The Slings and Arrows of being in the
Middle.
and
Some Fun Stuff
and
Some Fun Stuff
We all know who the sling throwers and arrow shooters are. They are too numerous to mention because they have picked the easy way. It has and always has been easiest to tear down someone or something that is trying to do something. To pick apart what has been done. To destruct vs. construct.
Usually they cloak themselves in far left/right rhetoric to disguise their lack of understanding of the real world or their inability to think original thoughts. You know the ones – the people who like labeling others and decry being so labeled themselves.
The real world we live in is not that way. Individuals are not one thing –never one thing- they are many things all mixed up and self-formed to make a package that can survive in reality. Everyone makes compromises with reality in order to survive. We see it in literature. The greatest novels are all about the conflicts within ourselves over the righteous and self-righteous, over the ideal and the real. Of what we dream of doing and what we end up doing. Even the best of us can’t come close to perfection. But the best of us try. That is where real beauty is sometimes found, along with the happiness in overcoming the struggles found in that journey.
People such as Glen Beck revel in labeling people and telling us what the “real” reality is. Other people such as Al Gore tinker with computer models and flimsy science while they both run around pontificating and getting rich by saying that the “sky is falling”.
What is their answer to the question of what can we do to avert disaster? Nothing except Pollyanna/Miss America answers like - do what I do and everything will be wonderful and the world will be saved and peace and harmony will be here. While one says all we have to do is use one sheet of toilet paper, the other is saying buy gold. The sad thing is – people believe them – a lot of people.
So what side should we be on? Wow – Now that is a really stupid question I just asked. It accomplishes nothing. I say neither side is right. If you really want to fight the good fight and suffer the slings and arrows try being in-between – in the middle of those two forces. Try getting something constructive done. That is exactly what elected officials are elected to do. They have to dig through all the BS piled up on both sides and decide what to do. They have to actually construct something then listen to all the criticisms from those of a more destructive ilk.
But that is what makes a good leader, his ability to dig out the reality of the matter and find a solution that works for the group they are leading. The far Left and far Right seem to all have Right on their side and they all claim at some point to be best for the majority or the common good so how do we decide what to actually try to get people to do. What concrete things do we try to do?
First above all is to figure out what allows American Individuals to decide for themselves – then let them.
Thomas Sowell in his book “Conflict of Visions” which was his definition of the difference between the right and the left came to the conclusion from history that the Right thought we were born flawed and had to work at overcoming our baser instincts to create a workable society. While the left believed we were all born perfect and if we just passed the right laws that perfection would assert itself and create a perfect world. That is a great book and while my summary is a cheap shot at his great book, the point is that neither side is right and in my opinion we need to quit attacking everything from one side or the other and try sitting in the middle more. We need to find solutions that simply work. Americans are getting fed up with the inability of Congress to get things done.
It is from the middle where reality is found. Woodrow Wilson (whom Beck would call the father of American Liberalism) had a counselor by the name of Louise Brandeis whom he later appointed to the US Supreme Court. Below is a NY Time article about monopolies of the current day and they allude to Wilson and Brandeis.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/opinion/sunday/is-it-time-to-break-up-google.html
From that I quote the author of the article, Jonathan Taplin.
“While Brandeis generally opposed regulation — which, he worried, inevitably led to the corruption of the regulator — and instead advocated breaking up “bigness,” he made an exception for “natural” monopolies, like telephone, water and power companies and railroads, where it made sense to have one or a few companies in control of an industry.” A compromise in the face of adamant Ideological opposites.
This Brandeis fellow didn’t like regulation of companies which would seem to put him at odds with the “Father of Liberalism” because he saw how corruption followed but at the same time something was needed that would keep the efficiency of monopoly while keeping some type of curb on the corruption monopolies too inevitably caused. In a word he needed a compromise from the middle. That compromise was the forming of a semi-regulated of what he defined as a “natural” monopoly. Today we call them utilities.
Brandeis at this point was as I would say jumping in the middle in order to actually solve a problem with two conflicting sides. He soon found out how much harder that is because the slings and arrows were coming from both sides at once.
It is in this middle that the President we call Trump is putting himself as he tries to do what is best for all America. He is catching it from all sides because he is trying to govern from there, a space that includes the Hard Hat working steel workers, the coal miners to the small town folks trying to get by and just want to be left alone.
When most of America understands that the President needs all in his administration working with him to do the job, the media and the political elites do not get that concept. – The truth is in the pudding. Trump is getting results.
The steel workers applaud him as their industry is rebounding as this quote from the New York Times by Patricia Cohen shows. {“If you could design a perfect administration from the perspective of the steel industry, this would be it,” said Thomas Gibson, president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, ticking off the president’s promises to hack away regulations and lower taxes, while fending off foreign competitors and embarking on a “Buy America” building program.”} https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/business/economy/steel-nucor-trump-policy.html?_r=0
The coal miners applauded him too as he signed an executive order that starts to unravel Obama’s war on coal in March this year. Vice President Mike Pence said “The war on coal is over.” The President said. “The action I’m taking today will eliminate federal overreach, restore economic freedom and allow our companies and our workers to thrive, compete and succeed on a level playing field,” http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/28/coal-miners-rejoice-as-trump-unwinds-obama-era-rules.html
Good works will out albeit faster in business than in politics. The stock market is on a tear and the Dow is setting new all-time records.
Who says trickle-down economics doesn’t work? The US Government just recorded a surplus of $182 billion. Need I say that what Trump is doing is working with business? https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-government-posts-182-billion-surplus-april-180943488--business.html
As Trump goes on attack from one front to another the Dems are losing their minds as Rush Limbaugh gleefully says “the Democrat Party is going bananas — completely, totally unhinged — on the road to literal insanity.”
