Thursday, September 23, 2010

Health Reform Thoughts

Thought One - There are no “good” or “bad” people, only people with different points of view, only people who consider their “special interests,” to be themselves, their family, or their constituents. Some people are simply more “clever” than “good.”

As Elizabeth Wordsworth observed long ago,

If all good people were clever,
And all clever people were good,
The world would be nicer than ever
Than we though that it possibly could.
But somehow, ‘tis seldom or never
That the two hit it off as they should;
For the good are so harsh to the clever,
The clever so rude to the good.

Moral: Those who so cleverly rammed through health reform against the will of the people, though full of good intentions, may have been too clever for their own good.

Thought Two - The ruling class, the dominant political party, the Inside-the-Beltway elite, never stay intact forever, for soon or late, they stumble and go out of power. As George Orwell, of 1984 fame, noted.

There are only four ways in which a ruling class can fall from power. Either it is conquered from without, or it governs so inefficiently that the masses are stirred to revolt, or it allows a strong and discontented Middle Group to come into being, or it loses owns self-consciousness and willingness to govern. These causes do not operate singly, and as a rule all four of them are present to some degrees. A ruling class which could guard against all of the them would remain in power permanently, Ultimately the determining factor is the mental attitude of the ruling class itself

Moral: The ruling class, incumbent Democrats and Republicans, had best swing to the center or change their mental attitude to satisfy independents , Tea Partiers, or other members of the Middle Group, or their days are numbered.

No comments: