Thoughts from a Distance...?...

For the first time in two years, we're taking an actual "vacation" this week. (At least I think that's what we're doing, as I vaguely remember from before the COVID Mess unfolded last year.) Last year we didn't go anywhere. And I didn't take a day off - for some reason. So I suppose vacation should be a nice change.

My reluctance to commit to this vacation being a success has to do with all the mixed regulations imposed here and there. Although, on second thought, I've got a good way of dealing with it, specifically the mask or no-mask thing. I just wear this thing around my neck when I'm heading out from our room. So if you have to put on a mask, I just pull it up. I prefer this to stuffing one of those semi-medical masks in my pocked, for some reason. Maybe it's cause it's sort of "stylish," like you're wearing something like an ascot. Who knows?

So on that basis, maybe things will go well - you know, we'll get a break, some rest, maybe even some sun (weather's been spotty) and fresh air (better than where we live). 

Being distant from your usual surroundings can be a good thing - according to some. I've never been so sure about that, since I run a small business. When you run a business, you're never really separated, certainly not distanced, from your commercial enterprise. Heck, when I think about it, even when I was an employee I used to take work with me. And even in those years when I managed to keep that to a very bare minimum, I would spend hours on a course that would improve my knowledge and skills. 

Now some "continuing education" sessions are more or less putting in "official time" that you get some credit for towards fulfilling some requirement. What I did, though, was invest in a real course that took months to study, and that entailed taking a test at testing center to obtain credit. So the hours put in on vacation actually required work.

Sheesh! Why am I going on about this? Maybe it's to connect with the past, after that COVID Mess hiatus, to get my feet grounded again. Not that I expect the future to just be a return to the past. It never is. But continuity could be possible, no?

The thing about continuity, though, is that it doesn't preclude rupture - or at least tears. First day away we spent time with a beloved family member who engaged in a conversation that involved politics. While I prudently shy away from politics in personal conversations as a general rule, I do know some folks with whom you can engage in a less than lethal exchange. This family member was one such person.

So what did we discuss? A lot of things, but the one that really caused some fireworks: Our beloved family members insistence that the 40 million (where he got the number I don't know) who believe the recent presidential election was stolen comprised a mortal threat to our democracy. He pressed hard on this, to the extent of insisting we reveal whether we were part of the 40 million. 

(Yes, I realize I might have taken umbrage at the insistence, but a basically goodhearted beloved family member deserves to be cut some slack, even if they're pushing beyond normally acceptable boundaries. I'd prefer keeping the relationship even it requires the pain incurred by biting down hard on my lip.)

I did manage to steer the discussion a bit, to derail what a third party observer might characterize as a mini-Inquisition. My method was to question the use of the term "democracy," pointing out the fact that our dear country was formed as a republic - in fact, specifically not as a democracy. 

(Of course, most folks today are either oblivious to this fact, or, if not oblivious, they would likely brush it aside as irrelevant and/or anachronistic.)

Taking it s step further, I did concede that it was perhaps likely that our country may no longer function as a republic, as it was founded. But if so, the history of democracies isn't very encouraging. Most wind up as tyrannies, with most of the tyrannies being not very benevolent. Given such historical precedent, the concern with the 40 million killing our democracy becomes a bit moot, doesn't it? At some point, something will kill it. At least that's the logical conclusion to acknowledging the unhappy history of democracies.

But not letting that rest, there was one more point. (Frankly, I brought up this point to avoid our Inquisitor being tempted to consider the possibility of torture to drag the truth out of us.) That point involved the concept of "cycles." 

In my limited study of various cycle theories, I've been impressed by those that have looked back and deciphered patterns that have repeated throughout history. More than one of these have posited - for quite some time - that we have entered a critical and possibly unpleasant cycle for our society and our culture. At the least, great change has begun. Where will this change take us? Could be most unpleasant - or worse. Then again, things could be shaky but more sanguine in the end. We just can't tell at this point. 

Applying this to our current exchange, I made the point that focusing on, never mind worrying about, those 40 million isn't worth the time and effort.

Were my efforts successful? Well, they did tone down the heating up of the exchange. As for convincing the other party, I don't know. And it's unlikely I'll be inquiring any time soon. At least I won't while on vacation.