So That's Life?

I saw a quote from a person saying that a candidate was the “most honest” person he knew. When I first read this, I shrugged it off as being the usual hyperbole of campaigns. After a while, it started to bug me because it reminded me of a 2nd grader saying, “I’ll be your most bestest friend”.

Can someone really be the “most honest”? Isn’t honesty a binary state? Aren’t we either honest or not? If someone is brutally honest to the point of rudeness, doesn’t that cross another line and become a bad trait? Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure I’ve used the phrase before but never in a public statement. And, looking back, it’s something I should have retracted.

Honesty isn’t something to be taken lightly. If I were to vouch for a person on the point of honesty, I’d have to be damn well sure of it. It couldn’t come from casual contact nor here-say. I’d need a boatload of facts to back it up.

So, the next time you encounter the phrase, be wary. Like the saying goes, “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is”.

I’ve been bombarded lately by a barrage of Facebook posts with titles like “Age Test” and “Do you Remember” links that show a picture of some gadget or toy from the past. Sadly, I think I’ve recognized all of them so far. I understand the draw of nostalgia but it really depresses me that times have changed so drastically that these items from my youth are a novelty.

Nostalgia is a funny thing. When we reach back to remember things, we have the advantage of time to color the memories with everything we experienced since then. Its kind of like remembering watching an old black and white TV show. I swear I remember cartoons being in color before my parents had a color television set!

I bring this up because I’ve been engaged in discussions (OK, they’re really full-blown fights) with people about gun control and taxes. In every one of these, they bring up the 2nd amendment and how taxes used to be lower. The real crazy ones deny that the 16th amendment ever existed!

What never fails to amaze me is their ability to see how much the world has changed since the defining events that caused the government to create these laws. The 2nd amendment was created at a time when a musket was the weapon of choice. It certainly wasn’t made to protect the right to own an assault rifle with a 100-round clip. The 16th amendment was created to balance the government revenue away from tariffs and property tax. Of course, it also had something to do with the increased size of the nation.

What really bothers me is how they can overlook these real changes to our world but, at the same time, deny that the ideas of the 18th and 19th Centuries are still relevant. That “We the people” are entitled to all the rights of the Constitution or that we fight for “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” As opposed to protecting my guns or my money.

Knowing history is not even close to learning from history. You should cherish those childhood memories but put them in perspective because, if you learn from them, you’re seasoned. If not, you’re just old.