Re:How the Hell Do You Govern in a Complex World
by jfengel on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @10:59AM
(#26155086)
It makes a lot of sense if you view it through the lens of people preferring the status quo. The "founding fathers" can always be used to justify leaving things as they were.
That's good if the status quo is working for you. It's not so good if you're somebody who the system fails for.
The really horrifying part is that there are people in the latter group who imagine that they're part of the former. The system is failing them, but for a variety of reasons they're convinced that any change will make it worse.
Much of the time, it's because they've been played off against other groups who are also having problems in the current system, and told it's a zero-sum game: if they do better, you must be worse. If you just keep revering the "founding fathers" eventually you too will be successful.
The worse they do, the harder they revere. It's a vicious cycle, and I have no idea how to break it.
That's good if the status quo is working for you. It's not so good if you're somebody who the system fails for.
The really horrifying part is that there are people in the latter group who imagine that they're part of the former. The system is failing them, but for a variety of reasons they're convinced that any change will make it worse.
Much of the time, it's because they've been played off against other groups who are also having problems in the current system, and told it's a zero-sum game: if they do better, you must be worse. If you just keep revering the "founding fathers" eventually you too will be successful.
The worse they do, the harder they revere. It's a vicious cycle, and I have no idea how to break it.