A representative system of governance is only as good as the representatives. An informed electorate is also critical. It bothers me that we seem to have such a disconnect between voters and people for whom we vote. A candidate can say he or she has their constituents’ best interests in mind as they journey off to Washington, but then something happens. The waters get muddied, promises made during a campaign give way to the more complicated reality of deal making and concessions. And all those promises, while not exactly falling by the wayside, get trampled a bit.

Candidates for public office promise the world. This was Donald Trump’s strategy. If ever there was somebody who just said whatever he thought people wanted to hear, it was him. What he promised was a whole lot of garbage, but people bought it.

Imagine the epitaph on a gravestone that simply reads : “Here lies ___________, consumer and end user.”

I was getting a haircut the other day and was reminded that here is a situation that calls for conversation. Dialogue. I am not much of a conversationalist, so sustained discourse is a challenge for anyone who gets me for a customer.  

Let me clarify- I can talk breathlessly about certain things in certain settings, but I am miles beyond feeling the need for small talk and could, with little discomfort, sit silently for the ten minutes it takes to cut my hair.

I guess this colors me lazy and boring, maybe even snobbish and cold. I mean no disrespect, but engaging in idle banter for ten minutes- well, I do it, but I could easily not do it.

I appreciate those who cut and style hair for a living. It is a calling all its own, because on a daily basis these folks encounter a mix of familiar faces and strangers with whom they must interact, if only to increase their chances of receiving a tip.

In any event, I don’t see this being a job for introverts.

Yes, Donald, we will take your word for it. Because you are a sterling judge of character. Dear Vlad can’t possibly be lying about involvement in your election. We can trust you when you reassure us that there is no guile in his heart, there was no funny business, we have nothing to worry about.

Because you are our rock. You are the man- the businessman who’s gonna clean things up in Washington, do things differently, kick ass and take names. Make America great again.

If only it was fear itself we had to fear.

The cynic in me is fully formed, especially when it comes to members of Congress and other leaders of this nation. One in particular.

The longer one lives, the less starry-eyed and naive one is liable to become. The veneer fades, the shine comes off the apple with regard to people you might have viewed at one time as pedestal worthy- above the fray, honorable, courageous, and wise. Even those who may exhibit these attributes from time to time are now guilty by association. It’s too much work to sort people out.

It’s not clear to me what motivates people to run for public office. Is it altruistic public service, or just self-serving power grab? Maybe they like the give and take, the jousting. Or, heaven forbid, the art of the deal.

Maybe they just like the benefits.

Perhaps this jaded view is all because I am no longer looking up to my elders. I am becoming an elder, and I have a less naive view of how the world apparently works. I am less trusting, less sure that people in positions of power actually know what they’re doing, or that they care about the people who elected them.

Yikes. I’m not always this bleak.

After you’ve taken time to listen to a person’s story, given them an opportunity to explain themselves and share a bit of their lives, what comes next? I’ve heard this is the missing piece that will move us beyond the current toxicity- we have to take time to listen to each other.

But what are we listening for? What are we supposed to hear? Is this supposed to soften the edges, move us toward some sort of revelation and deeper appreciation for where someone is coming from? Is anything yet to come going to be that much different from what we’ve already heard?

Or does it just end up confirming what we already knew?

There’s something to be said for walking a mile in another person’s shoes, but how does this help us here? How would this help us turn a corner on polarized philosophies and entrenched understandings? How does this move us toward governance and leadership that reflects rational thought and evidence of a heart?

So the best we can hope for is that our discourse become a bit more civil, even as we realize we want different paths for our country?

How does that play out?

Patriotism. I’m just not feeling it like I once did.

Sure, after 9/11 there was a stretch when we flew the flag on our front porch. But I’ve moved beyond my Boy Scout days and a hook, line, and sinker buy-in of how great this country is supposed to be. Don’t try to sell me on blind, unquestioning allegiance. Especially to a flag or an old drinking song.

The world’s last, best hope. The New Jerusalem. American exceptionalism. Is it really that difficult to imagine how such arrogance hits the ears of people in other countries? Or the ones relegated to reservations who were the first to call this land home?

We talk big, we call ourselves the greatest nation on earth, as if it’s never about anything more than bragging rights. Such a self-assessment sounds like something a teenager or a WWF wrestler would say. When I hear our leaders say such things, it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard.

America is, and perhaps always will be, a work in progress. In some ways, it’s still an impulsive teenager seeking approval, searching for its identity amidst nations that have been around a lot longer than we have.

We’ve come a long way quickly, made our mark. But there are still growing pains. It’s not like there’s nothing left for us to learn.

Progress, like many things, is in the eye of the beholder. One person’s step forward is someone else’s one step too many.

What’s wrong, one will argue, with the status quo? What’s wrong with familiarity and routine and the way things have always been, or always been done? A serious asking of such questions betrays a certain fear.

I’m as much a creature of habit as anyone, but a static existence is a waste of space and time and oxygen. One could argue that any advancement or discovery in any field has come because someone couldn’t just sit still and do nothing. They weren’t content to let the world go by without changing it, without finding a better way. Some among us are indeed endlessly curious, restless, dissatisfied, driven. Possessing ideas deserving of the light of day. This is what has brought us from oil lamps to LEDs, from horseback to rocket power, from poultices to gene therapy.

Still, I’m trying to get my head around this Jobsian notion that we can’t live without things we initially didn’t know we needed. Are we easily seduced by slick and shiny things? Are we lacking such vision that we need some sort of prophet to show us the way and tell us what we’re missing? Are some people somehow able to  glimpse the future, allowing them to see what others can’t see?

Sometimes it feels like we’re moving too fast, that technology is outpacing our capacity for adaptation and proper grasp of implications. Sometimes it feels like we’re skipping some steps.

Spoken like a true dinosaur, I suppose.

The winners write the history, or so I’ve heard.  It makes sense, but it also casts a pall on objectivity and accuracy, and in some ways everything I ever learned from a history book.  Whose history is it? It’s like we’ve been fed a line all our lives, like the truth is still out there.

And it leaves people out- namely the ones on the losing side. What’s their perspective, or don’t they get one? Think slavery. Think of the machinations and motives behind just about any war. Think westward expansion and manifest destiny. Whose idea was Manifest Destiny, anyway, and what was the color of his/her skin?

Lately, it’s like Toto is pulling back the curtain on everything.

Was able to get out to LRT before things started at the seminary yesterday morning. I’m glad I was able to do it then. It was totally deserted, quiet except for a passing jet, some rustling leaves and birds in the trees. Interesting clouds, too.

The workshop itself? It was ok, though it had me wondering if there’s anything new under the sun.