Our forefathers sought a way to have smooth transitions between those who govern and the next set that comes along after them. In the old days, one reasons for "Long live the king" and "God bless the king" was that each king's death might mean a civil war, with plenty of death, disability, destruction and disorientation.
A basic truth of this world is that everything in it gets old, all the time. Getting old means changing and eventually wearing out. So, even though these shoes were once shiny and new, now my wife finds them shameful. Time for a change.
We always see this struggle going on between the old and the new, the current and the next. Galileo was one of the first to challenge old human ideas of where we are and what is happening around us. The church authorities had the duty to preserve the doctrines of their predecessors, which had shown themselves to be of value. So here is a new idea and it must struggle for a voice, for adherents, for supporters.
The young and our movie script writers are quite familiar with the view that the new (idea, method of transportation, law, machine) must struggle for acceptance. But here is the kicker for me: over time, the struggle succeeds so the new gets its place. Guess what? It becomes the old! As the value of this new thing is accepted, it becomes the old. Then, a new challenger appears and tries to get support. But it is rejected on the very solid grounds that the old is valuable, has proven its value and must not be supplanted by some new cockeyed deal to come along.
In actual people, there are many cases where a ruler is clear tyrannical and a suppressor of the people. Eventually, opposition arises. A new leader struggles for acceptance. It is a mighty struggle and a very hard one but finally success! Okay! A new leader! Then, over time, new difficulties and problems emerge but all the while the views and programs of the new leader are aimed at the original targets. Stability does matter after all. We cannot accomplish our goals if we drop them too soon, if we fail to persist, to work steadily. On the other hand, there is such a thing as flogging a dead horse, investing in a sinking ship, traveling into a deadend. The new leader is no longer new, is now failing the people, failing himself. Time for a new leader.
The new leader may not be a person but instead may be a new view, a new theory, a new plan or path. I am surprised at how much of life is related to the Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler, who realizes he has to know when to hold on and when to fold. The trouble is, of course, we cannot really know, but after all there are only two alternatives, so when holding isn't working, I consider folding.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
