Watching the last two years of the Biden administration has been painful. It seems to me that this administration had been given three golden eggs to win elections: federal minimum wage, student debt forgiveness, and enhancing Obamacare. These were vote-getters for 2022 and 2024. Even if these initiatives failed in the legislative process, they still would have been vote-getters, proving the Democratic Party was looking after average Americans. Yet the Biden Administration did nothing in these matters, preferring to brand itself as “We are not the Republicans.”
Maybe there are just too many other political things going on to deal with these progressive issues. Maybe the Democratic Party is too beholden to its wealthy donors who don’t need these golden eggs. Maybe the legislative rules have become too byzantine to get much done. Maybe the people in the backrooms fear the 30 percent of Americans who seemingly want an oligarchy. Whatever the reason, not capitalizing on the three golden eggs speaks to the impotence of our political process.
Dale Carnegie has said,
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
Action!
For those of us who have embarked on some long-term projects in life, we have engaged in action.
My engineering degree is a result of action. I worked hard; I followed the rules; I persevered when I wanted to quit. I suffered some setbacks. It took me five years, but I got the piece of paper.
There is one big flaw with the Carnegie quote, which is too common in the self-help profession. It elevates persistence over wisdom. Sometimes, quitting is the better life decision.
Ten years after I got my engineering degree, I enrolled in an MBA distance program from a prestigious university. I was a more mature student. I studied harder than I did for my engineering degree. I had some business experience that I could apply to my studies. I learned a lot more about business. But I just could not pass the exams — twice. For an additional fee, the university would let me take their distance classes for the third time. But I had already given this project my best effort. Maybe I just did not have the intellectual capacity to earn their degree. So I decided to save my spare money and time for other pursuits. I regret neither taking these MBA courses nor quitting the program.
Several years ago, I took my son to a college basketball game. The star player of the home team was not a quitter. He had dreams of playing professionally someday. He was 32 years old, hopping from one college to the next, getting around various eligibility rules. He was playing for a small college in Canada. He was not a quitter. How long should he keep pushing?
So how long should we push against the obstacles when they don’t seem to be moving out of our way? When do we realize that there is no point in continuing with a certain life project?
Unfortunately, there is no magical formula to tell us when to continue and when to quit. But many times, it is wiser to quit. All of us have abandoned life projects. Often, that was the wisest decision we could make.
Quitting political action
Pursuing a career as an elected representative is a time-consuming, financially-draining hobby. Very few of us are able to pursue this career. Besides, it is quite competitive, probably more competitive than becoming a top writer on Medium. So where does that leave most of us in terms of our political activity?
For us plebes, our political activity is usually limited to voting, protesting, and public discourse. The “other side” is doing the same thing, countering all of our good works. So, how is the usual way of political participation working for us?
Should I again bring up the three golden eggs that the Democrats threw away? Despite the great efforts of plebian political players to put them on the legislative docket?
Should we just quit?
Is it any wonder why too many people have disengaged from the political process?
When will enough of us realize we need to take a different kind of political action?
Published on Medium 2022
