Cynics need not apply

Many feel like the Reagan joke about the room full of horse manure and the certain optimism there must be a pony in there somewhere. Yes, the state of the world, and maybe the USA, is like the room full of manure. But there is a pony in there somewhere, and it is going to take hard work to find it and then turn it loose. Some dread this constant need for work, and some consider it the salvation that must be both appreciated and pursued. And some think that the pursuit of their values along with doing the political basics is the way it always has been … just some times are better than others.

The world’s views seems to fall into two categories these days. One is the realist status quo view, mostly benign neglect, that sees the value of keeping the vast masses of the world’s population in perpetual poverties of food, health, education, and even servitude. After all, if the vast masses lived to the life style standards of the first world peoples, at a minimum environmental collapse would come to the world. And their long repressed political oppressions would probably assert themselves in some frenzy of retribution. The second world view sees the power of the people, if given a chance, to make things better for their progeny. In this view, better is in the eye of the very local beholder. And the beholder is more likely to think tribe, than nation state. This view is full of uncertainty and fraught with potentionally frightening unknowns to those in both the third world and the first world. The only saving grace in this view is the belief that humans want to make things better for their families, mostly their progeny. And this view acknowledges that democracy of a sorts exists in many warlord tribes; and it is the higher level basics like security that are the real values in this view.

There is another auto-pilot type of view about the world. This view suggests we today are more like the former benign neglect view, and irretrievably being drawn towards the second power of the people view. In this case, those in the first world can get in front of the cause and influence it, or just hang around on the fringes.

Do we in the USA have to be dragged along in all this world stuff? Probably. But here is the good news for which cynics need not apply. We can elect political leaders who have the savvy to guide us in our national interests during the next fifty years. Does anyone think all leaders are created equal? Does anyone think Bush or Clinton (either one) are the equals of a George Washington or an Abraham Lincoln? Does anyone have any faith in international bodies like the UN or the World Bank to help guide the world forward? And do many think there are still leaders like George Washington who will step up to the plate in this time of need, again? As always, the pony needs to be found and unleashed. And only we voters can find and elect that person to do so.