Volume 5, Issue 20
This is the essence of delusional fatuousness.
In addressing all the problems that appear to be intractable and unsolvable facing the United States today, few leaders on the national stage take the time to reinforce and emphasize the principles that define us as Americans. Nor is there any foundational, penetrating discussion outlining structural guidelines that are the framework for the culture we seek to pass on in perpetuity to the generations.
Republicans in the U.S. House just passed a health care reform bill criticized for its austerity. These Congressmen did not explain why this was necessary pursuant to individual freedom or the states’ rights to have a say in the implementation of health care policy. Instead, the message sent was that Obama Care is not working, and here is our reform.
Yes, of course, they herald cheaper costs, more choices, and family decisions. But they fail to explain to those, who may be in peril of losing coverage due to pre-existing conditions, why such reform is necessary for the overall good of the “ship of state.”
The national press exacerbates this deterioration of intellectual consistency.
News room anchors and talking heads criticize the process and the individuals implementing it as if anything that appears dysfunctional is the apex of analysis. President Trump is under attack from a news report generated by the Washington Post that alleges the President divulged classified information to the Russian ambassador, thereby compromising national security. Once the report had been released, the analysis never rose to a general overview of national security. No attempt was made to discuss the overall purpose and status of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Instead, the discussion immediately digressed to the personalities and procedures of Sean Spicer and Rience Priebus in their attempt to handle what the press called “the resulting damage.”
The press is limited in their vision of the Washington political scene as if they were watching a staged soap opera. Their determination to dwell on the dysfunctionality of the White House protocol is akin to analyzing the process of realignment of deck chairs on the Titanic. Why spend time wondering about how the chairs are realigned? What should be the center of their editorial pursuit is, what exactly did it mean to the Russians? With the reorganization of Europe after Brexit, how is the overall restructuring of American foreign policy impacted? There has been some mention that our intelligence contacts have been jeopardized, but no discussion about whether our overall foreign policy has been compromised. The reason for this heedlessness is that most don’t have any recollection of overall guiding, uniting principles and purpose. Let the debate rage. But let it proceed pursuant to the protocol of ventilating eternal principles.
Back to the metaphor of the Titanic.
The Titanic was the greatest ocean vessel built at the time in the early 1900s. There were three classes of accommodation – first, second and third-class. First-class included the suites and patrons of highest social status. Service was unlimited. Second-class was the middle-class patrons. Rooms were smaller but had full-service. Third-class was steerage. These patrons were largely immigrants and people of little means attempting to get to America for a better life. In addition to the three classes, there was the working and service crews. The ship was basically open to all for access except for the first-class, private and exclusive dining rooms. In one sense, it was reflective of society, not totally removed even from today. All passengers of the ship co-existed and dealt with the fact that there was group dining in steerage and country club dining on the upper level. There was at least a subconscious awareness that everyone was dependent upon the ship staying on course, and of course, staying afloat.
All on board trusted the ship’s captain. There were certain ongoing systems and services that even the captain couldn’t disrupt or reorganize. The ship had an institutional operating manual which had a life of its own. When the Titanic struck the iceberg on that fateful night in 1912, everyone on board knew instinctively that if the problem affected that ship, it affected their future safety.
When it became apparent that the ship would sink, civil rules of order commenced. Women and children were to be first into the life boats. Yes, first-class passengers got first notice -- they were closest to the deck. But men in first-class were to step aside for women and children of all classes.
The actual scene on board the ship that night was most probably chaos. Some passengers took matters into their own hands and did not follow the orders of the crew. The point is that the Titanic was in one regard reflective of a government today, representing a country and a culture of a diverse population of citizens in ethnicity, in gender, in education, and in wealth.
Everyone on that voyage had a dream.
The dream dealt with their definition of pursuit of happiness. They may have been vacationing, or they may have been looking for a new start in life. But they were glad for the opportunity of transportation across an ocean of rough seas with unforeseen peril. It is likely summation that if you interviewed everyone on that ship prior to that tragic night, they would have described, with great definition, their purpose in life, and their hopes for their family. This is the collective and individual vision of being on the same ship of state.
What’s missing in the national debate today are leaders and citizens who fail to embrace the definition and purpose of what it means to be an American and a citizen of the United States. We are all passengers on a ship of state, constructed by the Constitution, and defined in purpose by the Declaration of Independence. We err in not weighing the solutions to our problems against a backdrop of our identity established by our Founding Fathers.
What is this identity, you might ask.
Ask then, why do so many citizens of other countries want to come here? Why are we so prosperous, even today? Why have we achieved the milestones that we have achieved? In the answers to these three questions is the basis for all the dreams and hopes of all humanity. A common denominator exists among all peoples of the human race.
We all seek freedom.
It is irresponsible, and devoid of result, to dwell on personalities without addressing principles. Judgment is the act of manifesting superiority. Believing in superiority is effeteness. Effeteness is believing that you know how to arrange the deck chairs through a better process, and worse, that it makes a difference.
What is worthwhile is advancing the truth for the generations. This truth is eternal that freedom and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable, God-given rights which are not to be orchestrated by government, but protected by government.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?