We are a society that is in love with RULES.  But Rules are not good things.

It’s better to have Guidelines, rather than Rules.  Because circumstances dictate the decisions when you have guidelines, but Rules dictate decisions when you have Rules.

People don’t have to think much if they live by rules.  They merely have to reference The Rule.  Then apply it without regard to whether it will make things better or achieve the stated goal.  Its The Rule.

Guidelines give us a starting point.  They are a place to build from.  But they can be ditched when the situation doesn’t fit.

Religions, of course, are the stars of Rules Based Living.  But governments are also full of Rules, generally called Laws, often called Regulations.  And corporations have many rules.  They give you a handbook when you start at most companies – and it’s full of the Rules.

The intention of the rules is usually good.  To get people to consistently act in a manner that benefits the most people.  They are considered a way to make sure things are fair.  If you have a rule and you apply it consistently no one can complain, so the theory goes.

But of course we all know of situations where that old saw was brought out on display because the rule was applied and left an appalling mess in its wake.  Where it felt deeply unfair and the only fair thing about it was the fact that it has always been consistently applied to other people as well.

But think about that.  Why does the fact that it was an equally distributed application of the rule make the injustice of it any less wrong?

The reason we like Rules is because they are simpler than making choices based on complex and changing situations .  It’s easy to explain, it’s easy to defend, it’s easy to follow.

Humans seem to be born feeling a sort of scarcity and we are constantly looking to find some justice and equity in this life.  So we cling to these Rules as though this will provide for the Equity.

But it doesn’t.  It never has.  Because the rules can never be fair to the individual.  They can only hope for consistency.  They are static and monolithic and they are being applied to complex problems.   And they end up like a sledgehammer on a Tiffany Window because it’s hot in the church.  Nothing of value is left but the heat problem became a window problem and it was supposedly destroyed.  Except another window can be built.  And eventually will be.  And the church will be hot again.

Rules do not fix problems.   They merely hit whatever is in front of them.  A guideline might also lead to hitting what is in  front of it, but it allows for the possibility that the problem is not the immediate thing in front of you.  It allows for possibility of a complex issue that might be better solved by opening another window, or opening the door, or going outside, or putting in air conditioning.

Guidelines are places where we start to think.  To recognize the situation in all its complexity and its far reaching solutions.  To allow kindness and compassion and the best of the human spirit to live.  Rules are where all those things go to die.

This is making the rounds on Twitter at the moment.  It’s not something he said.  Granted he says many absurd things, but this isn’t one of them. It was part of a satire article by Andy Borowitz.

Neither is this:

People magazine has done an extensive search of their archives and so have other people.  It just doesn’t exist.

You would think, with so much obvious and real fodder for outrage, that people would stick to the reality, but no.  That’s not how humans work.

I’ve watched 3 Presidential elections unfold on twitter.  And I can say that people are just as happy to be outraged over false information as accurate information.  As long as it’s about the other guy, they are willing to fall headlong into the pitch of anger.  Without pause.

I dislike being fooled.  And I guess I’m weird because I dislike it most when it’s the people on my side.  I don’t want to be misled.  It presumes I’m an idiot.  And I own very few qualities I find worthy and my ability to think is one of them.  So when someone tries to juice me with bad info assuming I’m not going to check because I agree with them politically, it pisses me off.

 

Keith pointed out that Trump has 16 lies in his economic speech.  Deliberate lies more than likely.

There are studies that show that humans will believe things that are familiar. So repeating a lie makes it feel familiar and therefore believable.
Politicians know that.

We also have a bias toward believing people whose beliefs align with our own.
Politicians know that.

We also are also more likely to believe a statement that we can connect with a personal bias. If I think I pay too much in taxes and Trump says we pay more taxes than any other country, then I will probably think that must be true.
Politicians know that.

If a statement is made of which I have no prior knowledge, referencing any sort of specific data or number will make it more believable. Politicians know that.

They have no reason to tell the truth and every reason to lie. We don’t hold them accountable for their lies. At all. We expect them to do it and think it’s just the nature of the process.

The reality is that we should have some legal sanctions for deliberately misleading the public. But any perusal of a fact checking site shows why that would be a very hard thing to implement.

Most of them have to put things in a spectrum. From Truth to Pants on Fire. Where is the cut off? How would anyone decide what causes sanction? Do we put the sanctions on a graded system so they can be adjusted for the spectrum how untrue something is? Or is based on its impact? How do we define the impact. From denying you had sex with an intern to invading Iraq is a really big difference.

Are lies free speech?  I would argue we have a right to lie.  But should politicians and government officials be exempted from that right?

It all seems straight forward until you think about it.

Ideally, our outrage and voting would be the ultimate guide.  But as I already mentioned, that won’t ever work.

Yup.  In 2010, only 47% of eligible US citizens voted BUT 99% of Millionaires stepped up.  Apparently it’s not just money that controls the election. It’s the votes.

Don’t let their block of votes run the lives of the rest of us.

Republicans have consistently been creating voter laws that have blocked people of color and people without easy access to basic services from voting.

They are doing that because voting matters. Having a bunch of POC people vote scares them. THEY WILL LOSE if People of Color all vote. Because they aren’t going to vote Republican.

They will lose if all people under 30 vote.  Because the younger people are drowning in the debt and despair of a shrinking share of the economy.

They will lose.

Do you know why people who struggle need to vote? Because the people who don’t struggle are going to vote. And most of them aren’t going to vote like the people who struggle.

The Republicans know that. They also know there are more than enough people to vote them out, if all of those people voted.

It clearly matters. They vote and they want to stop people from doing it. They want to stop the people  who want to make things better for everyone , instead of just better for a tiny percentage of the population.

VOTE.

You are right. It’s not going to change tomorrow. But it will change. With the right people in the right places. It will change.

It is changing. Things don’t look good from the ground. But from the distance, the arc of history is starting to turn in favor of the people who struggle. The people who made it change.

It’s teetering on the edge. They are afraid.  And like all animals who are afraid, they are getting nasty.  So it needs your attention. It needs your voice. It needs your vote.

If you haven’t registered, if you don’t know where or who or how – go here, find your state and easy as that you can find out.