The True Crisis in Washington

Exert from article from http://www.brushfireforum.com

The True Crisis in Washington

We narrowly avoided the fiscal cliff. Our nation’s credit rating still hangs in the balance. We continue to face economic catastrophe with a looming debate on the debt ceiling. This is all in addition to the gun crisis and…I am not sure but…is there still a “war on women?” Welcome to the 21st-century of politics, where statesmanship and governance are quaint historical concepts and politics is all there is.

Governance today is tilting at windmills, pitting one side against another, and manufacturing an enemy for you to attack. Parties now run full-time – not just during elections – and the status quo is constantly playing politics. Reflection, wisdom, principles, and ideals – these are things of a far-distant past.

The goal today is not to “fix” a problem but to “fixate” you on a problem. The media follows the same pattern – treating daily news like a campaign rather than anything that resembles journalism.

Historically, you would have been able to find two camps of people. Examining the two extremes, first are short term pragmatists doing whatever it takes to fix a crisis. These people are usually reactionary and desire more rapid or precipitous change. In the other camp is principled realism, these individuals represent the most idealist views and their focus is not necessarily what is currently happening but promotion of change for future states.

Ideally, what should occur is a healthy balance of these two camps, and governance is principled and considered. When “real” immediate problems occur, the short term pragmatism will kick in and do what it takes to solve the emergency. Then when the crisis ended and normalcy returned, what you would see would be a shift from short term pragmatism back to the principled realism.

By contrast, today the crises intentionally never end and neither does the campaigning. Instead of winning the campaign and then settling down to governing with principled realism, the status quo never stops creating a crisis and running for office. What has replaced principled realism is a permanent campaign.

We have followed suit and become a society of crisis pragmatists looking to be saved. Everybody wants to be rescued, and few any longer have faith in long term principled realism. We have been caught in a trap of either expecting someone else to fix things or accepting the vision they provide for us.

We continue to look at others as the solution, look up to politicians as rock stars, and celebrate “getting ahead” as being part of the system. We lay our trust and our future in the hands of the system and that one party can save us from the other. The answer must become that we do not just elect a different leader, but we (you) become a self-governing leader. The answer is not in “R’s” and “D’s” but “you’s” and “I’s.”

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Author: Eric Wilson is heavily involved encouraging the principle of self-governing leadership and is the Executive Director for Kentucky 9/12 Project, co-author of the book “We Surround Them; Our Journey From Apathy to Action”, and is the Network Administrator and co-founder of Brush Fire Forum.com