u2019t care. The FEDGOV overreaches and the individual is almost absent. When the individual is present, it is better when they are absent, or seems so at least because they are so ignorant about history and usually get their talking points from whatever \u201cglowy box program\u201d that happened to be on that morning. Just ask them to support their talking points. Wait for it\u2026 wait for it\u2026 NOPE!<\/p>\n
A philosophy is a set of beliefs or ideas that form a directional guide for actions or choices. The liberal philosophy seems to be that people have little or no responsibility in their day to day lives as this power lies exclusively with the FEDGOV. The conservative philosophy seems to be that people are responsible for their choices and the FEDGOV is nothing more than a periodically convenient tool to organize or discern judgment and stave off attacks through a standing military; otherwise people should be left alone.<\/p>\n
A failure of growth and refinement in thinking believes that there are only one or two ways of getting things done. Each party seems to have fear and rabid insecurity so much so that ANY consideration of the opposing viewpoints is labeled \u201chigh treason\u201d and that person must be shot or at least lose their parking space.\u00a0 Again, we still have the problem. While our government is exceeding at creating laws, perhaps they should begin each new session with reading our constitution and then discussing lex parsimoniae.<\/p>\n
So, what\u2019s the problem? The list can be innumerable, but can certainly be summed up in a few general points. Enough people benefit from the current practices to keep the practices in place. There are certainly not enough naturally occurring consequences for choices due to the fact that outcomes are artificially derived to avoid those unpleasant consequences. Lastly, God is absent in the planning, choosing and actions of people. (God isn\u2019t absent, but people choose to make him absent in their lives.)<\/p>\n
There are people in our society that CANNOT take care of themselves. The key word is \u201cCANNOT\u201d. IF you don\u2019t think that we should help those folks have a decent life, then you need to find your own little path to hell now, as you may get a good spot by starting early! The slippery slope comes in when you talk of temporary \u201cCANNOT\u201d in a person\u2019s life? Do we sit and watch a family starve because the father lost his job because lightening struck the place where he worked hard for years and destroyed it? No, of course not, but the people who help should be his extended family, church and community NOT THE FEDGOV.<\/p>\n
Reciprocal helping is one of the missing pieces of the puzzle.<\/p>\n
If you start early enough you can teach people to do and act in almost any way you want them to act. Those people will go through life thinking everyone else is wrong and they are the only ones who are correct, because they were raised that way. People don\u2019t know their neighbors, they don\u2019t go to church and they certainly don\u2019t find much value in helping others. It is no surprise that the responsibility of helping is left to the only \u201ccapable\u201d system that is left, which is the government. The concurrent exchange of responsibility and power has answered the conundrum of chickens and eggs for our societal woes. People stopped trying and the FEDGOV has inch by inch become the parent for far too many people.<\/p>\n
America came into existence (loosely) because a King somewhere didn\u2019t care a whole lot about the \u201csubjects\u201d in his land beyond ensuring that they delivered raw materials to the his empire. However, those subjects cared enough about themselves to stand up to the most powerful man in the world at that time and fight his rule. They only did this after it became overly abundantly clear that Mr. King was just in it for self.<\/p>\n
The circumstances are similar now, but markedly different. Our FEDGOV has exceeded its original constructs of its limits and boundaries. The difference between the time of the King and now is that there are A LOT of folks who are happy with this! A representative democracy dictates that the representative acts in accordance with the collective wishes of his\/her constituency. What if your constituency is ignorant and selfish? Then the representative acts accordingly or gets replaced quickly.<\/p>\n
It would be wonderful if we could all sit around and do as we pleased without regard to responsibility or consequences or limits to our choices. That just would not last too long. Anarchy and cataclysmic destruction would soon follow. You don\u2019t have to look too far around the world before you see some current events examples of governmental downfall due to the drip-drip-drip of ignorance and selfishness of its citizenry. We are on that path.<\/p>\n
Again, some people will already be lost in trying to assign blame to somebody or some group for all of this. Another schoolyard adage applies here too; point one finger at someone and you have at least three pointing back at you. The blame namers are part of the problem! I don\u2019t think assigning blame ever did anything to fix a problem. Rather, every second or every day, we find ourselves with choices to make. I am just one person and I don\u2019t believe that I can do much other than speak and act in accordance with my philosophy on life. Doing anything else is just a lie I am trying to convince someone to believe.<\/p>\n
President Obama didn\u2019t create these problems; neither did Bush (1 or 2), Clinton, Reagan or even Jimmy Carter. We all have responsibility. The real problem will come in weaning Americans off the suckle. Even talking about it yields a condition I like to call Mammary Gland Separation Anxiety, which creates uneasiness, stress and often yields loud and disruptive behavior.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t really matter a whole bunch what side you are on if you are part of the problem. It doesn\u2019t really matter too much that you say the right things if you are doing the wrong things. It even doesn\u2019t matter if everything is going all right while you are doing all wrong. The next election won\u2019t change a damn thing if all we do is change the owners of the clothes in the Whitehouse master bedroom closet.<\/p>\n
This problem has been brewing for many decades in this country. With ever increasing acceptance, tolerance, excuse and look the other way; we have whittled away at the foundation of what it is to be American and consequently Americans. There is so much spin, double talk,\u00a0 and lies that the children who are growing up \u201clooking up\u201d to those spewing the professional BS (that has been politics of the past several generations) has little or no chance to help the situation. It\u2019s like getting mad at an alcoholic for drinking beer while we are gladly serving them up triple shots of bourbon. What do you expect and why are you mad because he\u2019s drunk?<\/p>\n
So, Mr. Liberal, go and save the world! Fight for the green things and the causes of the squirrels, injustice and the like. It is ok. Really, it is ok. AND Mrs. Conservative, make sure you have an accounting of all the dollars created by who and what and ensure that people are accountable and responsible just as you are. It\u2019s ok\u2026 really! To the 9658 other groups who are some combination of both and neither and something else; keep fighting for what you believe. It\u2019s ok.<\/p>\n
I have to admit that one of the spun-to-death accusations levied by both major parties recently about \u201clack of leadership\u201d is very much true. However, I strongly caution you against looking around for a leader when there are none to be found. Instead heed the wisdom in the words of Anthony J. D’Angelo. \u201cYou don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader.\u201d Once you have identified the leader, then I suggest you consider a few words on the subject from Admiral Arleigh A. Burke. \u201cLeadership is understanding people and involving them to help you do a job. That takes all of the good characteristics, like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, knowledge, skill, implacability, as well as determination not to accept failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
We got to this place and condition in our country not overnight, but over time. Often the best course back on track is to turn around and walk the path that led you to “lost”. It will take time. Find comfort in the fact that you are heading the right way. Enjoy the journey too! Frustration comes from trying to control something you have no control over. Move with your hands that which you can, want and should move.<\/p>\n
So, as we move to the next stage of our country\u2019s future, I will ask that the movers and shakers consider a few gentle words of guidance. Know that what you say and what you do has an effect on somebody and something. Know that there are young people watching what you do far more closely than hearing what you say. Know that even a simple person can recognize lies, deceit and hypocrisy. Don\u2019t forget to look in the mirror periodically too. Make sure you know that person, because if you don\u2019t or if who you think you know in that mirror doesn\u2019t match what you see, then you are the embodiment of a lie. Lastly, know that no matter what you do, whether it is in secret, broad daylight or even in your own mind; God sees and is taking an account of everything. One day, you will answer as you kneel. I pray that you have made the best choices and all the redemptions so that your soul will live in God\u2019s kingdom forever.<\/p>\n
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