Re: Lessons learned.... -- WASHINGTON BOARD

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Date Posted: 22:18:24 02/12/02 Tue
Author: Grumpy�
Author Host/IP: 155-41.poccpe.cableone.net / 24.116.155.41
Subject: Re: Lessons learned....
In reply to: Donk 's message, "Lessons learned...." on 21:32:39 02/12/02 Tue

Couldn't we again teach the basics while finding reasonable compromises in the way we execute our business? I don't believe we arrived here by design, but by evolution and perceived needs; pure in conception, slightly distorted in fabrication, then sometimes disfigured in long term use.

Strangely, I think almost everyone grasps the basics of what the Constitution means; they just don't see how it relates to everyday life. Our Constitution is formed as a proscriptive set of rules, and does not presume to prescribe for us. It is silent, for instance, in the matter of charity. It is silent on standards of morality. I'm hard put to justify such things as seat belt laws, or laws regulating the sale and consumption of alcohol or other substances if I only consult the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8, sets forth the powers of the Congress. Amendment 16 and Amendment 18 are the only enlargements of the scope of government powers I can find. Amendment 18 was repealed, kinda sorta.

It is possible that recent political events were engineered. The capability certainly exists and perhaps we were naive' to think somebody wouldn't put it to use. If true, it raises ethical questions, but they are academic because, like the ills Pandora unleashed, the capability isn't going back into the box.

Had either candidate been honorable, the whole sorry episode could have been avoided by either one demanding a full recount of the entire state, and if necessary, a recount in any state where there was possibly a question about the balloting. No one did so. I don't blame conservatives for being conservatives, but I think a truly conservative Supreme Court would have ordered such a course in this case.

What is disturbing about the possibility of an engineered outcome is the question of motive. When I propose that we have a right to be left alone, I think I mean we have the right to assume that the people we elect are of one heart, although with different aims and ideals of how we should manage our affairs. But, overarching is the notion that they embrace the full scope of who and what we are -- so we think they can't stray too far afield. But, they can. If somebody wants it bad enough to engineer an outcome, then they are so vested that they must achieve some agenda which may or may not fit our overarching assumptions.

The use of power is as natural as the use of lungs. The thing that disturbed me the most about the outcome was the vividness with which our divisions were exposed; the famous "red and blue" map which showed the Republicans sweeping the country from coast to coast, except for the coasts and major urban areas. There is no clearer indication possible of the power of monied interests, I think. It seems that society still looks to landowners and the barons of industry for guidance much as society did in pre-Revolutionary days, and only the teeming masses of a megalopolis can muster the strength to defy them. This, in turn, implies a very deep social division in which the poorest, most ignorant and most hopeless are all that stands between us and domination by the right wing. Satisfying the demands of those in such parlous straits, though, inevitably brings to mind the bread and circuses of Roman days.

A first concern is to understand how government became the government and is that what we want?

A second concern is effective involvement. Has the system become so structured that it enables only involvement which is compatible with its assumptions. When protestors are delegated to back streets and corraled their, are they effectively involved? Does any representative know and understand the concerns of their constituents?

I think much of the protest we see is misguided; if the energy went into organizing politically in order to create an opposition voice that could not be ignored, the protestors' demands would get a much more attentive hearing. I am rather cynical about the Naderites, and Ross Perot and Alan Keyes do not arouse my interest, but they are on the right path.

A third concern is to understand where we are practically versus where we think we are. Global trade and economics seem inevitable and a game we need to learn, but if globalization amounts to a few garnering complete economic control of the world, then we have a problem of major proportions because we are left with only an illusion of where we stand in the world.

Tell your representatives to tell you what they are going to do to address your concerns and never, never hold back your concerns for any reason because if you have them, others have them and if others have them, they need answers.

Good advice.

I'm not sure that freedom is easy or obvious to everybody, but a first step is to share its concept with others. Maybe we're at a point where they take over -- maybe Ayn Rand was right on target, but maybe not.

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Replies:

Re: Lessons learned.... -- Grumpy�, 22:21:54 02/12/02 Tue