During debates about how America shall be run , what life in America should be like , what the Constitution and Bill of Rights meant.... a lot of fantasies are bandied about......
America has a reputation
It is hard to imagine how a sane person could hold that America has a reputation. Since government policy changes all the time based on the whims of whoever is lately throwing their weight around .... one could hardly describe that as being anything other than a reputation for being inconsistent. More importantly , the government is not America .... or if it is ... then who are all those people who actually create stuff, pay taxes , buy and sell stuff without violence , and have 300 million+ different opinions and 300 million+ behaviours ?
Politicians know what American people want
First of all... what is meant by *American People* ? Citizens ? Anyone who lives in America ? Babies ? Felons ? Voters ? ....... the only honest view is that there are 300 million+ opinions about what America wants.
tags ..... #AmericanPoliticalFantasies
Starting from scratch (or phratch) may be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteThe big digging down to WHAT the fantasies are is 'ground zero'. If we don't start at zero, then the merry-go-round-the-may-pole will continue. What I mean is that the politician decides what (s)he wants, then throws a dart at the may pole (aka 'americana') and claims the sticking point as justification for a personal agenda. Same with 'reputation' -- somebody wants to claim xyz as 'america's reputation' -- in order to use it as either a negative or positive justification for a personal agenda.
Each of us probably is a more-or-less 5-ring circus -- that means that any particular spear or javelin thrown our way has plenty of target possibilities. Even though we haven’t trained in the art of ‘5-ring-circus-ring-master’, we doggedly persist in allowing the ‘random’ missiles to buzz around like a nest of wasps (resembling Brownian particles).
I suggest something simple --
for each individual to determine (1) 'long range goals, principles, strategies', and (2) to make tactical notes under each strategy.
{for example, one individual may be an idiot-savant who is competent only at making, collecting, hoarding money -- it would be a simple determination for idiot-savant, if asked about american reputation, values, ideals . . . to shake the head, shrug the shoulders, and say "I have no response to that”}
Next, imagine that the general population is a bunch of idiot-savants, varying only in their particular passion or skill area.
Imagine that the general population of idiot-savants has little trouble saying “I have no response to that” about all things that fall out of their area of expertise.
Instead the idiot-savants run about pulling behind them large tubs of lardy baloney. They pay attention to their one bright star, and spread baloney on everything else.
So step #1 of proposed solution: encourage the use of 'I have no response to that' so eventually the multiple tonnage of irrelevancies is reduced.
Focus on the human right to NOT have an opinion about everything. Move away from the either/or binary thought/behavior patterning.
Let’s return to the idiot-savant for a moment:
having been supported in the right to be interested only in getting and hoarding money, suppose the topic of whether the military is a good idea arises. Turns out the idiot-savant has a pro-military attitude that may have rubbed off from environmental queues and clues.
Look at the idiot-savant's list of events that seem to lead to a pro-military stance. Suppose the list consists of re-iterations of cultural auto-think -- e.g.,” if not for the military, we'd be taken out, or taken over”
Says who -- well, it's pretty much those who would be out of a job if there were no military. Point out to the idiot-savant how 'the military' is cutting into the monetary gains that would be possible in the primary endeavor to gather and hoard money. The military is a hindrance. Perhaps 90% of government agencies, branches, endeavors, arms, legs, internal organs & organizations, is a hindrance.
In other words, ferret out the 'prime mover' for each individual.
Show how the hocus-pocus of the social-political-cultural GROUPIE-THINK is a hindrance.
No self-respecting idiot-savant would tolerate it. An idiot-savant may be an idiot, but is NOT DUMB.