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Are We Just Living in a Crazy World Now?

By Tom Anselm

   In a perfect world, everyone would get along. There would be no war, no sickness, and no strife. Smiles everywhere, happiness, peaceful co-existence. So good old Adam and Eve gummed that one up a long time ago. They were both at fault, of course.

    All that fruit and Eve picks an apple from the one tree God says to leave alone. All them other trees, Eve! As one of our youngest grandchildren used to say… “are you tiddin me?” Adam was no better. “Uh, sure, I’ll take a bite, honey. Where’d you say you got this? Dierbergs? Aldi’s? Pretty juicy. Oh, wait… not that tree? Yeah, I know I forgot to get apples the other day. So what’s for dinner?” And so they went on to blow it for us all.

   Long-winded introduction to this week’s story. A good writer gets to the point in the first two sentences. Sorry. My point being, doesn’t it seem like we are living in a particularly tumultuous time? Especially in our country. Regardless of your political affiliation, or lack thereof, flux is a daily occurrence. Seems like everyone who proposes to be our leaders are spending a lot of time  and therefore a lot of tax-payer money on salaries and investigations and hearings and travel and copy-machine costs and staff expenses.  Well, you get the idea: playing the blame game of ‘you’re a liar/no you’re a liar’, and almost no time trying to make our world a better place.

   Think of it. How much time and treasure is being wasted in this endeavor?All coming at a cost to all of us as citizens. Affordable health care, real border security, infrastructure improvements, funding to find cures to things like diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s… all taking a backseat to the silliness of our           politicians so intent on warrin with each other.

    It makes me so ticked off to know that we can do so little about it as well. Sure, we can vote these millionaire politicians out (and I mean they almost all are in this category, at least after a few terms… go in as regular folks and come out with bank accounts bursting). But with no term limits on the guys and gals in the federal positions, this is hard to do. Not impossible, but very hard to get them out.

    And even if that happens, the replacements are not much better. Too often, it seems, elections have become a “hold your nose and vote” proposition. The choices are just so full of contradictions and hot air that one is tempted not to even bother to cast a ballot. Still, that is the one thing we as simple citizens have that they all want. Despite all the dark money, all the questionable fundraising, all the backslapping and glad-handing and coming-out-rich schemes, those in the offices of our government can’t really do anything, good or bad, without us voting for them.

   We have about a year until the next big national election. It will not be pretty. It will be a time of imperfections and chaos and crazy goings-on, guaranteed. I hope to not get too caught up in all the insanity. It won’t be easy.

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