Looking to the right and the left Credit: South African History Online
Pre-scheduled. Steve is on retreat until Sept. 20.
I continue to marvel at political discussions in which the Right criticizes the Left and the Left criticizes the Right.
I’m reminded of a story that Werner Erhard used to tell of a train that was headed for disaster.
One of the passengers looked out the window on the righthand side of the train and noticed that the train was headed for disaster.
He raised the hue and cry and all the passengers went over to the righthand side of the train to see if they could rescue the situation.
No, the train remained headed for disaster.
So they all decided to go over to the lefthand side of the train to see if that would rescue the situation.
No, they saw that the train remained headed for disaster.
Finally they stopped the train, got out, and laid new track.
I’m amazed at the dense and unhelpful criticism that the Right throws at the Left and the Left throws at the Right. To what avail?
The cabal has infiltrated Right and Left. Whichever side wins when they square off against each other, the cabal wins. The more the two sides tire each other out, the more the cabal wins.
Did the majority of us suspect this situation existed a decade ago? Probably not.
The cabal proceeds by creating problems and then offering themselves as the solution. The more the Right and Left squabble, the more the democratic impulse wanes and the autocratic principle becomes stronger.
Why do we do it?
I cannot answer why we do it as a society. I can only answer why I do it, when I do.
Criticizing someone is something I can do right now, in this minute. It doesn’t cost anything. It doesn’t result in any other work, usually, than holding my opinion. It’s completely within my control. It’s always there, to be used any time I like. Cheap, immediate, universally available.
I turn to criticism when I want to feel strong and decisive. It’s sometimes only after years and years of criticizing people and gaining more and more barnacles on our hull that we finally realize this hasn’t been a wise choice.
Calling universal health care “socialist” when it has been the greatest boon for nations like Great Britain and Canada – and could be for the United States as well – is an example. How crass and self-serving to ridicule a universal boon as somehow “socialist.”
Universal health care is a smart move for any society. When people fall on hard times, the state should help rather than watch their life savings explode and people fall into poverty. How is that civilized?
Criticizing other initiatives such as housing the homeless or a universal basic income are other examples.
The CIA perfected ridiculing people into silence and the general populace has taken the tendency up.
Taking up the memes of the Right or Left will not stop our train from heading for disaster.
Laying new track such as working with each other and focussing on the issue itself rather than ad hominem arguments is what will stop society from heading for disaster. Katheen’s forgiveness and apologies tack is another example of laying new track.
We cannot consult the past – which is the same as extending the old track. We know where that leads. We have to lay the new now.
Surely that’s good news to the many young folk burning with new ideas.
Help us out, laying new track.