Over the past few weeks I've had two different friends say "I told you so" in their own ways about the same thing. One from the left and one from the right. One who would lean more towards anarchy and one towards libertarian. Which, let's face it folks, are pretty damn close really.
But anyway...
They both wanted to tell me that they have been right all along about the government, our government, and don't I feel foolish right about now for the years and years that I have insisted they are mostly trustworthy.
And I have to say for a little bit I was like, yeah, you're right, it's a mess. People are awful. It's so much worse than I had ever imagined. Doom, despair, misery...
But then...
Then I thought, well wait, am I wrong?
For those of you that know me well you know that I will admit when I am wrong, but I hate to be wrong so I will look at it VERY closely to make sure I am. (insert giant winky face here...I'm being a smartass...sort of...I do hate to be wrong, but I will admit it when I am and generally I don't struggle with it)
So anyway...I looked again.
And yes, right now looking at how completely messed up the government is it's really discouraging. But the reason why it looks so bad, why it's so hard to take is because it mostly worked before the past few years.
And yes, I can hear both of them screaming and gnashing their teeth at me right now, that it's only because I didn't KNOW what was going on that I THINK it wasn't this bad and that it's always been this bad and Epstein and the Clintons and Deep State and...
Shhh....
One of the biggest takeaways I've gotten from the Trump administration is how many of the things we all thought were rules and laws were merely formalities and we've always done it this ways. Trump has disrupted the system by refusing to follow the norms. Which a large group of people actually love about him. The same large group that will say "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" when someone gets hurt not following a rule, or "just do what the police tell you" when someone is killed for selling loose cigarettes...but I digress...
Anyway, the rule and order party is populated by a lot of people taking great joy in someone not following rule and order is what I'm saying.
But what that means for me, is that we can get back to a place where the norms are decent behavior. Where the standard is being a little more respectful. Where diplomacy is actually favored. If we were there, we can be there again.
I don't think it will be easy. Not at all. I think Trump is the culmination of years of standards slipping. Of people nipping around the edges of decency. And I don't think he's the worst there can ever be. I mean we've seen worse run and get elected, and re-elected, Steve King, I'm looking at you. So yeah, we should be paying a little more attention than we have been.
We should also look at making some changes in things that have been "just always done this way" and see if the need to be "this is now a law." Which is REALLY going to make my left and right friends crazy. MORE LAWS?? ARE YOU CRAZY???
Maybe.
Or maybe I still have faith that most people are decent and if we can just encourage the decent behavior again we can get to a place where the system isn't the worst. Where people are able to do good for others. That a career in service is an honorable thing.
You may be right, but I hope I'm not wrong.
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