Problems
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
If there are two themes that have been central to my adult life, the first has to be that in order to come to any meaningful solution to a problem, one must first correctly identify the problem.
The second is that once correctly identified, most problems are really not all that difficult.
Regardless of how intractable and tough a quandary may seem, when you strip off all the non-essentials, when you lose the emotional baggage you bring to a problem, peel away the layers of “woulda, shoulda, coulda,” the essential nature of most of life’s dilemmas is usually pretty simple. Often, I have found, the difficulty of correctly identifying a problem far exceeds the difficulty of coming up with a fix. Moreover, when identified, it is uncanny how often the “problem” turns out to be not a problem after all.
Need an example?
Take the problem of getting to the moon. On the surface this problem might seem to be daunting in its complexity, requiring among other things, a prodigious amount of mathematics, physics, and engineering. (To say nothing of a mountain of cash.) In short, getting to the moon, really is rocket science.
But take a step back for a minute and ask yourself: is the question of how to get to the moon really a problem that needs solving? In retrospect, I am not at all certain. To be sure, our few trips to the moon took a herculean effort and were a monumental scientific achievement. However, if we really face the facts, our moon shots, indeed our entire space program, was motivated principally by a desire to win the cold war “space race,” by reaching the moon ahead of the Soviet Union. Thus we spent millions of dollars of tax payer money and years of research in what amounted to a politico/galactic pissing match that netted us little more than some cool photos and a handful of exotic rocks. When one considers the other uses that money could have been used for, other problems that could have been solved – oh, say, developing solar energy, or building up our infrastructure, or even educating our population in math and science such that we didn’t have large numbers of ignorant nut jobs wandering around who are so gullible to believe that a project as big as a moon shot could be faked – it’s enough to make one weep.
Thus, while the problem of how to get to the moon is undeniably complex, if one truly asks oneself why the problem needs to be solved, one might decide it simply wasn’t worth the effort. The issue would be moot.
Need a domestic example? Most of the few problems my wife and I had with our son when he was a teenager had more to do with our preconceptions of what was right and proper than they did with anything he did. His actions were rarely unsafe, or harmful to others. If he decided to dye his hair green like he did one Halloween was that really the end of the world? Nope. The obscenity laden graffiti drawn on his wall with a sharpie? Annoying, but not really life and death. Ultimately, the problems I had with most of my son’s acting out had more to do with me than to do with him. Thus, they were not really problems at all. Or they were not battles that needed to be fought.
And speaking of unnecessary battles, our current militaristic foreign policy is a classic example of a whole slew of problems that seem insurmountable, yet when you step back, they are not really problems that need solving. We didn’t have to invade Afghanistan or Iraq. We don’t need to be occupying those countries. Like most wars of aggression, the argument can be made that our entire foreign policy is nothing short of one big global pissing match. It’s tragic to think of what we could be accomplishing with the trillions of dollars and needless blood we are spilling in an effort to convince the world we are still a super power.
The debt ceiling? Another issue that seems to get more insurmountable every day. But is it really a problem? The congress rubber stamped increases in the debt ceiling as a matter of course for presidents from Regan on to Bush. Yet, somehow, the “debate” over the debt ceiling has taken on an ominous tone as the “tea party” branch of the republican party is stonewalling to get what they want on budget cuts and no taxes for the wealthy. As many have noted, they are holding the country hostage over an issue that is so obviously a political ploy that even rank and file republicans are starting to become disgusted. In short, they are making a problem where none exists.
“It’s embarrassing,” said a stock broker acquaintance of mine today. “The countries around the world are looking at the debt ceiling argument and shaking their heads in disbelief.” President Obama is fond of the phrase: “America’s vital interests.” If the threat of defaulting on our debts is not harmful to the nation’s vital interests I don’t know what is.
The Tea Party, anti-tax crowd is so bad at identifying what the problems in this country are it’s difficult not to come to the conclusion that they are actively trying to create problems instead of trying to solve them. I know that Eric Cantor and the other right wingers in the House of Representatives want to see Obama gone in 2012, but I think they really need to take a step back and ask themselves if they aren’t creating more problems for the country – and even for their rich constituents – than anything that could possibly occur if they just left well enough alone.
If anyone doubts that the debt ceiling is a bogus issue just consider the following: Suppose Obama holds a news conference tomorrow and says, “I’ve decided to replace Joe Biden with Eric Cantor. And I’m seriously considering packing it in in 2012 and turning the reins over to the Tea baggers.” If you think the debt ceiling would stay an issue for more than 2 seconds after that, then I have a conspiracy you’ll be sure to find interesting.
It involves the cover-up of a faked moon landing.
