Summoning The Adults

Madame:

I was going to play devil’s advocate on the mandatory service thing, but heck, as my son has said, the two or so years from high school until one gets to be officially a full adult (age 21) are a period of angstful in-betweenism anyway. :)

I’m thinking that a candidate who showed that kind of humility of admitting not having all the facts, or willingness to consider new data and change opinions,would be loved by the many.  Hopefully, those many would vote.  Because the haters, well, they may not do much constructive, but they are loud, they are forceful, and they vote.  Man, do they vote.

I was thinking the other day about so many of us have this need for something positive to be presented, rather than pulling up our boots and making something positive by turning a negative thing around until a positive outcome or change is effected. In some ways, this desire to have a positive presentation is beneficial.  But in others, it holds us back, because it keeps us from facing up to our's and our society’s situations in full clarity.

Because how many times have you heard someone say that they listen to something, like something, recommend something, because: “It’s not doom and gloom, not all bad news.”

Americans have been doing a poor job of handling bad news.  That “handling” has too often consisted of going into deflect, deny, or escape/divert mode, or self-enfeeblement/self-depressive mode.  Such reaction states are not only not productive, but serve those selfish interests that are truly causing the bad news in the first place. 

Ignore the problem?  Deflect it onto something or someone else?  Deny it?  Temporarily escape from the consequences?  Divert oneself into something pleasurable while the problem builds in the background?

Those are all a child’s reaction to the need for taking responsibility and actively addressing and correcting the problem.  Those who thump their chests and say “we are AMERICANS,” should put their actions where their words are, and be adults.  Adults who lay fantasizing, wishing, and avoidance aside to come together with other adults to be the grown-ups who make the hard decisions.

And we need to be honest about our “leaders,” and ourselves.  Whose bidding are we really doing?  And where is the real data? 

Being the adult isn’t always fun.  But the children of future tomorrows need us to be.  Desperately.