Not Not No

Of late I have been plagued by a gnawing feeling of angst … and trying to decipher what is at its source. To allay this feeling, I wanted to find what is in disarray in our public space.  Clearly there are excesses everywhere one looks -- huge sovereign debt, not just in the United States but worldwide; rampant drug use; a socially-transmitted disease pandemic (see: Were Number One); a galloping moral permissiveness (mostly centered in the media, Hollywood and Washington); governmental dysfunction at almost every level; parcels of pissant people impinging upon our freedoms; the accelerating crumbling of our time-honored social structures … enough … I’m sure you can easily extend this list.

After some sleeplessness I think I may have a clue as to what is the wellspring of my anxiety … we are rapidly losing our ability to say “no.”  Saying “no” has become a big no-no.  The Republicans are being tarred in the media with the pejorative “The Party of No.”  We are told that everything new should be unthinkingly embraced. Permissiveness is how to be hip.  Saying “yes” (to anything) is what is expected ... and makes one instantly brilliant and popular.

How should we respond if someone, who can’t afford it, applies for a home mortgage?  What do we say to our tween girls who want a personal cache of “morning after” pills?  Should Jon Corzine get away Scott free after his firm “loses” billions of his clients’ money?  Can we allow our government unfettered access to our personal records?  Should we look away when politicians abuse their positions of power … or waste billions of taxpayer dollars?  Mr. Paul Krugman, is it OK to run trillion dollar federal government deficits year after year?  Was Hillary Clinton right, in her Benghazi testimony, when she shouted, "What difference does it make?"  Mr. Ben Bernanke, is it permitted for the Federal Reserve to have printed more than four trillion dollars of new money?

Recognizing this contemporary societal flaw has set me free.  I can now view the world through puce-colored glasses … without being self-conscious.  I can now shake my head from side to side with unfettered abandon.  So the next time I am accused of being a sour-puss and a nay-sayer, I intend to secretly smile to myself.