Government and Society – Page 44 – Rural Tompkins County

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “It’s a “greater good” . . .” Bumper sticker

“Social Policy 2022: It’s a ‘greater good’ – that fails every test of goodness.” There is no love. There is no compassion. There is no human worth. That is why they hide their actions and their victims – and are only willing to talk about their good “intentions.”

And if the “road to Hell is paved with good intentions” – maybe we should take the time to look; and see how far along we are.

Where is the “greater good” in a government that assumes the power to discriminate against whoever they want; whenever they want; for as long as they want; in secrecy?

Is there a single area of society where the ‘greater good’ puppet show has not become script for propagandizing oppression?

We have come down the road so far – that evidence of the most blatant bias is met with a dismissive unconcern. Evil is a tireless driver; and our leaders have taken a back seat — eagerly anticipating the final destination.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “It fell through the crooks.” Bumper sticker

“Rural Social Justice? It fell through the crooks.” In a time when so many people see others as objects to use – those left undefended in our society are at the mercy of all.

In fifteen years of efforts to bring Rural Social Justice to Tompkins County: I was unable to get one person in authority at the local, county, or state level to represent, support, or help the rural community – or to make even the slightest change in the existing policy-making bias and misconduct.

Who is worse off than a marginalized urban poor? People who aren’t even worth helping.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Find the three identical balloons”

There is similar, much alike, and identical. “Lenses” can be used to select a set of things that are “similar” and “much alike” – but “identical” transcends these subjective judgements.

“Made with” and “made from” on a product may seem similar in the eyes of to a consumer; but are quite dissimilar through the legal “lens” of regulators.

It’s tough to keep your bearings on the “slippery slope” of words, meaning, and intent that comprise [and compromise] today’s social policies — so the best procedure is to compare their words and actions with those figures of equality, compassion, and human worth we most respect.

When you hear phrases like; “fighting for the same thing” – watch out – it means that those beliefs and actions have been adulterated — and there is no telling with what; and how much of it is inert . . . or toxic.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Follow the arrows home”

While it’s simple to follow the arrows; it’s confusing to have so many arrows to follow. The old truism; “the best way to make a million dollars is to write a book about how to do it, and sell a million copies” – has been carried to extremes in today’s advice giving landscape.

Political advice, social advice, health advice, financial advice, cooking advice — all vying for your attention [and money] — and all adding up to more than a lifetime of reading, comparing, preparing, and consuming.

The conclusion is self-evident: if you don’t have some of your own arrows to follow – you’ll never find your way home.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Stones”

There is a knowledge you can only acquire when you don’t spend all your time with machines and plodding categorizations.

Our society is not the glue that hold us together – it’s the bars that keep us apart. When you think in terms of “people”; everything is understandable – there is no human convention in place or time that does not answer to our desire to find our place in the world; both within us and without.

Stop bending under the ceiling of those who would limit our growth to their understandings of use and control — it’s time to stand up and stretch.

There is no limit to the imagination that has not been placed there for that purpose.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Knots Too Much”

With more twists, turns, and dead ends than modern governance: these policy projecting pieces of rope could be used to replicate resident’s paths in our Kafkaesque bureaucracy. It’s as difficult [and as useful] as tracing skate-marks in the ice – but I hope it’s perceptually invigorating and fun.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Un-titled” Road signs

End of Days? A little stocktaking might be appropriate. It’s tough to quibble your way out of death. And complaints about bed bugs and mold will certainly fall on deaf ears — no matter what kind of afterlife we get.

We’re in for Big Changes. BIG CHANGES. Why aren’t you being told this? Get Real. It would cause problems. And there are responsibilities. And they’ll justify those actions in their memoirs – from the space colony.

We are living in a point of history where there is no “everybody” – just “everybody else” — and everybody is someone else’s “everybody else.”

Maybe I should start smoking again? I can give it up when I give everything up. Or everything else.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Environmental Merchandising” Road signs

Environmental Merchandising serves a need – the need to sell products. Most people are happy just to have the stigma removed [or at least the appearance of it] and will buy without looking too hard for the unvarnished truth. A Ramen Noodle cup with “35% Less Sodium!” still has more salt than the Dead Sea – and slowing down the destabilizing increase means less than little in our runaway environmental system.

How good is our corporate environmental stewardship these days? In a word: Pathetic, Minimal, or in a word I prefer: Disastrous.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Reasonable Rhymes XII” Road signs

Wouldn’t it be nice to have some reinforcing “Burma Shave” style road signs back on our highways? Like the “eatery” exit signs — food for thought.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “I’d like a second opinion” Bumper sticker

“You have to remove my heart to save my life? I’d like a second opinion.”

Not only are today’s social policies radical; they’re radically irrational – and it would be smart to get a second opinion from some trusted sources:

Abraham Lincoln:

“Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”

Frederick Douglass:

“Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color”

I think I’ll go with them.

What about the “Greater Good”?

“How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” — Abraham Lincoln