House of Eratosthenes

This “government shutdown” is nothing new, and neither is all the frustration that goes with it. Decade after decade, generation after generation, we’ve been putting up with it in one form or another: “blank,” usually management, sat down at a table with “blank,” usually a union, and “failed to reach an agreement before midnight.” And so, the garbage has to keep piling up with no one clearing it away. And so, the Boeing workers have to continue to stay home driving their wives nuts. And so, the baseball game has to be canceled. The many have to stop living, because the few sat down at the table & couldn’t or wouldn’t reach a deal.

The social network is all abuzz with talk about whether it’s the Republicans or the democrats who are the real problem here. Now that it is starting to resemble an argument the progressive-types are about to lose, for once — even if it is but a tiny battle within an enormous war — there is a certain allure about it. It’s a little exciting, I have to admit. The enemy has been sent out onto the jousting field with a short lance. I can see why & how, when it goes the other way, the proggies tend to get hooked on this stuff. B-u-u-u-t, we have to get serious about this. I think everyone realizes this is an argument about which leafy part of the weed should get the chopping. The source of the problem is not here. It is underneath, deep in the soil, out of view. It is the dysfunctional structure and the dysfunctional dependency.

People, just minding their own business but relying in some way on something-or-another, are having their plans disrupted because strangers are not achieving agreement with other strangers. Thousands of miles away. Strangers who will remain strangers, who will always be strangers. And what the hell does failed-to-reach-agreement mean, anyway? Each side did a diligent and judicious job of minimally choosing its “hill I wanna die on” positions, and some of those were found to be mutually exclusive, so they gave it a few more hasty tries while the clock chimed midnight, and then collapsed in despair? Like that? Or is it more like, someone didn’t even bother to show up. Maybe no one did? Or phoned it in, literally and figuratively?

I can certainly appreciate how it’s so aggravating. I don’t understand how people keep falling for it over & over again. I don’t understand why some people choose to make a lifestyle out of this. It’s quite silly, when you look at it from a distance, or ponder it for awhile. Oh goody, the strangers I’ll never meet happened to agree on something, so I get…access to a park. A paycheck. A seat at the ball game. A boat ride. So glad they agreed…this time.

Yeah, these things are all ratchet-traps; the dependents are in a situation in which they have no choice. But that’s usually because, before, they passed some point where the choice went away. Because they gave it up. All this debating & discussing about “ObamaCare” was about exactly that, was it not?

Something is going on here. It’s almost a mental disability or something. Maybe it is that. There’s a spark that isn’t jumping across the synapses, some “dammit I’ve just been hoodwinked, I’ll never let that happen again” thought. I wonder if there’s a drug that could be taken to plug up these synapses? Maybe something in the water. Either way, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: We, as a society, are quite gifted and exuberant at “diagnosing” behavioral disorders that arguably are not real, and as we do that, we often fail to diagnose other things that probably should be. This is one of the things that should be, I’m convinced of that. Look at all the rage out there. All the excitement, resentment, wrath. Anger at Republicans for failing to “compromise” with President Obama…read that as, find out what President Obama wants, and do whatever it is. Anger anger anger. But not a single smidgen of “I’ll never fall for this again.”

The question is not whether this is one of those deals where people love to complain about something, but won’t get off their fat asses to solve it. That’s settled. The question is, what forces are at work here; what dynamics; what is happening to them. On this, I’m less than certain. I must form theories. And my favorite theory at this time is — this is a process of urbanization.

We form bonds with each other when you & I have it in common that we’re at the mercy of…something. Something unpredictable and uncontrollable. Now out in the rural areas, that’s weather. You meet up with a friend you haven’t seen in awhile, or a complete stranger, or friend-of-a-friend, maybe there’s a bit more time involved than what’s needed to say “hi” or “howdy,” and you talk about the weather. Weather is somewhat predictable but somewhat not. And it affects a lot of things. So you share a common selfish interest in what the weather’s going to do, so why not? If one of you knows something about how to deal with it that the other doesn’t know, the conversation could prove fruitful. Well, one of the differences between rural and urban living is, urban living is pockmarked with many other things that are like that. The local sports team really sucked this weekend. They’re putting in a new stop light at 5th and Main. The carpool lane is stupid, it isn’t built right. Got a ticket yesterday when the parking meter ran out. The Mayor doesn’t know what he’s doing here, there, or anywhere. And, of course…the sanitation engineers’ strike isn’t settled yet.

It’s just human-to-human, clique-to-clique bonding. A normal social activity, dressed up in the clothes of problem-solving. But it isn’t problem-solving, of course, it’s just bitching.

I think the democrats are really nervous right now. They have a lot of spinning to do. They’re pretty good at it, they usually win, and my money is still on them winning this time. They probably don’t have too much to fear. But at the same time, they’re right to be nervous. We tolerate this urbanization, and the feeling of helplessness that goes with it, when we’re immersed in it gradually. This is more like a slam into a cement wall, and the plan does not look good.

The plan looks the way it really is. Maybe instead of “ObamaCare” we should’ve called it “The Declaration of Dependence.”

[…] Did Brahms No, I Still Hate It Unfit For Negotiations Anus Makers Whiskey…Tango…Foxtrot… XXII When Things Shut Down Best Sentence CXXXII “What is President Obama’s Incentive to Negotiate?” […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 10/12/2013 @ 08:23
[…] here is what I […]
- Why it Went the Way it Did | Rotten Chestnuts | 10/12/2013 @ 09:16

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When Things Shut DownWednesday, October 2nd, 2013

When Things Shut Down
Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013