King Canute once famously commanded the tides to recede.  And, of course, they did not.  He sat on his throne with the ocean washing at his feet and wondered why his ‘divine power’ didn’t work to make it all back up.

The simple explanation was, “You’re an idiot, Canute!”

But none of his sycophantic coterie had dared advise the king that Canute’s power was limited, the sea obeys no man and that he really should be facing more practical issues on behalf of his kingdom.  Nobody called him an idiot.  In effect, they were just yes-men without a brain in their heads sucking up to get ahead and maybe a wench and an extra flagon of mead.  Tragically, they were suck-holing to a fool and so, regardless of their input, that doofus-king was going to screw up and they were piling on to the bandwagon of an historic act of buffoonery.

But – never mind the smart advisers or dumb ones – Canute was not likely to listen, anyway.  He was an elitist narcissist.

Welcome to the Trump dynasty.  Same guy, different outfit.  Trump does not listen.  He does not read.  And he does NOT think.  This is a guy who ‘follows his gut’ and thinks that is good enough and, further, he thinks he has a perfect gut, the best gut, the smartest gut.  In reality, he is just another fool sitting in the BIG chair, uttering BIG stupidities and making BIG errors…in front of an incoming tide.  And he is being supported in that delusion by his White House staff, the biggest bunch of hand-picked idiots in the land.

Man, oh man, history really DOES repeat itself.

Trump is so stupid he even asked one doctor, “Why doesn’t the flu vaccine stop Coronavirus?  It’s a flu, right?”

Of course, you know all that.  But how is the Coronavirus (in it’s immediacy) that much different from the climate crisis in it’s ‘imminent immediacy’?  Or Russian aggression?  Or Chinese obstinacy?  Or Iran or North Korea,  If you think Trump and the US are ridiculously unprepared for what is a virulent and threatening-to-be very dangerous pandemic, and you see that similar attitude applied to climate change (Russia, Iran, et al), how do you place any faith in that so-called leadership?

Need a hint?  Watch what Trump did recently in Afghanistan…..pure capitulation.  Surender to the Taliban (of all groups) and then announce that as a victory!?  Or look back to what he does during business failures…declares bankruptcy.  This guy does NOT know from responsibility, from ramifications, from consideration of others, from reality.  This guy is Canute.

When we ‘accept’ a leader, (we do not get to CHOOSE them.  Not really.) how do we rationalize our then-assumed support of that leader?  Most of us don’t.  We never do.  Fifty percent are against that poor sap from the get go.  The others are skeptical at best.  Actually, we all just wait around until he or she trips up and falls and then we ‘accept’ the next doofus presented until that person screws up.  And so it goes.  We basically just choose well-paid scapegoats – not leaders.

Seriously, our democracy is a crap shoot.  We haven’t a clue who is representing or leading us until they lead us into a sea-change or a Me-too incident and then we are all left the worse for it.  Then, like the blind leading the blind, we all go do it all over again.

Why are we so stupid?  If you continue to do what you do, you will continue to get the same results.  Duh.

“OK, smartie-pants, what do you suggest?”

Well, first off, we have to do something different.  Anything different will, at the very least, get us different results.  YIKES!!!!  That was the same wrong-headed thinking of those who voted Trump!  “Let’s try something different!”  is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

“OK, smartie-pants. what is good enough?”

Really?  WE HAVE TO THINK!  That is the first step.

If I was younger, I might suggest ‘joining’ the parties so that narrow, elitist, self-selected party ‘cells’ don’t do the majority of the selection process in their back rooms.  The party system is at the root of the problem.  They pick our reps.  That is NOT good for anyone.  

There are plenty of other routes to take but, given our predilection for peaceful transfers of power, working within that system is the only route to take.  So, what does that mean?

That means: if you want change, do not rely on your last-in-the-event-chain VOTE.  Go now to your favourite ‘party’ (already an ethical and moral compromise) and then join it.  Make yourself an influencer.  BE A VOICE.  Choose goodness over everything else.  Tune out the ‘money’.  RUN from it.  Go for the good.

A revolution?  Hardly.  But it is the fastest way to make a change.  It is either that or a virus.  Or a horrendous economic depression.  Or, sometimes, a major war will turn the tables quickly.  Which of those do you prefer?

Me?  Like I said, ‘If I was younger, I’d go play the game and be a part of the ‘inner group’ of politicians influencing our world’.  But I am not younger.  I am old.  And old kinda rules out wars and viruses and suck-holing your way to power in 30 years.

So….me?  I went for the last vestige of hope…off the grid, remote and being green….it is probably the least viable option…being just a being and not being part of a herd.  We’ll see  how that goes.