A New And Different Shattering Of Assumptions

2008-12-23
By

A New And Different Shattering Of Assumptions

You have done your share.  You work exhausting hours, sometimes at two jobs, and you have succeeded by any definition in fashioning a good life for yourself and your family.

You accepted that while you were taking care of your part, others, some perhaps with more knowledge, power, influence and wealth, were taking care of theirs.  Good for you, and well, … not so much.

Assumptions are a foundation of society’s functioning processes.  As you travel at 55 miles an hour down a busy highway, you assume. You assume your automobile’s wheels will not suddenly part ways and decide to retire in a roadside ditch. You assume others driving in the opposite direction will continue enjoyment of life long enough to pass by your left window at a relative 110 miles an hour, with no sudden change of heart that might cause your abrupt transition into a hood ornament. 

You assume that those you have elected to office will ardently carry their impassioned campaign trail promises to Washington or The White House.  You assume that all knowing sages who have been given the keys to the National Safe will be diligent in the management of its contents.  You assume that the Harvard educated captains of industry will manage the corporate world in testament to their prodigious capacities.  You assume that others must have special insights far exceeding your own on the big picture.

We all assume.  We have to.  The faculties of human endeavor expect it.  Without assumptions, the evolving ritual dances of the social, political and other conventions would disjunct into paralysis.  Our behavior holds certain expectations of its ambience.  In the event that those expectations are violated, we have enacted laws that will impose a collective retribution.

Current economic, political, corporate and social events are shattering our assumptions with impudent and invasive intrusion into the core of our lives.  Our centers of gravity are undergoing some dislocation somewhat similar to that experienced three generations back during the Great Depression.  The global interconnection and interdependence allows for a more pervasive impact on the earth’s population by the current version of high anxiety.

Do you remember the day when that parent you thought archaic told you, “Things are rarely as they seem?”  This assertion pertained to perceptions.  You were convinced that government bailouts were foreign concepts too far down the politically impossible spectrum to warrant serious thought.  Now you listen to unwavering shouts from experts telling you that bailing out banks and financial institutions is not only good for you, it is mandatory for your future well-being and peace of mind.

Will the best-connected voices, the CEOs  cap-in-hand, be the most rewarded in the bailout line-up? The taxpayer will continue to borrow trillions of dollars to enable these bailouts of Wall Street, and it will be left to our children and grandchildren to figure out how these debts will be repaid.  Can’t we just assume that they will? That would be easier. The dogmatic nudging of our perceptions is disquieting. We are perhaps observing, and financing, the dawning of a new capitalistic system and a metamorphosis of the corporate entity.

Surely somebody knows what he or she is doing. The assumptions return. This new Obama administration with its dozens of experts must know something we don’t. It will make things better with a stimulus package on top of the bailout packages.  This stimulus package will be the biggest in history, setting new incomprehensible levels of national debt. Shall we assume once again that for that singular reason, this package will work?

The cycles of our presence on this Earth are not all within our control, and these times are an experience along our journey for which our spirits will draw a learning.  New assumptions will advance on our percepts, reframing our outlooks and expectations, and your parent was correct, things will rarely ever be quite as they seem.

 

 

James Raider writes The Pacific Gate Post

Tags: , , , ,

262 views

  • merck

    I’m a craftsman, and one of the things we learn early in our trade is that anything worth doing is worth doing right. We don’t assume anything. We measure everything at least twice and try to cut everything just once. In order to get things right, you need to follow proven guidelines, which will insure a desired result. This is all very straightforward to anyone who builds things for a living, whether it’s a house, an industry or a successful government.

    When we see untrained people trying to do our craft at a hurried pace, with little respect for the quality of work they’re doing, and little or no respect for established practices, we marvel at the ignorance and will seldom offer any guidance. On the other hand, if a young man is painstakingly trying to get it right, but having a difficult time due to lack of experience, we will be more than happy to lend assistance.

    In either case, whether it’s negligent people, or due to lack of experience, someone has to intervene at *some point* or else it could very well get people killed. With knowledge, comes responsibility.

    Equating the assumption that you will pass the next vehicle headed in your direction safely, with the assumption that our public servants are doing things according to established principles is a very dangerous game to play.

    Kevin Merck

  • amfortas

    Merck, respec’, Sir. And a Merry Christmas to you.

    Those were wise words – a quite a few metaphores. I have met and worked with some fine people, fine ‘craftsmen’ in my time. They are worthwhile looking to and listening to. They are also rare. There have been very few Political people in my lifetime that I would invite to lunch let alone attend to.

    The ‘captains’ of our national ships as well as the economy’s tug boats have shown themselves to be a slovenly lot prone to destroying as many wharfs as they manage to tie up alongside. Let lose on the high seas, they have generally proven to be a danger to we small dingy rowers.

    The up and coming third mates who aspire to four-ringed sleeves, seek tailors that can secrete all sorts of aces up those sleeves in order to fix the game to their advantage and our distress. For these men and women to be ‘advisors’ and governmental department heads is a triumph of hope over experience.

    Let is take a pessimistic set of assumptions, check the wheel nuts and drive carefully.

  • http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/ James J. Raider

    ampfortas,

    …and perhaps it’s not so much a “pessimistic set of assumptions,” so much as a large dose of reality.

    Perhaps Congress should have term limits of four years in order to curtail the slide into complacency and the influence peddling (a la Fannie Mae) system that have witnessed for so long.

  • amfortas

    Yes, James. New and perhaps abrupt rules need to be put in place. Limiting scoundrels to four years is not the way though. I would see the job of Congressman as so important that any abuse of the role should carry the death penalty. Maybe that will concentrate minds.

    I did put myself up for election but lacking Obama’s charisma and helpful colleagues in Chicago’s back streets I did not get sufficient votes. My Policies for restructuring the Character and Integity of the Nation are still in my desk drawer. Maybe I should put them on e-Bay.






Search

RSS Amy Alkon

RSS Donna Laframboise