It Was the Worst of Times…

It’s unfortunate for the Democrats in Hawaii that they’ve characterized the major challenge of their party as merely the challenge to age -- rather than an issue much more fundamental to the survival of every organization. That is the quite legitimate challenge of the new to the old -- in every culture throughout time. When the new wins out, those individuals and their society is reborn, renewed, recharged; if the old wins out, it retards, cripples and eventually extinguishes that society -- from the face of the earth. It’s never failed.

The dying to the old is what makes evolution and progress possible -- and not just calling themselves “progressives,” while resisting, denying and fighting every change, every deviation, every exception from business as usual (and expected) as a mortal enemy, until their final battle is the one they wish they had not won -- for it brought the buildings down on their heads.

Everything changes to stay alive; once it cannot change, it’s no longer alive, and whether they are dead or alive, no longer matters -- as one cannot tell any difference. That was the final obstinance that proved to be fatal.

The new is not just that which is younger. Much more relevant is whether it is better -- and not simply more or less. A bad young guy is no better than an old bad guy; he merely prolongs the cycle of bad guys. Much more relevant is whether there are “good guy” alternatives. But of course, they don’t want us to see things that clearly. They will throw up all kinds of “red herring” issues to ensure we never see these things clearly.

Of course the easiest thing to do is blame somebody else for whatever goes wrong in the world. That is much easier than ever having to feel accountable and responsible for anything happening. Instead of actually doing anything, it is sufficient to just convince people that one is doing something -- making public service announcements to that effect, because the capacity to actually do anything, has long been lost. The only thing they can now do, is try to convince others that one is doing something by blaming somebody else.

Entire industries are devoted to that end. Rather than run for president themselves, they self-promote themselves to chief advisers, and berate the president for being stupid for not paying attention to them. They interpret the term “public servant,” to mean “personal servant,” who they feel entitled to abuse and harangue endlessly. These are the same people who take every opportunity out in public to humiliate all those they feel are restrained from answering back. They are the bullies and tyrants who regard democracy as the right of the majority to impose their will on the minority and everybody else not in their clique, or not in a position to defend themselves effectively.

That display of brutal, naked power, reveals what they are all about -- for all to see. It is the beginning of the end -- the long descent into the abyss. Their society and culture is no longer viable. Any association requires the willing consent of its participants. Enforced obedience to conformity leads to a widespread rebellion among its most intelligent, sensitive and fair. The final battle is the one they wish they had not won. The seeds of resentment they have sown ensures their end. Something better takes their place. They become entirely irrelevant -- which is far worse than getting old.