"Don't just stand there! Do Something!" "Idle hands are the devil's playthings" "The best defense is a good offense."
How many times have we heard those? The Western Ideal, especially the American edition of it, is to take action. Always. Even when those taking action don't really know what action to take. It has been our driving ethos for at least the last two hundred years and perhaps even longer. In some ways it is not a horrible idea. To be certain there comes a point in many situations where action of some kind must be taken. The problem however is that far to many have come to believe that only direct, visible action is of value. This has resulted in an imbalance that has played a large role in the disastrous state of affairs we find ourselves in. This is most clearly seen and keenly felt in three areas of American life. In business. In national defense. And in our personal relationships.
In Business:
American business is if not the worst action addict, then certainly among the worst. It is so bad that companies are constantly launching new initiatives, often at great cost. Not merely things to make minor changes either. Often these are vast sweeping changes, that take significant time and money to implement. I work for a major fast food company and I can't tell you the number of times that they have changed everything from the uniforms, to the procedures, to the products, all at once. What is the most ridiculous is that if one stays with any particular company long enough you'll see them make changes, undo the changes, and then a few years, sometimes months later they will re-implement the changes that they had not so long ago undone. Why? Because the mid and upper level executives live in a constant state of fear of being seen as "Not Doing Anything". If you are newly promoted then you cannot let the things done by your predecessor stand even if they are successful (especially if they are successful) and simply make minor adjustments. No you must make bold and sweeping changes, so you can prove your value to the company, in the hopes of at most getting more raises and more promotions and at least keeping your job. Meanwhile the changes instituted from the top down often result in extra work for the rank and file. Truth be told in most companies busywork is perhaps the only constant. God forbid that people be seen to be relaxing for a moment, perhaps interacting with each other. This indicates sloth, and surely that means that the employee who is not constantly in motion must be bad and lazy.
The addiction to constant extreme growth is an offshoot of the addiction to action. The idea that a company that is not doubling its profits or more every year is a failure is to put it simply, ludicrous. It is in pursuit of these kind of profits that we have all but destroyed the planets ability to sustain most life as we know it today.
In National Defense:
Most reasonable people would be willing to agree that we should take sensible steps to protect ourselves from threats. Gathering intelligence on those that might seek to harm us and preparing to thwart them is not really all that radical an idea. But as we so often do America has carried this to a level that defies reason and sanity. Any country that might pose the least little threat to us is attacked either via drone strikes, air attack, or by invasion and occupation. Once we are in a country we almost never leave. We have military bases in Japan, Germany, Korea, etc. Why? How many German military bases are there on US soil? Hmm let me check the map real quick. Well gee, nothing from nothing, carry the nothing. Looks like none.
To highlight the absurdity of our national defense policies think about it like this. One day you hear a rumor that your next door neighbor is planning on breaking into your house, stealing all your stuff, and killing you and your family. Now a reasonable response would be to get better locks for your doors. Maybe bars on your windows. Perhaps a guard dog, or even a gun. If you wanted to be really aggressive you could even leave a note on their front door explaining what will happen to them if they try anything. All of that could be considered if not entirely wise, at least not totally out of proportion to the potential danger. Now imagine that instead of doing that you decide to go over to your neighbors house, kick down his door and just move right in and take right over. Then you make a nice speech about how he was abusive to his wife and children and you are there to liberate them from his tyranny. Well congratulations, you've just gone from the defender to the aggressor and for those who wish to think in such simplistic terms "The Bad Guy". All because you weren't content to simply be prepared to defend yourself but instead decided that you had to take action.
Something similar is seen domestically with groups that the government considers dangerous or subversive. When those groups are not acting radically enough for the liking of the government they use what are known as "Agent Provocateurs". Infiltrators who's purpose is to join a group under false pretenses, gain their confidence, and then goad them into doing something stupid. Then those in power can feel fully justified in acting to arrest the groups members. This is instead of the longer, more tedious and less publicly flashy route of simply monitoring the group and unless they begin to of their own accord commit acts of violence, refrain from intervening.
The problem is that all this furious action at home and abroad has left our resources both human and monetary stretched dangerously thin. The simple truth is that we cannot be everywhere at once. We try to cut corners by using things like drones but because of their imprecise nature they often create more enemies than they stop. And by expending energy focusing on groups that have an ideology at odds with the Imperialist policies of the US, and seeking to goad them into actions that they may very well have eschewed if left alone, we run the very real risk of not having enough eyes and ears open and ready to catch those who are ready, willing, and able to do real harm to this country and its citizens without any encouragement.
In Personal Relationships:
The addiction to action is usually combined with an addiction to happiness, where relationships are concerned. Whether it is a friendship, a parent/child relationship, or a marriage, people are far too willing to walk away from a relationship the instant that it becomes less than fun, never mind uncomfortable. Friendships between people have become increasingly casual. The kind of deep and lasting bonds that people used to forge with one another are largely absent. Ideas such as waiting to see if a less than perfect situation improves is almost totally unthinkable to most people.
What is worse still is that people act without really thinking their actions through. In fact if truth be told all to often in all three of the situations under discussion, it could be said that people are re-acting rather than acting.
The bottom line is that unless we force ourselves, our elected officials, and our country to stop and look at what's goin' down we will quickly find that we are on the eve of destruction.
Keep The Faith My Brothers And Sisters!
(This article originally appeared at The One About...)