I’m a software guy, and like any other coder out there, there are times you look at what you’ve written and go "hey, let me just add this one thing more" – and a while later, you say "time to test". And THEN that famous phrase kicks in: "Aw, crap".
Not only has the new "feature" turned into a bug, but it has taken other parts of the system with it. Even after commenting out all that new / modified code, the bug is still there. Examples of this conundrum have been seen here on the ‘Grok – add a new post and all of a sudden, the front page look wacky;
- all older posts have the same nutty formatting
- picture look crazy
- videos won’t vid
- and the sidebars take a vacation.
OK, the normal thing is to remove the offending post. Ooops – that "one more thing" wasn’t enough to put things right. More posts have to be taken out to get back to a stable system before adding stuff back in to "progress forward". Perhaps tickling a few other areas of code too, in many cases.
Because when a software app is broke, adding more stuff to it ain’t gonna make it right, not going to make work, and you aren’t going to move forward. You’re only going to make a bigger, more tangled spaghetti code mess. And as you add new features to a system, especially those that were not originally "designed in", things get more and more tangled. It finally crushes itself under it’s own weight. Sure, you may get that new feature, but the overall system ends up harder to maintain (costing more to keep running), works slower (forcing users to use "faster" computers), and takes up more space (bigger disks). That’s why most engineers always call the smallest possible solution that does the job is called "elegant"; those that construct such packages are hailed as superstars by their peers.
A great proxy (or metaphor) for our government?
Certainly, it has grown far beyond its original intent and purpose. Like many engineers who can’t leave well enough alone or marketeers that desperately believe one more feature set has to be added or they’ll be out of job for lack of sales, those in government often decide that they can do yet one more thing, to do something else, and provide a "richer" feature set to the general public. There are those outside of government, too, that demand that government do more.
Big difference though, is that PCs have gotten much less expensive and much more powerful over the years. I think it would be fair to say that government has not followed suit. And I can choose to NOT buy the software…
Software, over time, builds up layers and layers, adds one "bag" to the side after another, until the owners of the software (no, not the users who have bought a license to use the package, but the folks that actually own the code) decide (or are forced to decide) that the software no longer fits its original purpose, that it has outstripped the job that it actually did pretty well – in the beginning. They get convinced that it is time for a redo – strip it down, re-plan, re-architect, and re-do. Reboot.
Reboot government? In government speak, that’s called a Revolution – like 1776. Like the French Revolution. Like the Bolshevik revolution in Russia (aka Soviet Union, and back to Russia). Easier rebooting a system than a government. Maybe another metaphor is needed.
The question is, do we do the Revolution? Or is it time to use another metaphor – archeology where one has to dig down to find the artifacts? Or a restoration – like an old house full of grime and rubbish and other stuff at which many would say "Eeeooowww!"
The TEA Party movement has been likened to a political revolution – out with the old, in with the new! "Extremists! Anti-Government!", say the Liberal Progressives and their useful idiots. Yet, the Progressive ideology (that power should be centralized, that most people need guidance to live their lives, and that to be guided for the greater good in their choices – freedom from responsibility) has been waging its own slow rolling revolution – incremental socialism.
But the TEA Party ideology is even older – hailing back to 1776. It also is the opposite of the Progressives – where the latter believes that to improve government, it must add to its "function set". More and more – like where this post started. And as we see now, ending up with the same problem: creaking, doddering, and expensive. And taking up more and more and more room in society and in peoples’ lives.
Instead of continuing to add more and more to what is already a creaking, doddering, pile (have you read the latest GAO report or know about the $1.6 Trillion deficit?), it’s aim is to treat it like overgrown software or a house that has allowed to accumulate too much junk. Its aim is to remove the "non-functional code" – to go backwards in political time in order to move forward. To restore the clean code, the varnished mantle, the quick response, and the shiny exterior.
It is time to start stripping away the unneeded stuff – much of it that we could do for ourselves and simply got lazy and outsourced our responsibilities. Government doesn’t have to do MUCH of what it does now – Liberal protestations aside.
It is time to lose the weight; Progressives have handed out the piece of cake for far too long with the promise of "It’s only a single slice more – where’s the harm?" Problem is, the person handing you the check is not just the waitress but the owner – and Guido, Tony, Mikey, and Miguel (from the local "boys club") are standing next to him, looking expectantly at your wallet.
And they expect to pay for their party, you’re about to ante up. Again.
Instead, t is time for us all to set down the silverware and push away from the government table; the credit card is maxed out and there are no more extensions. Time to get to the gym and get serious. Don your work gloves and clothes; get busy. Start doing more for yourself and your family – and demand less from government. Only common sense – it’s almost Greece time. In fact, we all have to demand AND expect less – the main demand of the TEA Party is that Government DO less.
After all, the chuckleheads in DC and in the state capitals these last few decades have done oh oh so well, eh? They layered up – we have to go back to the original design.
No, not Das Kapital or any variation thereof. The Constitution. No faux presentations, no faux marketing sound bites, no white papers, no more Blue Ribbon panels, and certainly, no more departments or bureaus. The Constitution.
Stripping the Feds down to that would be a good start. As Michelle (heh!) would say "Get moving".
