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Tectonic Ch Ch Ch Changes

A comment on Fred Foldvary’s column here “Tectonic change is what we need.”

Perhaps we should take some perspective from the great philosopher David Bowie in arguably his greatest work, “Changes.” He suggests we first “turn and face the strain.”

Sound counsel. To make change, we must do it one day at a time. Change necessarily means identifying what does not work, finding solutions to undo what does not work, and institute new models that do work.

Don’t get me wrong, tectonic change along the lines that Foldvary suggests would be grand. There is some danger in overreaching, as the points advocated sound distant and unachievable in the short or even intermediate term.

Bowie metaphorically offers us a different attitude. We can’t, he notes, “trace time.” A challenging epistemological notion, that, but time can’t be traced because time happens moment by moment.

So, yes, we can easily dismiss the presidential political pabulum of being for “change,” or pronouncements like “I am the change agent.” Hollow, tinny stuff, that. But for there to be tectonic change, there needs to be consensus and leadership. Leaders with few followers are inconsequential. Consensus without leadership is aimless, and therefore inconsequential, too.

And, so, we drift. Bowie tells us that’s OK, too. “Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older.”

-RC

Posted by Robert Capozzi on January 23, 2008 06:35 AM |

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