What's the Big Idea?

Every election cycle we'uns hear yakkity-yak about the "Better idea" or a "New Idea" or, God help us, the "Big Idea."

Sometimes these notions hide under the euphemism of "Change."

We done heard all that before.

THERE IS NO BIG IDEA.


There is no secret key to world peace (I prefer Whirled Peas!). There is no discovery of a political strategy that will advance the right causes or people. Global peace cannot be achieved by a global parliament under whatever guise ( See U.N.'s patronage for "the poor" or for "the environment" or for "a peace army.")

There is not even a local foolproof political system (feudalism, monarchism, communism, socialism, democratic republics, totalitarianism, despotism or any combo of same).

The problem, to borrow from Pogo, is that we are our own enemies--no matter what system we lives under--whenever we live against the higher nature of human beings--that is, beings wif' a soul.


(I know animals is dear, precious, loved and even some of us'uns think they's soulful--but they doan contemplate their existence or future or think about if they are "good.")

I reckon I'se sayin' doan be fooled by no call to a Big Idea or a New Idea. Ain't none.

So then, what?

To have a civilization we humans gotta organize ourselves such that we ain't always at each other's throats. Thas' why we have taboos, make laws, set boundaries --so we'uns can get along.

But it ain't ever gonna be perfect 'cause mankind ain't perfect NOR IS HE PERFECTIBLE! (hence, the need fer laws--the fewer the better). Wanna say it plain: there is no hope in the Big Idea that if we had a chicken in every pot or a BMW in every garage a fiddy cent a gallon petrol that there would be peace on earth. Socialism din't make no wise heroes. Nor Marxism.

Capitalism works decently--but hyper competition and hyper capitalism morphs into monopolies--an thas' socialism. Besides, makin' money cannot be the prime focus of no actual civilization. Money is a tool to achieve a goal. Thas' all.

What good to be a billionaire who is despised? Who is never valued fer himself, only fer her money? Better to be an artist, a composer, a writer, a cobbler, butcher, baker candlestick maker who knows the transcendent joy of family and friends and satisfying work.

No Big Idea ( or gubmint) will make man better. That is an individual project.

If ya'll wants the gubmint to do stuff for ya' thas' the wrong idea. You do it. You make it. You build it. Your take care of it. Doan be tryin' to use the muscle of the gubmint to make yore dream happen. Some folks will always be envious of what others done. But doan moan over it. Life ain't equal and the principle of equality is NOT to make all folks have equal outcomes. The principle is simply to apply the law in equal manner to all citizens.

Under the idea some folks have of equality I ought apply to play wif' the Lakers iffin' I want, and be assured of gettin' on the team. How stoopid is that? The object of basketball is to make baskets. Iffin' I ain't got what it takes in height, speed, hand -eye coordination, an' all that, how in the hail is I gonna make baskets against 7 foot fast boys? But that doan mean the Basketball industry is ignorin' my "rights" to equality. Heck the Basketball boys does me a FAVOR when they show me I ain't fit material for them. That frees me to focus on a better dream fer my own talents, a dream that I can achieve.

The only thing gubmint needs to do is to keep others from taking what ya did do, did make, did build. An' to protect ya from systematic assaults beyond your ability to engage (like other gubmints or organized crime and organized terrorism).

The role of gubmint/ king/ feudal lord is to insure that each person has the best chance to tackle that individual project (we Americans call it "liberty" and "pursuit of happiness"--note that ain't NO guarantee of happiness. )

Iffin' yore idea of happiness is destructive to the whole culture, then gubmit/king/lord ought shut you down in order to conserve the good of the whole.

Heh. Conserve. Thas' the best idea, an' it is small--not a big. Big Ideas mean Big Gubmint. That is bad fer all.

Conserve and preserve. That doan mean anything about throwback to "better days" but it does mean to conserve the wisdom of the weight of human experience while we apply new techo-wizardry.

So when ya hears a siren call to a Big Idea or a New Idea go beat the hail out of it wif' a club.
It is a lie.