I Beg to Differ . . . and so did the country apparently

The following is a response to Michael Barone’s piece, “Uneasy for a Reason” published in US News & World Report on 10/30/06. You can read his piece here: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/061022/30barone.htm

Yawn. There it is again. References to the boogeyman in order to create fear and unease. If there is anything I am growing weary of, Mr. Barone, it is the tireless references made by people about all the things I should be afraid of in the world – the multitude of ways terrorists can kill or harm me, evil countries, turning the country over to the wrong party, tsunamis, earthquakes, lyme disease, pedophiles . . . stay tuned . . . news at 11:00.

Let’s be real. There have always been boogeymen in our lives, whether it is the 1960s or 2006, and there always will be. The difference is our choice to focus on them and to let them consume us, our minds, our politics, our media . . . everything. As you so aptly pointed out, the world has gotten better, so why are we so cranky and feel it has gotten worse?

For the record, I’m not cranky and “thinking the country is on the wrong track because I expect things to be good,” as you intimate. I’m cranky and think the country is on the wrong track because my thinking, and the thinking of a growing number of Americans, is evolving. We have evolved past the need to have boogeymen to motivate us and we have arrived at a place where we are motivated by something a bit more positive and proactive . . . possibility.

I’m cranky because I don’t believe the solution to high gasoline prices or the energy situation is more drilling. That treats the symptom, just like the ever-proliferating pharmaceutical industry. I am tired of treating symptoms. I want to address the causes.

Drilling for oil is not a solution. Creating a better energy source is.

I’m not “dismayed by continuing violence in Iraq because I expect military interventions to be casualty free.” It’s war for crying out loud! That’s like saying I am dismayed that I had to scramble eggs to make my omelet. Those sacrifices must be expected. What I am dismayed about is that we felt a military intervention was the answer and that that military intervention was a success once a statue was toppled in Baghdad. I’m dismayed that the eggs were cracked for the omelet when what I really wanted was oatmeal.

I’m not dismayed over the fact that our economy has enjoyed “just two brief recessions, low inflation and steady economic growth.” I am dismayed at the fact that all of this has come on the back of ever-increasing personal and national debt. Want a real boogeyman? Try this on for size – “house of cards.” God forbid anyone start calling in their chips. Our financial house of cards will collapse in the most gentle of breezes.

Want another real boogeyman? Try the impending water crisis in this country and around the world. What water crisis you ask? Let’s answer this little test. How many of you reading this letter still drink tap water? And that just addresses the quality issue. The quantity issue is just as big. If you think a war for oil is a worthy cause to sacrifice life and economic resources, wait until we have to fight for one of the building blocks of life rather than a luxury to fuel our Hummers.

No Mr. Barone, I’m not cranky or uneasy because there is yet another boogeyman in my closet. I’m cranky because of the focus on fear rather than possibility. Ever read or hear about the tenet that what you focus on you create? Fear only begets more fear. I’m cranky because we continue to focus on fear and short-term band-aids rather than making the truly hard decisions, rolling up our sleeves, and doing the hard work that will actually create possibilities and solve the problem, rather than simply treat the symptom and create another boogeyman to justify a course of action.

Now that kind of thinking would demonstrate true leadership, something that according to US News & World Report, the American people are in search of.

Copyright 2006, Rich Largman, All rights reserved

Vision Impaired

The mid-term elections are less than a week away and I find myself in the unenviable position of ranking among the politically uneducated. If it weren’t for the vast number of roadside signs dotting my local roads, I don’t think I could have told you who was running for what office.

Shameful really. Having graduated as a political science major from college, I use to rail against the uneducated voter. Now I have become one of them. I always promised myself that I would always vote, for it is the most important privilege granted to any citizen in a democracy. As such, I have only missed two or three opportunities to vote, and those were local school board elections. However, I also promised myself that I would never vote just for the sake of voting, without knowing who or what was at stake. Now I find myself in a situation with these two promises facing off against each other.

I’m inclined to pose the question of despair asking, “How did I get here?” But I know the answer to that question, so no need to pose it. The answer is a long, painful depressing process of watching what I love about this country erode before my very eyes.

It started about 4 or 5 years ago when I put myself on a news blackout. I was tired of hearing all the depressing news about killings, war, catastrophes, genocides, crime, corruption and more that made up our daily news. Jeez, it is a wonder more of us aren’t suicidal and hopelessly depressed! My first action was to stop watching TV news. That helped a bit. My next action was to stop watching TV altogether as I found it was stealing my time and life away, and if looked at closely, there was very little on TV worth giving my precious time. I have been without a TV for over 6 years now. And I have to say, I don’t feel as though I missed much.

Not wanting to be completely uninformed, I continued to listen to NPR radio. Then, one morning, even that became too much. I was tired of getting up every morning and having the first thing I hear be the War Score – Palestinians 6, Israelis 2. Recently, those daily death counts have shifted. Now we keep score of dying Americans and “insurgents,” but the depressing effect is the same. And with that, I switched off NPR. Sure I still listen to it in the car from time to time, but find the war reporting, whether in Iraq, Israel or any other place, just utterly boring. Same shit, different country.

That left me with my Internet news headlines. This form of information actually works for me. I can scan the headlines, from different news sources, and click on those that appeal to me most. Needless to say, it is sad to report that if I took a sampling of the world headlines over the past 5 years, we would find that nothing much is changing. Death. Conflict. Israel. Palestine. Iraq. America. With an occasional natural disaster or terrorist attack thrown in for excitement and to make sure we haven’t all fallen asleep.

What I can definitely say about the beloved news is that RARELY is anything reported that gives me hope in the world. Well, except for that light and fluffy piece all news agencies throw in at the end of their broadcast to make sure we don’t pull out a razor and slit our wrists due to the depressing state of the world. And then it is off to Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy, to numb our minds and forget about the hell around us.

Can you blame me for going on a news blackout?

So how does all this tie into my disintegration into one of the voting illiterates? Well, as I see it, politics and politicians have followed the same trend as the decline of mass media. If there are inspiring leaders in our national government, they must be hiding behind the apparent masses of corrupt, uninspiring front-men. Pork barrel, you-scratch-my-back-I-will-scratch-yours, what’s in it for me, how can I get re-elected, state-first, country second (unless we have to vote to go to war), vision-less, hopeless leaders is all I see. They seem to be more interested in breaking down each other and their opposing parties rather than building up a country . . . rather than creating a vision . . . rather than blazing a new American trail that addresses the problems that confront our country and the world today and in the future.

Absent someone who is going to paint a picture of possibility for me, it is hard to listen to all the drivel that spews forth from their mouths as they grab the grandstand on C-SPAN. I mean seriously, when is the last time you heard something from our government and leaders that inspired you! Made you feel something other than, “Oh, more of the same ol’ shit.”

So, can you blame me for being ignorant during this election? I am tired of choosing between the lesser of two evils. My expectations of politics and politicians have fallen so low that I don’t even bother to listen anymore.

And to think, I once cared enough that I wanted to be the next U.S. senator from the state of New Jersey.

Damn, if only one of them would preach a vision I could get excited about.

Copyright 2006, Rich Largman, All rights reserved