The beauty of all this is that the Dems still don’t see why they lost the election. Any old line “CIO – Democrat” could tell them. They have lost the blue collar voters in droves. What used to be their solid go to base of support is leaving the Democrat Party. Why? Because the Democrats ignored and took them for granted and ended up calling them all the filthy names they used to reserve for Republicans. They in effect put them in the “Deplorable Basket”. The question is can the Republicans get their head out of D.C. long enough to take advantage of that?
So my advice is to keep the faith and keep talking about the positives of what Trump is doing and let the Left walk off the cliff by themselves.
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
Bob Carr
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455
So what side should we be on? Wow – Now that is a really stupid question I just asked. It accomplishes nothing. I say neither side is right. If you really want to fight the good fight and suffer the slings and arrows try being in-between – in the middle of those two forces. Try getting something constructive done. That is exactly what elected officials are elected to do. They have to dig through all the BS piled up on both sides and decide what to do. They have to actually construct something then listen to all the criticisms from those of a more destructive ilk.
But that is what makes a good leader, his ability to dig out the reality of the matter and find a solution that works for the group they are leading. The far Left and far Right seem to all have Right on their side and they all claim at some point to be best for the majority or the common good so how do we decide what to actually try to get people to do. What concrete things do we try to do?
First above all is to figure out what allows American Individuals to decide for themselves – then let them.
Thomas Sowell in his book “Conflict of Visions” which was his definition of the difference between the right and the left came to the conclusion from history that the Right thought we were born flawed and had to work at overcoming our baser instincts to create a workable society. While the left believed we were all born perfect and if we just passed the right laws that perfection would assert itself and create a perfect world. That is a great book and while my summary is a cheap shot at his great book, the point is that neither side is right and in my opinion we need to quit attacking everything from one side or the other and try sitting in the middle more. We need to find solutions that simply work. Americans are getting fed up with the inability of Congress to get things done.
It is from the middle where reality is found. Woodrow Wilson (whom Beck would call the father of American Liberalism) had a counselor by the name of Louise Brandeis whom he later appointed to the US Supreme Court. Below is a NY Time article about monopolies of the current day and they allude to Wilson and Brandeis.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/opinion/sunday/is-it-time-to-break-up-google.html
From that I quote the author of the article, Jonathan Taplin.
“While Brandeis generally opposed regulation — which, he worried, inevitably led to the corruption of the regulator — and instead advocated breaking up “bigness,” he made an exception for “natural” monopolies, like telephone, water and power companies and railroads, where it made sense to have one or a few companies in control of an industry.” A compromise in the face of adamant Ideological opposites.
This Brandeis fellow didn’t like regulation of companies which would seem to put him at odds with the “Father of Liberalism” because he saw how corruption followed but at the same time something was needed that would keep the efficiency of monopoly while keeping some type of curb on the corruption monopolies too inevitably caused. In a word he needed a compromise from the middle. That compromise was the forming of a semi-regulated of what he defined as a “natural” monopoly. Today we call them utilities.
Brandeis at this point was as I would say jumping in the middle in order to actually solve a problem with two conflicting sides. He soon found out how much harder that is because the slings and arrows were coming from both sides at once.
It is in this middle that the President we call Trump is putting himself as he tries to do what is best for all America. He is catching it from all sides because he is trying to govern from there, a space that includes the Hard Hat working steel workers, the coal miners to the small town folks trying to get by and just want to be left alone.
When most of America understands that the President needs all in his administration working with him to do the job, the media and the political elites do not get that concept. – The truth is in the pudding. Trump is getting results.
The steel workers applaud him as their industry is rebounding as this quote from the New York Times by Patricia Cohen shows. {“If you could design a perfect administration from the perspective of the steel industry, this would be it,” said Thomas Gibson, president of the American Iron and Steel Institute, ticking off the president’s promises to hack away regulations and lower taxes, while fending off foreign competitors and embarking on a “Buy America” building program.”} https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/business/economy/steel-nucor-trump-policy.html?_r=0
The coal miners applauded him too as he signed an executive order that starts to unravel Obama’s war on coal in March this year. Vice President Mike Pence said “The war on coal is over.” The President said. “The action I’m taking today will eliminate federal overreach, restore economic freedom and allow our companies and our workers to thrive, compete and succeed on a level playing field,” http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/28/coal-miners-rejoice-as-trump-unwinds-obama-era-rules.html
Good works will out albeit faster in business than in politics. The stock market is on a tear and the Dow is setting new all-time records.
Who says trickle-down economics doesn’t work? The US Government just recorded a surplus of $182 billion. Need I say that what Trump is doing is working with business? https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-government-posts-182-billion-surplus-april-180943488--business.html
As Trump goes on attack from one front to another the Dems are losing their minds as Rush Limbaugh gleefully says “the Democrat Party is going bananas — completely, totally unhinged — on the road to literal insanity.”
The beauty of all this is that the Dems still don’t see why they lost the election. Any old line “CIO – Democrat” could tell them. They have lost the blue collar voters in droves. What used to be their solid go to base of support is leaving the Democrat Party. Why? Because the Democrats ignored and took them for granted and ended up calling them all the filthy names they used to reserve for Republicans. They in effect put them in the “Deplorable Basket”. The question is can the Republicans get their head out of D.C. long enough to take advantage of that?
So my advice is to keep the faith and keep talking about the positives of what Trump is doing and let the Left walk off the cliff by themselves.
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
Bob Carr
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455
No comments:
Post a Comment