Most of you have heard of Sir Issac Newton, but few of you may know how significant his teachings were. I will explore some in this blog.
Simply stated, Newton said that "bodies at rest stay at rest and bodies in motion remain in motion unless something changes their state". Now, how does this apply to politics? Rather than focus on the "bodies", I like to focus of the "something changes". We know the state of politics by looking back and studying history. We know the past, but we don't know the future. I contend that if we study those things that have changed, they will give us a clue about the future. Isn't that very logical?
Let's try one and see what we get. It is clear that the USA has experienced a big change in the past 100 years from a predominantly rural society to an urban society. We know that has happened, but what has it caused to change about our country? The body is no longer at rest or going in its old direction, so what is the new direction? Interesting question for all of us. We must know that it has had an impact, but what has it been and will be the impact?
Here is one of my guesses. Rural people tended to depend on themselves for most of their welfare. They grew most of their own food and collected firewood to keep themselves warm in winter. Many went to the toilet in their "out house" and got water from their own well or spring. Got the picture? They did recognize the need for some kind of government, but they did not look for the government to contribute too much to their welfare. I would say that the rural people tended to be more "conservative" and thus were cautious of change or promises from the government.
As stated above, we are now much more urbanized and are getting more urbanized at an exponential rate compared to the past. With the speed and magnitude of this change, few have looked deeply at its long term affects on the country that we see in our rear view mirrors. Where rural people were more conservative, urban people tended to be more liberal and thus have more need and trust that government would provide them with aid of different types. Urban people don't rely on an out house or their own well, They expect some government agency to provide them with these items.
The problem that the USA now faces is that one single type of government does not seem to fit the needs or desires of "most" of its people. Some what less government while others want more. It is further complicated by the lack of understanding of the "cost" of more government or where that money will come from. It sounds like the USA could best be satisfied by some kind of compromise, but what is that? The founders of the USA were rural people and were very concerned about the growth and power of a bigger government. They had seen by historical examples how the focus of some more central power tended to end up in power hungry people becoming dictators or royalty. Whether that was always true, there was not enough history to disprove it. Are you following this?
There are other things that have changed that we need to take a look at. The USA used to be called a "melting pot". When was the last time some one said that or showed pride in that concept? Most are too young to remember. It used to be common for children born in the USA from parents who were new immigrants to not be able to speak a work of their parent's native language. Parents wanted their children to "melt" in as citizens of their new country where they were born. Why has that attitude changed and what does it mean for the future of the USA? Like urbanization the movement away form the "melting pot" attitude has serious implication for our future and what are they?
You only have to look at a Silver Dollar to understand the history of the USA. What does it say on a Silver Dollar that is so important? Don't know? Get one out and look at it . It says,"E Pluribus Unum". Which means "from many, one". We are not supposed to be a bunch of tribes like much of the world, but a "united" "one" equal people. That used to work and be accepted, so what has changed and what does it mean for our future? Do you want tribalism as much of the world has?
I could go on and on with examples like the above and show that we have not looked ahead at the affects of things that we have causally allowed to change. How about the rural one room school houses compared to today's mega Urban schools? How about the shift in our economic model from one of physical labor to intellectual labor. Income inequality is only going to get worse as time goes on. How about the shift away from having capital being the driver of business to intellect? Should we rename our economic system from "capitalism" to something like "intellectualism"?
Look around at major things that have changed in your life time and see if you can predict how they will change the direction of the USA in the future? Newton would be proud of you!
PS--What do you think has been the impact on the education of our children as a result of public school teachers unionizing?
PS--What do you think has been the impact on our children by Facebook where people post the "great" things that they are doing or claiming all the "many" new friends that they have?
PS--What has been the impact of the "affirmative action" program in our schools and work places?
PS--What has been the impact of the government insuring private home loans for banks in the USA?
Simply stated, Newton said that "bodies at rest stay at rest and bodies in motion remain in motion unless something changes their state". Now, how does this apply to politics? Rather than focus on the "bodies", I like to focus of the "something changes". We know the state of politics by looking back and studying history. We know the past, but we don't know the future. I contend that if we study those things that have changed, they will give us a clue about the future. Isn't that very logical?
Let's try one and see what we get. It is clear that the USA has experienced a big change in the past 100 years from a predominantly rural society to an urban society. We know that has happened, but what has it caused to change about our country? The body is no longer at rest or going in its old direction, so what is the new direction? Interesting question for all of us. We must know that it has had an impact, but what has it been and will be the impact?
Here is one of my guesses. Rural people tended to depend on themselves for most of their welfare. They grew most of their own food and collected firewood to keep themselves warm in winter. Many went to the toilet in their "out house" and got water from their own well or spring. Got the picture? They did recognize the need for some kind of government, but they did not look for the government to contribute too much to their welfare. I would say that the rural people tended to be more "conservative" and thus were cautious of change or promises from the government.
As stated above, we are now much more urbanized and are getting more urbanized at an exponential rate compared to the past. With the speed and magnitude of this change, few have looked deeply at its long term affects on the country that we see in our rear view mirrors. Where rural people were more conservative, urban people tended to be more liberal and thus have more need and trust that government would provide them with aid of different types. Urban people don't rely on an out house or their own well, They expect some government agency to provide them with these items.
The problem that the USA now faces is that one single type of government does not seem to fit the needs or desires of "most" of its people. Some what less government while others want more. It is further complicated by the lack of understanding of the "cost" of more government or where that money will come from. It sounds like the USA could best be satisfied by some kind of compromise, but what is that? The founders of the USA were rural people and were very concerned about the growth and power of a bigger government. They had seen by historical examples how the focus of some more central power tended to end up in power hungry people becoming dictators or royalty. Whether that was always true, there was not enough history to disprove it. Are you following this?
There are other things that have changed that we need to take a look at. The USA used to be called a "melting pot". When was the last time some one said that or showed pride in that concept? Most are too young to remember. It used to be common for children born in the USA from parents who were new immigrants to not be able to speak a work of their parent's native language. Parents wanted their children to "melt" in as citizens of their new country where they were born. Why has that attitude changed and what does it mean for the future of the USA? Like urbanization the movement away form the "melting pot" attitude has serious implication for our future and what are they?
You only have to look at a Silver Dollar to understand the history of the USA. What does it say on a Silver Dollar that is so important? Don't know? Get one out and look at it . It says,"E Pluribus Unum". Which means "from many, one". We are not supposed to be a bunch of tribes like much of the world, but a "united" "one" equal people. That used to work and be accepted, so what has changed and what does it mean for our future? Do you want tribalism as much of the world has?
I could go on and on with examples like the above and show that we have not looked ahead at the affects of things that we have causally allowed to change. How about the rural one room school houses compared to today's mega Urban schools? How about the shift in our economic model from one of physical labor to intellectual labor. Income inequality is only going to get worse as time goes on. How about the shift away from having capital being the driver of business to intellect? Should we rename our economic system from "capitalism" to something like "intellectualism"?
Look around at major things that have changed in your life time and see if you can predict how they will change the direction of the USA in the future? Newton would be proud of you!
PS--What do you think has been the impact on the education of our children as a result of public school teachers unionizing?
PS--What do you think has been the impact on our children by Facebook where people post the "great" things that they are doing or claiming all the "many" new friends that they have?
PS--What has been the impact of the "affirmative action" program in our schools and work places?
PS--What has been the impact of the government insuring private home loans for banks in the USA?
