policy and the bigger picture

           Policy has always interested me. How things work and more importantly what function they serve has proved to be something of an obsession to my thoughts. Policy is the language of process in a world full of differing actors with differing plans, all to achieve differing ends. Policy always has an end in mind. Integral to policy formulation is action anticipation. What happens when we do this? How will this react to this? Questions that address eventualities and causalities. I think of policy making as a science. Once you have aggregated the relevant variables in the policy, all that remains is to analyze and anticipate how those variables will play out under their given constraints. Of course, this isn't a simple process. Forecasting the future can be rather pretentious as any meteorologist can tell you. Complicating matters is the human variable, intrinsic to the purposes policies. Human behavior can be somewhat formulaic in its generalities, but rather unpredictable in its particulars. Ironically enough, policy has a knack for revolving around those particulars. It is often the problems of the few, that become the problems for the many.

         Take prisons for example. A policy in operation that revolves around the problems of the few. Prison is not some naturally occurring phenomenon, it is human policy making in action. We decided that certain parts of our population were a risk to the population as a whole and so we developed a policy of isolating them in captivity. However, over time, our policy on prisons has changed, become more nuanced you might say. In the "developed" countries of the world, there are humanitarian rules guarding the rights of prisoners--although those rules do walk an intrinsically ambiguous line. Regardless, there can be other outside effects of our prison policy. It is completely within the realms of possibility that a policy designed to keep dangers to society in prison actually creates more prisoners and more dangers to society than it solves. I won't push this point on prisons any further, I think you get the idea. Simply, some plans are good plans and some plans are bad plans. Some plans solve problems and some plans create more of the same. The trick is to separate the spurious from the worthwhile. Policy ruminates in the details that are so very integral to the bigger picture. Michelangelo painted the gargantuan Sistine Chapel a top of scaffolding mere inches away from the surface of the ceiling. He was a master of the bigger picture. Even when it was impossible to see in the trenches, all it took was a moment to step back to gain some perspective.

internet politics

If you have ever thought that you were a level headed individual able to withstand the petty, pedantic polemics that make the rest of us go crazy, I dare you to try your luck on news website comment sections.

I was one such person who considered himself of even temperament, believing myself to be "above it all". Well, as it turns out, I am not above shit.

It was these internet comment sections on news websites that revealed it to me. I was blown away by what I saw. Rampant bigotry, ignorance, arrogance, churlishness, childishness, all unfolding before my eyes. It truly was awesome in its formal meaning. How could I pass up the opportunity to click the reply button? There were idiots and bigots that needed to be told whats what. So many smug comments, believing themselves to be impervious to all logical attacks, needed smashing. People disagreed with me and thought they were right. How could I let that go? The first time I replied to one of these such comments, I felt pangs of remorse. I immediately became resigned to not ever comment in such a cold spirited fashion again, even if I was in the right. This lasted about ten seconds until I received a reply to my reply. Malice again entered my heart as I then proceeded the battle in the trenches of cyber space commenting again and again and again. I couldn't help myself, I was addicted to my opinions and what the world thought of them. This proceeded for several days. I found myself seeking out all the popular news websites and clicking on the most polemical topics on each. It didn't really matter though. Any story would do. An article about a missing persons case would have a raging battle pitched between conservative Christians and atheist liberals. Being cruel was as easy as directing tactile functions across a keyboard. Truth was hardly the main point. The main point was making sure that those who disagreed with me knew that they were idiots.

This has continued until recently, when I had this fortunate self-realization. I had become the very thing that I had hated so much. Opinionated, condescending, arrogant, childlike, the list could go on for some time.

Here's a not so exhaustive list of things I have learned about myself through this experience.

1. My commenting was a tool for validation of my thoughts
2. The content of my comments was more culturally affected than I had originally given them credit for being
3. I am not a very kind person

I could probably go on and on about the complexities of each. However I feel like you can get the gist of what each one is saying. My opinions weren't worth the damage I was doing to myself and those around me. If I have one chance to live, I don't want to be followed by the ghosts of the aforementioned all my life. It has been an embarrassing experience. I have a long way to go if I am ever going to be both a pensive and caring individual. I certainly can't do it alone.

One final thought. I don't mean to say that all opinions aren't worth the trouble. In fact, opinions sometimes might be the only thing worth the trouble. There does come a time when you'll have to fight for what you believe in. Yet even then, the proper spirit is not one of cruelty or indifference. It is one of empathy. It is a spirit whose heart aches at the divisions it creates.