There’s an old adage that reads, “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” It’s a notion that pops into my head all the time when I witness people of a big-government bent offering opinions on societal problems.
What I am missing most in the discussions (online but also among people I know in meatspace) is the -- for me genuinely interesting -- question of what mechanistic aspect of public life (elected officials being one option) is best charged with "carrying and being living examples of the desired culture"...? In my mind, politicians have conceded this function to celebrities wholesale. While it seems true that literature, then radio, and then television (and newer forms of media) have, through their ever more 24/7 nature of availability, gained ground naturally, I also feel that elected officials could easily have retained a pretty decent chunk of "sway" on what people experience as "desired as normal" or "normally desirable" (whichever way I look at it). But by creating a verbally pugilist rhetoric spectacle out of politics, there is no more "high ground" to be held by those people. And, ultimately, people who are paid by corporate moneys (as opposed to out of tax dollars) will sing the song of the corporate interests, which really has no immediate use for childcare (until much, much, MUCH later, which doesn't make it reflected in the balance sheets of entities competing for influx of money chasing an investment opportunity)... And if the people who could conceivably remind everyone of the value of childcare no longer are in the position to plausibly and believably do so, well, then I guess the culture erodes, at least among the people who lack the intrinsic discipline not to forget -- which in my mind is the real culprit behind the ever increasing gap of the wealthy and not so wealthy: a lack of genuine understanding of which individually expressed behaviors lead to a stable and worthwhile human life.
How much of that gap is deliberately provoked perception? And how much of that is based on what we who spend a lot of time consuming this particular form of social media observe?
I grow more aware every day of just how widely varying the life experiences of the people around me are.
👍 Excellent post - you nailed it!
Less is more in most cases involving the Government 💯
What I am missing most in the discussions (online but also among people I know in meatspace) is the -- for me genuinely interesting -- question of what mechanistic aspect of public life (elected officials being one option) is best charged with "carrying and being living examples of the desired culture"...? In my mind, politicians have conceded this function to celebrities wholesale. While it seems true that literature, then radio, and then television (and newer forms of media) have, through their ever more 24/7 nature of availability, gained ground naturally, I also feel that elected officials could easily have retained a pretty decent chunk of "sway" on what people experience as "desired as normal" or "normally desirable" (whichever way I look at it). But by creating a verbally pugilist rhetoric spectacle out of politics, there is no more "high ground" to be held by those people. And, ultimately, people who are paid by corporate moneys (as opposed to out of tax dollars) will sing the song of the corporate interests, which really has no immediate use for childcare (until much, much, MUCH later, which doesn't make it reflected in the balance sheets of entities competing for influx of money chasing an investment opportunity)... And if the people who could conceivably remind everyone of the value of childcare no longer are in the position to plausibly and believably do so, well, then I guess the culture erodes, at least among the people who lack the intrinsic discipline not to forget -- which in my mind is the real culprit behind the ever increasing gap of the wealthy and not so wealthy: a lack of genuine understanding of which individually expressed behaviors lead to a stable and worthwhile human life.
How much of that gap is deliberately provoked perception? And how much of that is based on what we who spend a lot of time consuming this particular form of social media observe?
I grow more aware every day of just how widely varying the life experiences of the people around me are.