Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Worst Case Scenario II

It seems some of my friends really liked my fire-fighting analogy.
And it was pretty good, too, even if I do say so myself.
It’s one way to look at the situation.
Here’s another one:

You show up at a structure fire that, if not brought under control, threatens exposures on all sides. There’s a tell-tale gasoline can lying near the A-side entrance…
There are three attack lines already laid out. There’s one guy on line 1, and one guy on line 2. Line 3 is laying unattended on the ground.
The guy on line 1 calls for you to come over and help him.
So does the guy on line 2.

“Come on,” says the first guy. “This is a brand new 2 ½ inch hose, with the latest nozzle, in the most popular designer color. We’ve been waiting to use a hose like this one for a long time!”

“Come on,” says the second guy. “I’ve got 17 years of experience and 9 new certificates to prove I attended training sessions and stayed awake the WHOLE time!”

Meanwhile, there’s the fire…..

Decisions, decisions.
Which hose do you pick?

I’ll make it easy for you.
Hose 1 is connected to a hydrant that’s out of service.
Dead. Dry as James Bond's martini.
And so is hose 2.
Hose 3 is connected to a mini-pumper, and it’s charged.
Me, I’d pick the hose WITH THE WATER IN IT.

I don’t know if I have ENOUGH water to knock down the fire, but at least I have SOME. I might at least be able to slow it down.
You can only do what you can do.
But there’s no hope whatsoever of fighting the fire without any water in the hose…


The Democrats and the Republicans may appear to be manning different hoses, but both those hoses are hooked up to the same hydrant, and it isn’t delivering any water and won’t be delivering water any time soon.
Hasn’t delivered any for a long time, either.
The relative merits of the hoses or the personalities of the characters presently manning them is irrelevant; there is nothing in those hoses that will put out the fire.

That third hoseline, that’s Ralph Nader, or Ron Paul, or Cynthia McKinney.
There may not be enough water to put the fire out, but SOME is better than NONE.
What’s the point of lining up behind some idiot with an empty hoseline?

But the analogy is a little unjust.
Because hoselines 1 and 2 aren’t REALLY hooked up to a dead hydrant.
They’re hook up to a gasoline truck.
I’m pretty sure we’re not going to put out the fire using the same stuff that got it started in the first place.

Maybe it’s a losing battle.
Maybe we’ll lose the house, the exposures, everything…
We always say risk a little to save a little, risk a lot to save a lot, risk nothing to save nothing.
Is there anything in this country worth saving? Anything worth fighting for?
Anything in that dusty old Bill of Rights you’d like to hang on to, maybe pass on to your kids?
Or is it smarter to go along to get along, pick the lesser evil, add your straw to the camel’s load and pray like hell when the world explodes?

To me, hoseline 3 looks like the only sensible choice.
Even with nobody to back me up.
I may not put out the fire with it, but at least I won’t be feeding the fire, either.


sj

9 comments:

Lori Skoog said...

SJ...Whoa...whatever got you to this place? It sounds like you have very little trust in a lot of people. Are you anti Democrat and Republican???or the people running or what? What if Obama was running as a member of the Green Party? How are things supposed to change if you don't work at it? If Brandy was not acting the way you thought she should, would you say the hell with it and walk away???or would you work on it? What do you do to change things you don't like about the government? Run for office...

CoyoteFe said...

(Sigh)

The problem with this analogy is:
your third hose is the one that's unhooked, and what the other two are really shouting is "Hook up that m-f line!" What is needed are people who can help to put out the fire, call out danger, find solutions, bring new tactics to the fight, and persist. But those people shouting from way off in the fields? They aren't helping. They left the first time they disagreed with the tactics or the quality fo the water. They didn't pick up a hose; they're standing around shouting "No! Not THAT way!", and waiting for what? The structure to collapse? Then maybe there will be no one left to argue with. Fine times! Hell, they're not heroes. Especially to the people inside the building, screaming.

Spartacus Jones said...

"It sounds like you have very little trust in a lot of people."

I generally tend to give people the trust they've EARNED. On the few occasions I've done otherwise, it has always been a huge mistake.
As far as the government is concerned, you're not SUPPOSED to "trust" them. The Framers didn't trust anybody, either. That's why they devised an elaborate three-branch system with checks and balances.

"Are you anti Democrat and Republican?"

I'm in favor of individual liberty equal justice under the law, and the Bill of Rights.
I'm "anti" dishonesty, greed, stupidity, waste and slaughter.
If that makes me anti Democrat and Republican, I can live with that.

"...or the people running or what?"

I have no opinion on the candidates PERSONALLY. I'm sure they both had Mommies and dogs who loved them unconditionally.
That's not the issue, except insofar as it has an influence on how they might conduct themselves in office.

"What if Obama was running as a member of the Green Party?"

I trust he would then have a different platform than the one he currently espouses.
Even so, his record would remain the same and I would be very dubious of his sincerity.

"How are things supposed to change if you don't work at it?"

I didn't suggest NOT working at it.
I just don't think playing the same old game with the same old game-players is "working at it" any more effectively than fighting a fire with no water in the hose.

"If Brandy was not acting the way you thought she should, would you say the hell with it and walk away???or would you work on it?"

Unfair question, I think, and not an apt analogy.
I have a personal relationship with a horse that is/will be a result of mutual respect. So "working at it" will have both immediate and long-term "results."
I have no such relationship with the government.

"What do you do to change things you don't like about the government? Run for office..."

I trust I can count on your vote, then?
:)


sj

Katherine Crocker said...

Still not cynical enough to abandon the wisp of a chance that it's a water truck. Although I want SP nowhere near it (insert your favorite fish-in-a-barrel joke here).

But, just for kicks, what's to keep us from rebuilding afterwards, using the good parts, but getting rid of that annoying closet under the stairs, or the upstairs bathroom that always woke the entire house with a 3am flush? Let it burn, build it back new. May be cheaper that way...and maybe the Bad Guys will go up in the blaze? Only (rather large) problem is, they will not be the only ones.

But, then again, will that third hose really get the innocents out of the way?

Katherine Crocker said...

PS And who, among any of us, is innocent?

Linda Wyatt said...

About rebuilding...

it's a lovely plan, and yes, sometimes, you end up with a better house than you started with before the fire.

But what it takes to get there is a whole lot of not fun at all, and it seems the only people doing the hard part are the ones who barely survived the fire in the first place. No one else cares very much.

They will say they do, and perhaps, for the first few weeks, some may offer much appreciated help, but then they move on to whatever is going on in their lives, take care of themselves, and pay no attention to the rebuilding process or the time and effort required, and the people who need that rebuilt house will be on their own, in the cold.

Trust me on that. :-)

Oh, wait, was this still supposed to be an analogy?

Katherine Crocker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katherine Crocker said...

Speaking only to the analogy, I'd thought the house stood for the existence of the federal government with its current morphological characteristics. As such, wouldn't its burning to the ground leave everyone without a house? It sounds to me like the entire thing, no matter what, will end up as a "whole lot of not fun at all". As for the only people caring being, well, the minority of people who care, it seems like that's pretty much the same thing now anyway. The difference I see is that at least caring and rebuilding, you know you've at least got a chance of making a fundamental change or a difference.

Consider the phoenix :-)

Spartacus Jones said...

Thank you for your comments!

sj