Debt Debacle Worsens with Divided Government

As a child, I have no doubt, one of my favorite subjects in elementary school was "recess." Even gym class, something looming up the road, would not compare to the wide open creative range of recess. 

Do you recall literally spilling out of the school doors into the concrete covered school yard, its mesh fences your only periphera, but within this expanse ... a limitless world of opportunities? There was foursquare courts, a couple of basketball hoops, some grassy area, a tether ball pole — which often had an actual tetherball attached; one might slide, climb dangerous (at that time) monkey bars over the hard concrete of the yard, swing or just stand around in childish conversations, working on the perpetual dynamic of the elementary pecking order ... trying for an upgrade.

There was a lot of competition out there ... for what ends I am not so sure, but I imagine it was the early murmurs of the young bucks and buckettes, trying to sort out the social heirachy they would eventually establish. 

Looking back, much of it — however charming or dear — was childish nonsense. I am sorry to say that what has jogged my memory of the games of recess ... was not a drive by at a local schoolyard but has been the recent display of leadership immaturity in our own nation's capital. 

This debt debacle has put on display the downside of the two party system and, to my mind, the downside of any essentially adversarial government system. To put is simply, a system functioning well does not fight itself. 

Imagine if one half of your body was in constant opposition with the other half. Let's say the right and left arms kept taking swings at each other — to make it graphic and a bit comical.

Ridiculous, right?

Now imagine your legs deciding to oppose each other rather than work in concert. Your left leg decides it's time to run, your right to stop. Your right leg decides to kneel, while your left decides to take a right turn or to climb or to jump. It is simple logic that a system split against itself is an inefficient system, at best, and a self tying pretzel at worst.

Nothing has said schoolyard foolishness lately in more explicit fashion than our own government. Both sides have become surly, both have displayed a preference for ego, for principle over practicality, and both have flaunted a disconnect with the little folks, you and I, waiting beyond the fence for some resolution to the crisis.

There is a whole new concept being kicked about — about "no more compromise," which strikes me as supremely idiotic, no matter who is waving that flag. Senators and Congressmen picture themselves as media heroes, painting themselves blue, donning kilts and grunting — neo Bravehearts. These are warrior models and this means that our own representatives picture their tasks now as doing battle with their colleagues in Congress rather than working with them. Collaboration is out — if it ever existed — posing, posturing, threatening, taunting and political fist-i-cuffs has become the norm, and part of the paradigm, to go by this recent foolishness.

As the Congress gets its pants torn in the school yard, wrangling over who had a bigger daddy, and whose daddy can beat up whose — many of us, myself included, are weathering, as best possible, the very real and grown up issues of trying to survive a huge economic downturn. Our marriages are stressed and threatened, many are without jobs, without insurance, many are living at subsistance wages or trying to, and it would appear that our leaders are completely oblivious to our plight.

I want to yell through the fence at them, "Hey in there! Grow up! Get back to your classes and do some work here! Give your constituents a break!"

The big resolve here after weeks of pushing and shoving and spitting and hairpulling is to raise the debt ceiling. Surprise, surprise. I am going to call up the companies tied to my maxed out cards and tell them to just raise my credit limits. "Hey ... chill Amex! Just bump me a few thousand extra credit and all will be fine."

Right. 

So, what is the answer? I don't know, but until we come up with a system in which all parts "understand" that their well being absolutely requires the well being of the other parts, and that an elbow can't decide not to compromise with a forearm or a bicep, a left brain can't separate from a right, etc. — we are going to see this truly childish behavior, and our system will continue to fight its own well being.

Like it or not, we can't all just run around helter skelter, playing whatever game we choose until the big bell rings.