Politics and Hindsight

One night grandpa turned on the radio to listen to a speech of a politician who was seeking office. Though speeches were boring to me grandpa made me listen. Once the speech was over grandpa had this to say;

“Boy, never look at how things are, then blame a person for not taking something into consideration so as to prevent what happened. Looking back into the past to blame someone doesn’t serve any purpose. It can’t change the situation as it is. It should only be used as a lesson for the next time you are in the same situation. When you blame someone like this you are implying that he has the foresight of God to see things as they turned out and he doesn’t.

Just as important is the fact when you place blame on another for any undesirable situation as it be, you are implying that it was deliberate. For if it not be deliberate then that person is as innocent as anyone is therefore should not be blamed. This does not mean that responsibility is avoided but responsibility and blame are not synonymous words though at times it may appear so.

Politics is famous for this. It helps get people elected. And it be a great way to present someone as being a fool. And they justify it by saying that in their place they would have done something different. Yet one thing no one realizes, that is, no one can say for certain that doing it differently would have been a better way of doing it. It may even have turned out worse. Doing something differently guarantees nothing except a different result. and that result may end up being better or worse.

Hindsight has one big problem. It leads one to think he knows what not to do but it gives no clue as to what he needs to do. In other words, boy, it results in an absolute negative bias towards an issue. An absolute negative bias always leads one to a negative conclusion, never a positive one. Solutions to a problem need a positive conclusion of action.

People call for change when all they hear is negative. For they have no faith in the negative. They seek leaders that will bring hope in the future of positive things to be. Their ears are listening to those who will promise change. But good leaders know they cannot bring change if freedom is the foundation of their beliefs. They can only inspire change in those that seek it.

It is the leader who seeks to legislate change that believes in himself, alone. That leader has no faith in the people he serves. And the legislation of change serves only to divide a nation. It can never unite a nation.

It is the leader who seeks to inspire change that believes in the people he leads. For that is the leader who knows that true and permanent change can only come from the people themselves. That is the leader who seeks to unite a divided nation.

So, boy, as you listen to those who seek to lead this great nation of ours keep your ears open and your eyes closed. Men will either seek to inspire or legislate. Men will only think he knows best for the people or believe that the individual knows what is best for himself. It is what is inside of men that counts and you cannot force change there if you believe in the freedom of men. That is what you need to listen for when you hear the words of a politician.”

I just nodded and then went over in my mind attempting to apply what grandpa said to the words that the politician used in his speech.