The can can't be kicked without a kicker

 

How many times when the federal government has been "shut down" have we heard the trite expression "to kick the can down the road?" I remember as a boy we used to play "kick the can" in a nearby alley, but our goal was to suddenly run in from hiding and kick the can so those who had been caught trying to kick it would be released from "jail.” In that setting you might say that kicking the can was a brave and noble act because it involved personal risk for the benefit of others. The way the phrase is used now is quite the opposite – it is the evasion of obligation for personal gain. For example, an extremely serious national financial problem affecting the well-being of the American people is postponed by our elected representatives in Washington because taking a moral stand on the issue might endanger their reelection.
       There is no question that the less important should be post­poned (if necessary) so the more important can be realized. We all recognize that. But a nation that, at the close of 2017 was
$20,567,936,964,198 in debt, should not kick that "can" any further down the road (excuse my use of the tired old idiom). What is happening here is a serious collapse of morality at a level in society that undermines the confidence of those who have been trusting their representatives to handle the nation’s well-being with integrity. Whenever personal benefit trumps the welfare of the other person, the law of love has been violated. The essential ethic of a Judeo-Christian civilization (and fall into that category) is love (see Mark 12:29-31). Unnecessary postponement of essential legislature (kicking the can) is a national tragedy.
       But isn't it our fault when our representatives in either house fail to live up to their responsibilities? Perhaps, but it certainly is our fault if we reelected them.  There has been common knowledge since Plato (Greek philosopher, who in the fifth century BC helped lay the foundation for Western civilization) who said, ”One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Unfortunately, when a government system reaches a certain level of complexity it begins to feed on itself and, like the cancer cell, takes over and ultimately destroys. The answer to the ”kick the can” problem in a democracy is to remove the kicker. See you at the polling place.