Just waiting for the handout basket, folks, that’s what the western world seems to be doing. The Me Decade - according to sociologists - was the 1970’s. Those self-centered years are still here. Me first, who cares about the rest.

This calendar year has given ample proof - from politicians refusing to quit, CEO’s fudging financial statements, and seeing nothing wrong with taking home outrageous amounts of money for being a crook, to bureaucrats, people entrusted with running public affairs threatening to strike at any given moment.

When once ambition ruled, pretence is now the name of the game. Putting on airs breeds indolence, begets sloth. Industry only seems to return when one is “fairly compensated”. People seem to determine equitable remuneration only in comparison to others, the old, familiar keeping up with the Jones’ approach. Thus breeding a different jones, bordering often on the absurd.

One hardly cares about those poor professional athletes. Yet, to hear it said, pro sports is not that much different from indentured ownership of skills. (Is that not what work is - paid according to skill group, ability, effort?) This said, one wonders why anyone in their right mind would care about a stoppage in play in major league baseball. Sure, trot out the patriotic bromides, reminding couch potatoes about a country’s national game. Still, with multimillionaires bleating about their future, it is hard to care.

The concept of the future is quite blurry these days. You’d think that while hardly a quantitative yardstick, the concept of tomorrow would be easy to grasp from a positive perspective - improvement on today, rather than a slide into the morass of the past. An attitude that can only be good. Yet, one that is going the way of the spotted owl.

Who gives a hoot about education? Let’s take over the school boards. Who cares about the future that children represent? Let’s deny those that need to learn from example for the umpteenth year running, of experiencing a normal, rational approach to education. Who gives a hoot about how to run a country? Let’s ignore what the majority wants, and stiff our opponent in a “leadership” campaign. Canada? A fine country populated by fine people? Indeed, but not a concern of the ruling oligarchy, as long as people are stupid enough to return the ruling Liberals to power, then it must be their fault.

Who gives a hoot about the state of Medicare? As long as I’m healthy - why should I care about those that need society’s assistance, financial help, moral support, understanding, more importantly - caregiving.

Special interest groups? The name says it all.

While the points raised above can be - and are, daily - debated in all available public forums, answers seem to be rarer than Rhode Island Reds with bicuspids. The frightening, sobering, startling aspect of public debate is that it is rarely either. Public, or a debate. A challenge for anyone - name a country, province, or municipality, where the majority is heeded.

While wallowing through what passed for last week’s newsworthy items, those dutifully represented in print and on the airwaves, computer screens, it became painfully apparent, that 'plus ça change, rien çca change' More of the same, only - can I super-size that for ya? The scary part of this is that most people do not dare - or know how - to react. The status quo is maintained in a desperate struggle, inertia triumphs over forward motion, and the paladins elected by a blind public trade red robes for ones of gold.

A pandynamometer is a device designed for ascertaning the torsion of shafting. The root of the word essential to understand is the Greek 'pan', meaning all, entire. The instrument in question is used as the basis from which to compute the amount of power conveyed in the shafting procedure.

Obviously, power and shafting have different meanings today than when the pandynamometer was invented. This is where sensible people have to stop and question what is going on around them. Do public, accountable officials, have the right to hamstring society? Can we, should we expect more from those we entrust with looking after the needs of the future? Is acquiescence equal to consent? Where does democracy begin and the sensibilities of theoretical anarchism end?

Not so long ago a soap-box in Hyde Park served as the foundation for airing disgruntlement without having to fear arrest. These days soap-boxes are a quaint part of our historical heritage, likely to be depicted only on a commemorative postage stamp. However, many in a caring society would like to see a return to those days, if only for having a freer voice.

Corruption and self-serving interests have always been part of government. As long as this is quietly acknowledged, pandynamometers will continue operating in parliaments everywhere.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson coined the phrase: parliament of man - the federation of the world. If we understand the poet, then the concept of representatives deliberating common goals in a freely elected assembly is essential for positive change. Sadly, though, Tennyson’s message is rarely heard. What most hear are the platitudes of politicians, vapid and empty promises of bureaucrats, and the threats of the discontented. As long as the Me Decades continue, putting personal interests in front of the weal, our children, our followers, will keep on wondering where the human race went astray.

Märkmed: