This is 2 for 1 Monday.
Another perfect day in paradise.
I woke up this morning replaying in my head a conversation I had a few days ago with some buddies.
If I Were President
Some friends and I were hashing out the world’s problems over coffee (cofefe?) and, because I am the farthest to the left, getting educated about other points of view. I’d said something about having the wealthy pay their fair share, along the lines of what Bernie suggests.
One of these greybeards asked, “Okay, if you were President, what would you do?” He politely left out “smart ass”.
I replied, “Promptly go out and find somebody more qualified.” It’s not a new thought, many folks have said something similar before. But that’s essence.
We need a President who is knowledgeable and aware that he/she doesn’t know everything. That they need the council of wise folks which they gather around them and consult regularly. The President would install as Secretaries and Directors of our Departments and Courts, wise people with the necessary experience and a compassionate nature.
Everyone around the President, including the Chief him/herself, would view their period in government as a time of service to America and Democracy. They would feel honored to be trusted by the American people. They’d be dedicated to leaving a better America and a sounder Democracy than when they arrived.
And, supposing I were the President, after getting someone more qualified in the Oval Office, I’d salute the American people, the folks in government service, the Judiciary, House and Senate, and our Military.
Then, I’d get the hell out Dodge.
I’m a Farmer, Sort Of
My forty acres isn’t a patch of land. It’s a virtual place with endless fields, forests, rivers and skies. Nonetheless, I plant, tend and harvest a crop that is nourishing and needed around the world.
I’ve always been someone who mulls over ideas. I get pleasure holding an idea to the light, turning it over and over, trying to find all its sides, using questions and what if to loosen the soil. I discover its good-bad-ugly elements and determine if the idea is a seed that I want to plant.
Ideas are living things.
An idea has been described as a contagious virus, able to use the host’s mind to take root, replicate and disperse to other hosts. They can fail to thrive and die, killed by other ideas the host carries. Ideas fight hard to defend themselves. Depending on the environment of the host’s mind, fertile or toxic. An idea, healthy or unhealthy can be destroyed by the host’s defenses. If an idea is virulent it causes disease and pain, eventually destroying the host. If benign, it lives symbiotically within the host’s mind. The host, using curiosity, experience, and creativity, tends to the idea’s growth and health. When it reaches maturity the host harvests it and delivers it to the world; either by refining and taking it to market or by letting it be caught by the wind and spread hither and yon.
A worthwhile idea spreads like wildflowers, colorful and vibrant. A destructive idea is like a swarm of locust, leaving the land colorless and bare.
Farmers don’t farm to simply make a living. They love what they do. They are called to farming, otherwise making a living wouldn’t be enough to justify the effort they put in. Farmers love the land, sky, weather and effort. They love growing things.
That’s why I liken myself to a farmer. I love tending ideas, evaluating if they’re worth my effort, accepting them into my fields, and nurturing them through their growth, keeping alert for disease and heavy weather, harvesting and sending them on their way.
How do I make a living with an idea?
I am rewarded with “Ah Ha” moments. My world becomes more comprehensible, the beauty around me brightens, and the colors are richer and more vibrant. This is what kept me alive when working tiresome, unrewarding jobs. It is what kept me alive through periods of grief and depression.
How good a farmer am I? Damned if I know. But I’m still here enjoying those special moments of understanding, discovering more about myself and my fellow earthlings, and exploring this wondrous world and universe.
I am extremely fortunate to live in these historic, chaotic, and stressful times. Under these conditions, ideas grow everywhere and they need care and weeding. It is an Age of Bumper Crops.