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Dave Richards for October 2nd….…………
--Before I start today’s lengthy rant, just let me remind you that this weekend is the proverbial “IT” for Jen Jolicoeur and her Athena’s Cup 107 mile long bra chain at River’s Edge Park in Woonsocket. Offer to help if you can. Thanks.
--I heard some people talking just the other day. They were saying something I’ve said many times and discussed with others. They think we should eliminate parties from politics and simply vote for individuals to do the job.
I think this is something we need to discuss again. I remember some 20 years ago chatting with the late former R.I. Lt. Governor Joe O’Donnell about it and he disagreed. I thought at first it was because he was a staunch Republican, but no, Joe insisted that without party organizations, like-minded candidates could not band together to get anything done and there would be gridlock all the time. “Parties bring civility to politics”, Joe said.
So I asked him, “what about the City of Woonsocket? Our home rule charter calls for non-partisan elections and nothing goes wrong there because there is no party involved? In fact,” I continued, “you hardly ever hear anyone talk about the elections being non-partisan. Why wouldn’t that work state-wide or nationally?”
That’s when Joe tried to convince me that political parties came about, not because of the need for them in local politics, but as a means to organize the much larger groups of people involved in state and federal elections. It was these large numbers, he told me, which were impossible to lead without some organizational mechanism.
What he said made some logical sense to me at the time, so I backed down and never brought up the subject again in his presence. But now I think I shall. And not simply because Joe has gone on to his eternal reward…….because I think it is an idea whose time has come. I’ll explain.
Here in the 21st Century, there is a new attitude growing. No longer are young people mainly concerned with banding together with others in organizations where they find like-minded individuals. Today, everyone is an individual, and each of them are the most important individual in the world.
It used to be “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Today, “My needs are more important than your needs.”
So I don’t see a trend toward gathering in groups. Today’s young people have little need for groups……unless, of course, they are the leader of the group. Because it becomes much easier to get what you need when others will help you get it.
You might think I’m being cynical. Nope. Just calling it as I see it. And I see it a lot in my business. It’s everywhere I go. If I don’t agree with you, then I am “completely wrong and I must be subjugated, removed, or otherwise subdued”.
Let me stop there and make my point perfectly clear. I’m not talking about “all young people”, I’m talking about trends. Trends in how society is evolving. It is not evolving toward giving selfless service to others. And maybe it shouldn’t be, I don’t know. That’s the tricky thing about the future. You think you know what’s coming, based upon what has happened in the past, but nobody really knows.
I remember being part of the largest group of young people our country has ever known, the so-called “Baby Boomers” in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. We were a scary bunch of kids, as I recall. Disrespecting traditions and our elders. Protesting. We had a whole new ‘value system’, if you could call it that. Yeah, we thought we were gonna change the world. Our elders thought we would destroy it. Neither of us turned out to be right.
Why get so upset about the current social changes? I dunno, I really don’t. Maybe we shouldn’t. Maybe we should think back to the time when we were working on ‘completely changing the world’ and remember the lyrics of a popular song of the time. The one from The Who….’Won’t Get Fooled Again’…remember? “Smile and grin at the change all around, pick up my guitar and play….just like yesterday….then I get on my knees and pray.” Or, as you old pal Salty Brine always said, “Brush Your Teeth and Say Your Prayers!”
Or maybe, we can comfort ourselves with the words of ‘The Desiderata’. “No Doubt the Universe is Unfolding as it Should………”
--That's what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332. Thanks for reading.
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