Kaizen Curmudgeon—300

“I hope you realize, Curmudge, that we breezed past our 300^th posting as if it were nothing special.”

“I was aware of it, Julie, but I wanted first to wrap up our series on Curmudgeonocracy.”

“So what’s next?  More on government or perhaps health care?”

“However the spirit moves me, chère collègue.  But at the moment, this spirit is discouraged.”

“How so, Old Guy?”

“Consider the topics we have dealt with at length—government and health care—and how they have changed since my childhood in the 1930’s and 40’s.  The world is still full of hate, and now there are small wars inspired by religious fanatics instead of one big one inspired by totalitarian fanatics.  However, our leadership is clearly poorer.  Let me give you an example from just this week.  My friend’s son is a battle-hardened Marine NCO, yet our government won’t allow him to re-enlist to continue his Marine career.  Just because someone said ‘no boots on the ground.’  Never?  Maybe our leadership can’t see any further into the future than the six o’clock news broadcast.”

“What about health care?  Advances certainly have been dramatic since you were a kid.”

“You are right there, Julie, but one can easily find bad as well as good examples.  Last night I attended a party given by a woman my age who has been treating very serious cancer for the past three years.  She looked well and has been living a full life.  On the other hand, earlier in the week I visited a much younger friend in hospice.  Her oncologist told her there was no hope.  She is dying not from her cancer but from her chemotherapy!”  (Written before her death on 10/04/14.)

“I share your distress, Old Guy, and so does Doc Mack.  But nevertheless, on our Kaizen Curmudgeon anniversaries in the past we have provided a look back to fairly recent postings for our readers.  I trust that we will celebrate ‘300’ in a similar fashion.”

“That shouldn’t be difficult.  In our Happy Seventh Birthday posting on 5/22/14 we listed all of the postings in 2014 up to that date.  Since then we have published 13 postings, all on Curmudgeonocracy.  Readers who might want to explore some of our historical stuff can go to the Blog Archives in the right margin of each posting.  They might find these of interest:

Kaizen Curmudgeon Blog Title—Date Posted

Kaizen Curmudgeon for Seniors, posted 5/27/13.

Health Effects of Low Doses of Radiation (Title: Unconventional Wisdom), six postings starting on 2/28/13.

Global Warming (Title: Climate Science), five postings starting on 7/23/13.

Mourning (Various titles), three postings starting on 9/03/13; 9/11/13, and 9/20/13.

Alternative Medicine, eight postings starting on 9/27/13.”

“A final question, Professor.  Do you believe that we will ever reach 400 postings?”

“The probability is low, Julie.  I may find other activities to exercise my mind.  But unlike several of my neighbors here in the ‘old folks home,’ it will never be jigsaw puzzles.”

Kaizen Curmudgeon

Link to posting from blog archives: The Old Men’s Table—4/18/11

http://kaizencurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2011/04/old-mens-table.html

Curmudgeonocracy 13—Conclusion

An Impossible Dream

“That’s it, Curmudge.  That’s what Curmudgeonocracy is—it’s an impossible dream.  You seem to have been on a quest, like Don Quixote in ‘Man of La Mancha.’ “

“Impossible in the near term Julie, but hopefully not in the future.  However, it will be this way as long as those who believe in American exceptionalism are outnumbered by those who want America to become as morally and fiscally bankrupt as much of Europe.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a federal government that is smaller, effective, and respected?”

“C’mon, Old Guy, you are seeking Camelot.”

“You may be right, Julie.  I try to reach the unreachable star, but it may prove to be as elusive as Camelot.  Those writers of a couple hundred years ago who took a dim view of human nature were basically right.  There will always be some selfish blokes—in and out of government—who try to rip off their neighbor.”

“ ‘Camelot’ and ‘Man of La Mancha’ may have played on Broadway, but they are unlikely to ever exist in Washington.  Old Man, you and I just spent the past several months chasing an apparition.”

