I like to think that my writing falls in the category of political and social satire. I suppose I am giving myself more credit than I deserve since it is not easy to be a good satirist. My spouse is always saying that my satire often misses the mark. Nevertheless, I aspire that at least someday my writing can be compared to Mark Twain or perhaps Kurt Vonnegut. I will have to leave it to my readers or at least posterity to find out if I ever achieve this lofty aspiration. Who can judge the quality of their own writing without a large degree of prejudice? (To hear the “Happy Days Are Here Again” song, click here.)
One element that seems typical of good satire (be it Mark Twain or Jon Stewart) is the ability to evoke humor in ones writings and ideas. To make people laugh at the same time that you are getting them to see the absurdity of their viewpoints or society’s viewpoints. You can have “dark” satire or “light” satire and in my opinion they form a continuum. I think of Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut as falling on the darker side of this continuum and Mark Twain and Jon Stewart as falling on the lighter side.
One of my goals is to keep a balance on my perspectives that helps me to fall more in the middle of this continuum. I see being repeatedly on the light side as too comical or humorous. I do not want to be thought of as a comic or entertainer. I concede that these people can make a difference in the world as one of my early heroes was Lenny Bruce. I think Lenny was a great comic and a great social satirist. However, I do not see my nature as capable of embracing a very high degree of humor in some of the evil and stupidity I see in the world. I have never been very Pollyannish. I want to stay away from embracing a view of the world that resembles the “Happy Days” syndrome. All is good, nothing is wrong, everything will be all right. Just sit back and watch TV. This attitude can lead to the pitfalls of complacency and neutrality.
Getting repeatedly too close to the position of “dark” humor on this continuum also has its pitfalls. I think I have lost many friends along the path of life because I have sometimes become too critical and carping on the evils and stupidity of the world. You start condemning evil and stupidity and before you know it, you are attacking people. It is easy to start associating individuals with policies, ideas and positions that you loath. Soon, you are surrounded by former friends who are all stupid and evil. The final stage in this process is to see nothing but a world that is evil and stupid populated by evil stupid people. Everyone in the world becomes your enemy. The exact opposite of Pollyanna becomes your gestalt.
I do not choose to follow either extreme. I want to follow the Greek “Golden Mean.” In ancient Greece the Golden Mean meant to pursue moderation in all things. I don’t really want to hate all Republicans despite the fact that today I can see little good in the Republican Party. Nor do I want to love all things associated with the Democratic Party. In some ways, the Democrats have helped to create the Tea Party and Right-Wing extremists in the Republican Party. Though I doubt many Democrats would either see or confess to their culpability in this matter. There has always been and there always will be excesses and vices in both parties. Politicians of either stripe have more in common with each other than they do with the average middle class worker in this country or any country.
“I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live.” — Socrates (Ancient Greek Philosopher, 470 BC-399 BC)
Things do not seem to have changed much in respect to politics since Socrates was executed for his anti-political beliefs. Socrates openly expected the youth of Athens to challenge and question authority. This stance was no more valued in ancient Greece then it is in 21st Century America.
The title of my blog this week was meant to be somewhat humorous and somewhat satirical. Hence the question mark on the end of the title is not an accident. I know many people who think that the world has never been in a worse state. One of my ex-friends kept reading Revelations to me and telling me that the world was going to end about a year or so ago. Our friendship ended but the world did not. I have other friends who say “Obama has ruined this country.” Many Americans say that the USA is in decline and that the end days are near. I don’t understand this negativity. I understand that much of the world economy is coming out of a bad recession. I truly see that the world has more problems than anyone can count on two hands. We have poverty, war, famine, drought, global warming, disease, inequality, injustice, tyranny, evil of all sorts and a great deal of stupidity and ignorance. Is there a silver lining in this maelstrom of disasters?
Some people believe that if we can only go back to the “good old days” that everything will be all right. I don’t want to say too much about this option since I think it is a fantasy. Only in the movies, can you go back in time. Time marches forward and waits for no one. Either get on the train or they will bury you where you stand. We are not going to go back to pre-cellphone days, pre-internet days, pre-abortion days, pre-global warming days, pre-nuclear power days or pre-any other days. We can only go forward. We can embrace many of the old values that made our countries great but we must pay them forward. We must embrace new values and blend the old and the new together in a modern version of the Golden Mean. This is not an easy task.
I published a book about fifteen years ago that I called “The New Business Values for the 21st Century.” The book did not become a best seller but it had several good chapters which IMHO have stood the test of time. The basic idea for this book was based on a model that I called the “Five I Model.” My mentor Dr. Gary N. McLean told me to always work from a model. I tempered his advice with the advice of Dr. George Box that “All models are wrong but some are useful.” My Five I’s included the following:
- Information
- Improvement
- Innovation
- Inclusion
- Incentives
The premise of my book was that new organizations must revolve around these five key elements which I had elevated to the status of values. I think these same five elements or values also pertain to building a great nation or great country. I do not want to repeat what was in my book; you may still be able to find it on Amazon or E-Bay if you are interested. However, one element that I think has significant relevance to this blog today is the 4th Value of Inclusion.
Inclusion is a value that embraces diversity and working together in a win-win fashion rather than working in opposition. Inclusion abhors a culture or position of divisiveness such as we see in politics today. In fact, many of the conflicts in the world today are caused by the divisiveness that is the enemy of inclusiveness. Inclusion is a friend of immigration and not an enemy of immigration. I have a T-shirt that reads “We need a fair immigration policy and not an anti-immigration policy.” Too many of our politicians today are preaching a divisiveness that borders on hatred and bigotry. I do not need to mention names here. All you have to do is read the newspapers or listen to the TV to see the politicians that are preaching exclusion rather than inclusion.
We cannot go backwards into “happy days.” We can only go forward. To do so we must practice the old values that made our nations great alongside of the new values that have become critical to success in the new millennium. My book addresses at least five of these new values. Do doubt there are others. I am not certain of what they are, but I am certain of what they are not. They are not values that foster:
- Exclusivity
- Divisiveness
- Inequality
- Anti-intellectualism
- Anti-immigration
- Bigotry, racism, sexism or discrimination of any kind
There is a major US election coming up in the next fourteen months. No doubt the news will be full of “trending” stories concerning the pros and cons of various candidates. It will be easy for many of us to take sides. He is a Democrat. She is a Republican. They are independents. He belongs to the Tea Party. She belongs to the Coffee Party. Such identification can and will only lead to more divisiveness, more intolerance and a greater inability to understand the arguments that are often critical to a comprehensive solution that can result in a win-win. There is an antidote to this problem.
I suggest we look at all of the candidates running for office and ask ourselves “Will they bring our country together?” “How do they rank in terms of the new values?” “How do they compare in terms of the negativity values in my list above?” I offer that we need to care less about party affiliations and more about the values that we see our candidates espousing. We are no longer a “New nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” The USA is nearly 250 years old now. We can remain true to the values of our founding fathers only by realizing that it is now the 21st century and that there are new values that must be added to the old values that made our nation great. This truth applies to every country in the world. The path forward can be to a future that will be a happier world for all of us to live in. As Jesus said:
“No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” — Luke 9:62
Time for Questions:
What can we do to help create a better world for everyone, not just those in our country? Which of the USA candidates for president do you think will most care about people? Are you picking your candidate out of fear or distrust of the future? What candidates will do the best to be inclusive, ethical and moral? Are you supporting these candidates? Why or why not?
Life is just beginning.
“Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life – a kind of destiny. Whoever is in distress can call on me. I will come running wherever they are.” — Princess Diana
Aging Capriciously 