People and Politics

Funny thing happens when we go to elect a person to a public office. Think about it:

• To be a candidate a person has to agree to ask the public for their votes
• The candidate is just like you and I, a citizen, family member, and resident
• We all share in the fruit of the candidate’s labor – that task to be done is for us all
• Issues to be acted on by the candidate’s authority are varied and need lots of study
• Most issues are not fully understood by voters; the issues have many impacts
• Sorting out which impacts to avoid and which to encourage is complex
• Making decisions on these issues must serve the interests of all citizens
• The best decisions focus on long-term results, not short term
• Long term thinking helps understand consequences of short term action
• Imagining the future is another way of thinking long term
• Unfortunately, long term thinking is not a strong feature of the public; any candidate thinking long term ideas builds distance from the electorate
• The electorate tends to vote for people who they understand; short term thinkers

And thus it goes. Our nation’s future is in the hands of short term thinkers. How sad. 

I don’t want to lay blame on people who don’t think as I do, but I will anyway! I do so because I think the critical point here is simply this: we go into the future with confidence or we protect what we know, the past. One is forward reaching; the other is clutching and holding in. One is possible; the other is impossible.   

Scientists look toward discovery. Historians study the past to understand it; hopefully they pass their learning to the rest of us to guide us into the future. But that is not a guaranteed outcome. 

For scientists, the current knowledge is the past. It is the threshold of our knowledge. Pushing past it is discovering the new, the future. What we can do with the new. Always the known is our anchor to reality but we dare to press beyond it. That is natural for the profession; it is also natural for the mind of mankind. 

It is also natural for mankind to be fearful of the unknown. Practical, safe, respectful of the past, knowledgeable of our culture and values; all of these are good. Except when they form a wedge of protection that stymies forward movement, extension of learning, innovation and invention.  

The future belongs to those who dare to reach for it. The rest seek safety and the familiar. 

Which will America be? Which sort of nation will the global community witness in America? Will it be creative? Will it expand our knowledge of the universe? Will it share this knowledge with the rest of the world so we all can benefit? Will we face problems along the way which we bravely counter with solutions or attempts at same? Will we dare to reach for the future? 

Imagining the future we hope for is exhilarating. It tests our creativity. It strains our current knowledge. It poses questions to be researched, studied and answered; to the best of our ability. It requires us to expand learning. It challenges insight and perspective. It allows us to get out of ourselves and into a different, expansive frame of mind. It helps us glimpse the unknown, the possible. 

Not doing this exercise is boring. Not reaching for greater understanding – whether of the world or our fellow human kind – smothers our natural abilities.  

Which will be our future? Daring or safe? 

February 20, 2012