Yesterday walking around the grounds of the Wisconsin state capitol building, I sensed an idea about how we organize our lives. Here, groups of disparate people — students, teachers, firefighters, state workers and others came together to just say, “Come on, man, you’re kidding right? You really think the best way for all of us is for the greedy and rich to just lay waste to the place?”
I think humans tend to want to come together, to be okay, but in some of us a strong self-preservation impulse kicks in, reveals itself as greed or selfishness, and then just bullies its way into the conversation. The result is a rough split that mirrors our country. There are some of us who want to find a way to have us all get along, help each other to some extent and hope those who need help don’t take advantage of the group. But invariably some do, and that just allows the greedy to point that out and say, look man, those Other People are taking your stuff. The greedy people get a lot out of this — weak government regulation, lower taxes, etc. — but in the long run exploiting us for short-term gain now just hurts them in the end (or at least their offspring).
Solution? I don’t know. But showing the greedy the rest of us mean business is a start, which is why Madison matters. Has it happened all before? Sure. But, maybe humans learn a bit each time, and that can’t be all bad.
-Greg Rideout