PISH-POSH FROM MY VIRTUAL SPACE 

He had a strange but persistent observation. A citizen with a lack of self-esteem always moved to the extreme wings and blamed their problems on the "government." While they lacked self-worth they were filled with a swirl of fascinating ideas, most of them crack-brained. Whereas those who were well-adjusted, positive, and with self-love if not self-worth, tended to herd toward the center of the spectrum and think earnestly on practical ideas they hardly knew anything about.

The extreme that organized its herd of angst-ridden people were able to drive deep into a political era with a kind of calm madness the hypothetical citizen was familiar with in his readings of history.

"They lack self-esteem because the government is huge and dwarfs the nutty ideas of the single citizen." That was entertained as a possibility. More likely it was because the diminished self fought against the pressure of life with grandiose ideas of saving the world or a vast, planetary destruction that would mysteriously transform matter into pure mind or material.

"Ah, if this is the case then they know their vote counts for nothing!" This was said by one the hypothetical citizen trusted.

He thought later, in a pensive mood, "but isn't this the way it was set up? If the critical mass of people are perplexed by the world, wouldn't the government be perplexed? But, rather than seeing that one reflects the other, they become enemies. And conversely, if the people were absolutely knowledgeable and mature so they ruled themselves with aplomb it is doubtful a bad government would be in place mediating everything."

For the first time he grasped some secret that had escaped him. It is the government that is dependent on the quality of the people rather than the people dependent on the government.

© 2006 David Eide. All rights reserved.