Now, as much as ever, we need grownups to step up and lead us through some challenging times. I remain optimistic as I watch the health care reform debacle play out, but I really find some things puzzling. Why is a segment of the media celebrating rage supplanting intelligent discourse on complex issues? Although I have no idea how many times I've lost my temper, I know precisely how many times I've been proud of it. It's the same number of times I've beaten Tiger Woods at golf or been elevated to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Why would anyone dole out badges of honor to adults for stamping their feet and throwing their toys?
There is plenty of room for legitimate dissent and even anger, but someone blowing a gasket at a forum designed for an open exchange of ideas is certainly not something in and of itself to applaud. Someone who is legitimately outraged for a variety of valid reasons is in a very different position from someone who is furious because he or she swallowed a preposterous claim by a fear-mongering demagogue. With respect to the latter, none of us is totally invulnerable to being duped, but there is still a difference between falling prey to a well disguised computer virus and giving your bank account information to that "African prince" who will share his fortune with you. To anyone who is really that easy a mark, all I can say is that a fool of that magnitude and his money were lucky to get together in the first place.
We are the richest country in the world, yet our health care system has very serious problems. Moreover, we spend more on health care both in terms of raw dollars and share of GDP than many countries with better care. In short, we're paying for a new Bentley but driving a blue Yugo with one orange door. Ultimately, we would be well served by fixing health care problems, but there is a fair and reasonable argument that what is being proposed could be the wrong plan and/or done at the wrong time. That's a serious debate for serious people and all voices are welcome and encouraged.
Which brings me back to the need for grownups. The first and last quatrains of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If" seem apropos.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowances for their doubting too
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it
And--which is more--you'll be a Man my son!
