The Big Picture

We all want to place our attention on what’s important. That’s where our responsibilities are and, if successfully maneuvered, that’s where our payback is.  A good investment in education hopefully yields a good career with strong earnings. Good earnings means family expenses can be supported fully. Proper career investments of time and further education may mean promotion, higher earnings or a successful jump to another employer for still better opportunities.

It is not always apparent what constitutes a good move, a promising career option, the best educational focus or major, or anything, actually. What is important to myself is most likely quite different from what is important to society or the world, or the employer at any given moment.

Trends of life, history and the unfolding of sagas, however, give us powerful peeks at what is important. Knowing what to put our time into is a crap shoot.  Well maybe not really!

Think of the basics in life that most of us think are important most of the time. These would include:

-Peace, a stable present and future

-Plentiful energy for now and the future

-A good education to help us live in the now and yet adaptable in the future

-Good housing that is healthy and adequate to our needs at any given phase of our life

-Reliable transportation for errands, work commute and pleasure travel, now and in future

-Food supply that is healthy, plentiful, affordable and exciting to our tastes

-Supportive social structures which enhance our lives in the present and future

-Access to health care for all phases of my family’s life and needs

I suppose there are many other big picture items on which to focus our attention. But I think these are the most important. If you have others to suggest, feel free to do so!

Perhaps the element that makes these items ‘big picture’ is the sense of present and future. These are the needs we all have throughout life and our needs change continually. Big picture elements shift as well throughout our life.

Present and future demands force us to think in a continuum of time. Energy is not just a

‘now’ issue, but an always one. Same for housing, peace, education…you get the point. The job of living requires an effort and attention to detail for all the moments between birth and death. It is the nature of the thing!

Same for big picture issues. Our job is never done. Thus our thinking is never done.

Energy: the supply of needed heat, light, and power, both stationary and mobile is a constantly changing element in our lives. Whether electric, nuclear, coal powered, hydro generated, or other fossil fuel driven, there is an implied limit to the supply. There is only so much coal to extract from the earth. Same for natural gas. Nuclear power is limited to the resources available in the earth’s soil to extract.

There are other constraints as well: healthy environment which can easily be spoiled by fossil fuel use, production of permanent wastes to safely dispose of, cost of the supplies and the technology, and much more.

And that’s just energy. We cannot sit idle and think we have this issue covered. The globe’s population is growing. The needs for energy grow. Standards of living for a vast population improve as well and require more energy supplies. The need to discover and manufacture energy in compact, affordable environmentally friendly and easily transportable forms is great. Life times can be spent focusing just on this industry. And best we do.

While on other fronts we must expend time, attention and resources to manage the other big picture issues. We must because they are important. Vital to our interests and every other person’s on the planet. We all need peace and stability in which to live lives of promise, happiness and worth. Same with good housing, food and transportation. And education, health care and social institutions. The latter may be the biggest element of all.

No man is an island. We know that. We live in concert with one another, most times peacefully and productively. Some times we are not peaceful. Some families are dysfunctional, same with individuals. Even nations, cities and continents are not living in accord with one another let alone each other!

Social institutions focus our energies and talents on common functions we take for granted. Making these functionalities perform well now and in the future will pay huge returns on our investments. Education is such a product of a social institution. So is justice. Food safety and environmental protection. Just naming a few here, not all! Think about it. We live much of our lives in concert with others. It is the nature of mankind.

It is why we invest great expectations in our social institutions. Government is also one of the constructs of mankind. It is our way to get along, perform the functions we need done in common, and behind the scenes. Government is not a bad thing. Only we can make it ‘bad’.

So, if you really think government is intrinsically bad, then do something to improve upon it. It is a necessity of life. Make the best of it. Help the rest of us as well do this.

Meanwhile, trust in our social institutions. They are the common ingredient we take for granted most but need dearly.

October 22, 2014