“We shouldn’t allow our desire for perfection to deter us from advocating continuous improvement, chère collègue.  Let’s list some do’s and don’ts for people in government.  Adoption of even a few of our suggestions might make Washington ‘a more congenial spot,’ but regrettably it’ll never be Camelot.

Curmudgeonocracy for Those in the Administration

Take the oath of office seriously, especially the part about ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’

Do not lie to Americans.  If necessary, lie to our enemies.

Be a friend to our friends and a threat to our enemies.  Do not get the preceding sentence reversed.

Seek advice from the best minds in the nation regarding the issues of the day.

Study and understand the significance of world history.

Demonstrate leadership that is commensurate with your elected or appointed position.  (Doc Mack says, ‘Be able to pass Army ROTC Advanced Camp.’)

Understand and appreciate ‘American exceptionalism.’

Do not blindly follow diktats of ‘base’ or major supporters.

Don’t make empty threats.

Possess the judgment to discern between real, imminent threats (Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea) and unproven, long-term threats (global warming); and possess the resolve to reverse America’s current image of no longer being trusted by our friends and feared by our enemies. (1) 

Curmudgeonocracy for Members of Congress

Those listed above for Administration.

Do not blindly follow diktats of party leadership.  Think for yourself.

Read proposed legislation before voting on it.  If it’s too long to be read, vote against it.

Establish term limits for members of Congress.

Put a ‘sunset clause’ in every regulation.

Change Senate rules to require the Majority Leader to allow a vote on legislation that has bipartisan support.

Revisit and revise laws that have been found to depress the economy and that  require the federal government to be omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent;  examples: Dodd-Frank and the Affordable Care Act.

Provide a safety net for those who are unable to work.  Include relocation assistance to aid citizens to move to where jobs are available.

Enact policies that aim for 4% growth: lower, flatter and simpler taxes; sensible regulations based on cost/benefit analysis; stable currency; entitlement reform; and a true health care revolution based on technical progress, entrepreneurial energy, and market pricing. (2)

Curmudgeonocracy for Voters

Do not be a single-issue voter.

Do not vote for or against a candidate on the basis of his/her race or gender.

Study candidates and issues and vote on the basis of your own political philosophy.”

“Your lists could go on forever, Quixote, and we’ve been doing Curmudgeonocracy postings since June.  Is there one main lesson that all of this has taught you?”

“There is, my dear Rocinante.  The early progressives had a noble plan; intelligent people in the federal government would help the citizens of the nation have a better life.  However, history has shown (and our postings have documented) that their efforts did not succeed because it is not possible to micromanage a complex system like a large, diverse country.  Nevertheless, once a zealot has lost sight of his goal, he plows ahead with increased enthusiasm.  That has happened with the progressives.  The result is our present intrusive, overreaching, ineffective, and unaffordable administrative state.”

“Get with it, Sir Don; I’m Dulcinea (or maybe Sancho Panza).  Rocinante was your horse.  I too have perceived something that may simply suggest that I’m the opposite kind of zealot. The population of today’s progressives seems to follow a bimodal (dumbbell-shaped) economic distribution.  At the low end are those who outsource their thinking.  At the high end are those whose only goal is accumulation of power and whose only thoughts are impractical delusions.  The ends of the dumbbell would probably never connect socially with one another.”

“Julie, if we were an organization, the feds might put us on a list.  Let’s call a halt—at least temporarily—to our efforts to define Curmudgeonocracy.  This may not be Camelot, but Appleton is a pretty congenial spot for ‘happily-ever-aftering.’ “

Kaizen Curmudgeon

(1)  Barrasso, John  Six Threats Bigger Than Climate Change  The Wall Street Journal, 8/29/14, p. A11.

(2)  Karlgaard, Rich  Growth is not an option.   Forbes p. 32, June 10, 2013.

Link to posting from blog archives: Way to go! 2—The end is near—2/24/11

http://kaizencurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2011/02/way-to-go-2.html