Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The Presidential election, my thoughts


Hello all,

I began typing a short Facebook posting and came up with a little more than I thought appropriate for Facebook.  But looking at what I wrote, I am still not sure what business it has being posted on a tech blog either.  But as I looked at the word Schmogesblog, it seems to fit quite nice.  Enjoy.

I have always believed the lessons taught to me long ago, by the old timers back in my Grandfather's and Uncle's auto shop.  I am experiencing their truth and wisdom as I get older.  And in light of this election what they left me with seems to ring more true.  It doesn't matter to which party you affiliate yourself, you can not, and should not count on any government.  It might be here today, gone tomorrow.

They would tell me things like, "Boy, you need to learn to do for yourself.  You need to be smart, get an education and learn everything you can to survive.  And not just survive in society, but literally survive as if you had to start with nothing but the clothes on your back.  Learn the basics, and learn them well.  Food/water, shelter, clothing.  Don't be lazy and don't take anything you have for granted. Fix whenever possible rather than replace.  And be friends with people that are as resourceful as you, and learn from them."

I share this as I watched the debate last night and I came to the conclusion that no matter who is president, America is on a path that can not be righted by one man or one government.  If America is going to get out of this funk, it has to start and come from "WE the people" first.  I believe we do not have enough people willing to do what it takes to get us on the right path; opposed to the people who, for whatever reason, feel they deserve to be exempt from participation.  Yes, all socioeconomic classes, all races, all religions, and political and philosophical beliefs.  While there is usually "We should..." being thrown around, the underlying theme I hear is "They need to...", "You should...." and "It should come from...."

There are many things we can learn from history; from the old timers.  One take away I have from all of this election stuff is that no matter how you want to say it, through out all history, for bad or worse, Natural Selection always works.

As always, Just Sayin.

Tom