Well, another wonderful exercise in Democracy has come and gone. The people have spoken. And I am still actually surprised that the most unlikable, strange and blatantly phony cartoon of a rich bastard we have all been conditioned to hate since his Uncle Harry Potter stole Jimmy Stuarts bank in It’s a Wonderful Life somehow managed to screw it up . They say it was a real and rare victory for the common folk against Big Money. One of the warmest fuzzies delivered on the first Tuesday in November since the Greeks put their words demos, meaning “the people,” and kratein, meaning “to rule.” together 600 years before the guy with the sandals came along. We’ll see.
Democracy, or Rule of the People, is still the name of the ridiculously idealistic vision of organizing all of the infinite variations of the delightful human tadpole into a semblance of a community that functions nearly as well as a coterie of Prairie Dogs. We aren’t there yet, but we’re working on it.
I’m sure the P’dogs have trouble too. They also have to pull together different factions. No doubt they have the old and the young dogs with different needs and demands. And surely there are good looking as well as ugly Dog denizens, making some vain and some angry and insecure same as us. And they undoubtedly have their dimwitted brothers and brothers-in-law. In fact, I’m willing to bet that just like us humans, 50 percent of all Prairie Dogs are below average in intelligence. Go figure.
But what they should thank whatever Prairie Dog Gods they pray to is that they don’t have to deal with what we have to incorporate into our politics and society. I don’t think there is a P’Dog whistle for defining what we call greed. No Juris Dogtors, Board of Dog Directors or Doggy Lobbyists either. And since the beginning of Genus Cynomys history, I bet there has never been Prairie Dog Machiavelli. Or a burrowing Carl Rove. No wonder they thrive. To be the leader of the Clan, you got to be the smartest, or toughest Alpha P’Dog in the whole group. And prove it everyday. When you are no longer fit to lead, you step down for the good of the community. Lucky Dogs.
Which begs the comparison to the planet’s most celebrated example of modern Democracy, us. With over 300 million choices, these two Dogs were the best we could come up with? And we can’t dig good holes either. I’m so ashamed of my species.
Not that it is relevant to our politics, unfortunately, but one thing we got over those happy whistling rodents is they do not have poetry to cheer them up if they ever get to where they are circling the societal drain like we are today. Hey, it’s better than nothing. So enjoy:
If it were not for the presence of The unwashed and half-educated,
the formless, queer and incomplete,
the unreasonable and the absurd,
All the infinite variations of the Delightful Human Tadpole,
the universe would not wear so wide a grin!
Something by Frank Moore Colby. I’m starting to think it may be all we got until we get the hang of that burrowing thing.
Darrell Smith is a Flagler Beach business owner and occasional contributor. He comments at FlaglerLive as NortonSmitty. Reach him by email here.
