Great stuff, DT! Especially:
They're like laptops.
A laptop is a tightly packaged, convenient system which will SLOWLY CRIPPLE AND DESTROY YOUR SOUL. Like a political platform, a laptop that is modern, appealing, and effective now will be worthless in 3 or 4 years. Like mobile computer technology, political issues change rapidly and somewhat unpredictably. So trying to stick to a static political system faithfully is never going to work. That's why I refuse to ever vote for someone who represents a political platform. It gets them a large following of vultures, idiots, and fools, but it doesn't generate a strong future for our nation, or our world. One day, I hope that the American people will be willing to recognize that static solutions are never going to last--only a malleable, intuitive administration will be capable of properly addressing the issues of today and the issues of tomorrow.
But... (repeat quote)
I hope that the American people will be willing to recognize that static solutions are never going to last
This part may be a hard sell, especially where, what, more than 80% of Americans consider themselves religious, and a large swath of that is some form of Christianity.
I think there are a number of religious and cultural attitudes that don't click well with the notion of endless change.** One soundbyte for example, is the phrase 'Git 'er done' - very popular with people whose jobs involve construction or heavy repairs. One of my own personal mottos is that 'A job done
right stays done.' If I get a call at my desk after the fact, it's because Part 'A' doesn't fit to Part 'B,' and essentially I made a mistake, or something went wrong on the shop floor that I didn't envision in my head. But if I don't get that call, it's because I did everything right.
People who design and build highways and bridges feel in their labor the notion that, with every individual act - if it is done correctly, then this will be the LAST time it needs to be done - for a lifetime or more. Like welding steel girders together. That sense of finality can be a source of great on-the-job pride.
Many people believe, or feel in their hearts that an ideal, utopian society is indeed static - once this last shopping list of problems is SOLVED then we're DONE. Conversely, an administration that is constantly fiddling with things appears incompetent. Same goes for one company that goes through re-orgs every other year, versus a second company that doesn't. The second company seems to me to have better management - they have a structure that works for today's conditions and the conditions of a few years ago.
As a mechanical engineer, I'm kind of like that myself - change is good and necessary when it is
fixing a problem. But I also believe that the more intelligent solution is a system that, when properly adjusted (once!) runs without further constant twiddling. If so, someone needs to invent the Twiddle Detector Overlay Device, which does the twiddling for you. If you invent that device ingeniously, then the system runs itself and you can go back to watching anime and reading manga.
(**Even without selecting a specific religion, the notion of God as a perfect being includes being
forever unchanging. Simple reasoning: If God changes, then you get two problems: One, you can define initial State A and then changed State B, and only
one of them can be perfect. Any difference between A and B will admit debate over which configuration is better, and also the notion of a third State C which can do or be everything that A and B can -
eliminating the need for change in an ideal world.)
PS: I think for 'malleable' you meant a word like 'flexible' or 'agile' - malleable (
L. malleus = hammer) means easy for someone ELSE to smush - or 'putty-like' - my biggest criticism of GWB.
