You’ve all heard
of this saying – “If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it.” Traditionalists and other
conservatives live by this credo. In fact, Abraham
Lincoln once said that the greatest threat to America
was politicians and other bureaucrats who wanted
to change institutions that worked in order to make
a name for themselves.
The 60’s generation,
of which I am by birth and therefore reluctantly a
part of, had a different credo: “Change is good.”
We’ve all seen what that credo has ushered into
our world. If you work for any bureaucracy, whether
government, school, or big corporation, the worst
thing a new manager can say is: “I’m here
to effect change.”
It’s usually downhill
from there. They’ll change this, that and the
other thing just to be able to record on their resumes
that they made changes. Then they move onwards or
upwards, leaving a wake of disaffection and disaster
behind them until someone new comes in to “effect
changes” in the changes that had previously
been made. Tradition is out. Change is in.
Peruse for a moment the broad spectrum of the
“changed” landscape. Changes
in government have created ever bigger bureaucracies
with ever more spendthrift ways and morose workers;
ever more and higher taxes. The change in the IRS
paperwork has resulted in more paper than a redwood
can supply. Changes in the school curricula across
the country have resulted in watered-down courses,
grade inflation, and heightened self-esteem on the
part of students who are embarrassingly ignorant
but consistently praised for their efforts –
whether they exert any effort or not. Everyone now
goes to college, even those who shouldn’t have
graduated grade school. And big corporations have
seen their leaders, if not being carted off to jail,
at the very least slithering under the water coolers
to avoid the icy stares of people whose 401K’s
are in jeopardy. Even Martha Stewart, the bastion
of suburban manners, mores and marketing, dug a
big hole in her own garden and buried herself in
it when she changed from entrepreneur to investor.
She should have continued to make dinner and forget
about those power lunches.
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Columns By Franki Scoblete
