Competence and experience. [View all]

I find one of the most fascinating aspects of modern American culture is the notion that “everyone else’s job is easy, and could be done by me/anybody”. I have spent a great deal of my lifetime hearing pontifications from individuals who have no knowledge of a field, no experience working in that field, how the business, profession, industry, or governmental office should be run.

As an aside, I maintain that this is why baseball used to be the “national pastime”: an individual is too small for football, too short for basketball, doesn’t know how to ice skate for hockey, but can in fact fantasize that he could play Major League Baseball, and sees himself on the field or up to bat. Of course, it’s beyond ridiculous but aren’t most fantasies (says the former adolescent who wanted oh-so-very-much to “date” Stephanie Powers when she was starring in The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.)?

So this idiot decided that he wanted to be President so that he could simultaneously exert absolute power, destroy his enemies, and most importantly, enrich himself. But here lies the rub: if you have absolutely no idea of the inherently complex scaffolding not only of government but of society, you will ultimately fail horrifyingly, in much the same manner, but with greater ramifications, than the individual on the baseball diamond.

And no matter the circumstances which may evolve, this era is destined to be the equivalent of the Dark Ages in American History. In my lifetime, I have never experienced the hatred for one American which is manifest today: yes Nixon was hated but believe me, he was respected and feared by those in the know because he was a brilliant, insightful, knowledgeable individual who was dangerous for exactly those reasons. In a strange manner, this stunningly deficient Trump has united a portion of this country as no individual has before him in my lifetime: the celebration upon his passing will be unprecedented, exceeding that of the 1976 Bicentennial.

If Theodore Dreiser were still alive he could write an epic An American Tragedy Redux, wherein it would consist of the exact reverse of the plot and situations first novel except it has essentially the same ending: leaving the mortal coil.

This experience has been positively literary.

Have a Happy Easter, to all who celebrate.