I walked in on a political conversation at work - better than most, really. One participant was bemoaning that it was hard for Obama to govern because the country was just so big. There were so many things to keep track of, and a president couldn't be everything to everyone. (To answer the obvious, no, there was no "maybe we were too hard on Bush" followup. Are you crazy?) Another mentioned that he had always thought America's size was part of the resentment other countries felt toward us, and perhaps we could devolve into some regional entities - still united, but more independent. Yes, the other noted, and this might be good culturally as well, because not all regions of America thought the same. If the Pacific Coast region wanted to legalise marijuana, they could do it. If the Midwest didn't, they wouldn't.
Wow, I said, with a bit of a smirk. What a great idea. We could call them "states."
I saw it coming, but I still smiled when I got to that last line.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's a good one. Somehow I suspect that it shocked them for a minute, but then overnight the "midnight reset button" did its work, and the next morning they woke up completely unaware of the conversation.
ReplyDeleteIt probably went over their heads. They thought they were coming up with some great original insight when they were reinventing the proverbial wheel.
ReplyDeleteEven better, if it were framed as a Tea Party or federalism issue, they would hate it.
ReplyDeleteYou should have told them that inability to govern the whole country is a feature (maybe THE feature), not a bug. That's NOT the president's job.
ReplyDeleteMAN 2: Right now we're proving we don't need corporations. We don't need money. This can become a commune where everyone just helps each other.
ReplyDeleteMAN 1: Yeah, we'll have one guy who like, who like, makes bread. A-and one guy who like, l-looks out for other people's safety.
STAN: You mean like a baker and a cop?
MAN 2: No no, can't you imagine a place where people live together and like, provide services for each other in exchange for their services?
KYLE: Yeah, it's called a town.
DRIVER: You kids just haven't been to college yet. But just you wait, this thing is about to get HUGE.