Get Sh*t Done

Politics obviously isn't the only way things get done - if you think so, the business, institutional, and not-for-profit sectors would like to have a word with you - but at the very least it creates the climate for things to get done, and in many cases it is in fact how things get done.  Plus, for all the hand-wringing about opacity and backroom deals, it is remarkably transparent - we know who's in charge, we know how they vote/act, and by and large we know their positions because they constantly tell us what they are.  

I am not as politically informed as I could or should be, and I'm certainly not as politically engaged as I could or should be.  But I'm not on the sidelines either.  And lately I've been even more frustrated than usual, without knowing exactly why.  But I think my irritation is coming into focus.  I think what irks me is that our political leaders don't get sh*t done.  And, worse, we the people have created the climate for that.

What do I mean?  Well, it is patently obvious to me that there is no lack of urgent, dare I say existential challenges that require our full attention, including and especially our public sector.  This is by no means a comprehensive list but just for starters and in no particular order: COVID, structural racism, climate change, economic inequality, health care, geopolitics, and you catch my draft.  Just as obvious that these are serious issues that demand a concerted effort, is that these are issues that are complex to define let alone solve, which engender no small disagreement as to root causes and effective remedies.  

Indeed, it is inherently characteristic of the public sector that the problems it is tasked to solve are like this.  It's why I get - though vehemently disagree - with the growing sentiment that what we need is not distributed power in the form of a representative democracy, but rather more concentrated power if not just a plain ol' dictator.  It may sound awful to characterize it like this, but more and more people are tired of the gridlock and long for a political system in which someone can just make it all happen - so long as that someone shares their view of the world and how to fix it.  

If that's your position, again I sympathize and respect that, although I disagree that's the way we should go.  So, assuming we're sticking with our current form of representative democracy, we still have sh*t to do - complicated, life-threatening, we have to get this right sh*t to do - and we can't rely on someone just deciding this is what we're going to do and having that happen, not in as big and diverse a nation as ours.  Which, I get, is frustrating.

But what I'm realizing is really frustrating is that too many of our electeds don't have a "I'm going to get sh*t done" attitude.  Too much of their leadership style, their personal brand, and their day-to-day MO is actually the opposite.  It's about stoking fears and conjuring up new ones.  Or it's pontificating about how the other side is doing that.  Most of all, and most infuriating to me, it's about giving their base red meat in the form of vilifying the other side's people, positions, and projects, rather than elevating their own people, positions, and projects.

Again, the things we need done are difficult and complex and nuanced things.  Any proposal, any initiative, any set of people carries with it flaws.  There are no pure solutions.  Yet our electeds seem to spend more time and derive more enjoyment picking at a bad solution rather than figuring out what is a less bad solution.

And you know what, I'm not even talking about that dreading c-word, compromise, although I believe in its necessity in a pluralistic society.  "Compromise" has come to mean that instead of getting 100 percent of what I want, I have to live with 58 percent and hold my nose at the other 42 percent.  

But I'm not even talking about that.  I'm talking about electeds not even bothering to propose anything.  If all you do is shoot down other ideas but are unwilling to come up with and execute your own ideas, then you're not about getting sh*t done.  What you're about is being lauded by your supporters and feeling good about your ideological purity and political righteousness.  

To electeds all across the land: get sh*t done.  You will not find an issue that I 100 percent agree with you on, let alone one that all Americans (or Pennsylvanians or Philadelphians) 100 percent agree with you on.  We didn't elect you to lob insults at people trying to move things forward, we elected you to move things forward.  And guess what?  That's harder, doesn't win you as much applause, and might even mean someone you hate gets something good out of it.  Get over it and Get.  Sh*t.  Done.