WARNING! Political Commentary: This post was inspired by Dick Greenberg’s Jumpstart assignment post on weltanschauung. For those not following the challenge, weltanschauung is “a philosophical construct of life or the framework through which one interprets the world.” In his post, Dick posits that “an individual will conceivably subscribe to many different, yet non-competing, weltanschauungs”. This got me to thinking about the representatives in our national seats of government, most notably, the Senate and House of Representatives. These ladies and gentlemen need to understand the concept of multiple weltanschauungen. They’ve got personal, public, and political viewpoints that inform their role as lawmakers and shepherds of civil society. Sometimes these viewpoints overlap and sometimes not so much. Our legislators seem to think that the solutions to our social, political and economic challenges lack complexity and that a one size fits all weltanschauung is good enough to fix everything. Sorry - that's a cop out.
It takes guts and effortful cognition to weigh what's right and what's wrong for competing stakeholders and constituencies. Pundits (both liberal and conservative) accuse leaders who can weigh both sides of an issue as flip-floppers. The fact of the matter is that our world is both large and small simultaneously. The problems we face affect us as a group, sub-group, and individuals. Our country requires both conservative and liberal policies to keep our nation strong, vibrant, and relevant. F. Scott Fitzgerald said "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." Our government MUST be able to do this in order to actually move forward. One size fits all weltanschauungen are the ticket to stagnation and thereby ruination.
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