The Politics of Expedience

How would you choose: do something right or do something right now?
This isn't a philosophy class or a variation of Buddhism's School of the Burning House-this is how we live in the here and now. I know someone who counsels 'perfection is the enemy of good enough' and that, in and of itself, may also be a (separate) challenge.

I've heard politics called 'the art of the possible', but we, the people (at all levels of government) can make it impossible by elevating our expectations and the volume of our voices when speaking of our expectations. Not helping is a representational form of government where, from the speaker's podium at a city council meeting to and through the closed curtain of the voting booth, we can drown out one another if we work at it.

Voter turnout in Norwich in November was about what it usually is for off-year elections, so in a sense, we failed to expand the size of the discussion on how to 'move forward', but I think we're compensating for that by expanding the discussion by those in the room, so to speak, on mapping the path and laying out the framework. When you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there. For those of us who voted for 'change' in the Council, I suspect there are as many different definitions of change as there those of us doing the defining. The trick may be to celebrate the commonality of a shared vision and decide how important our differences are in pursuit of a common goal. First, of course, we might want to start with a common goal and then define a path to achieving it.

So, I'm back to my original question:
do you choose doing something right or something right now?
Open your test booklets, pick up your pencils and begin.
-bill kenny