In economics, as in politics, the United States is a self-organizing chaotic system.
By its inherent nature, when one part of the system fails, it’s almost immediately replaced by something – a better version of what was before, and superior to that which just failed.
Version 2.0, if you will.
In so many ways, it’s a natural occurrence. It’s what makes us great. It’s what makes us able to adapt and overcome. It’s what makes us Americans.
And, as Americans, we tend to be at our very best when faced with monumental challenges. It’s only been over the past century that failure has been stigmatized, and I believe that failure is a necessary part of success.
Fail, faster, succeeded sooner – there are so many examples of where this and those in business know it to be a universal truth, and, for example, engineering knows this. They learn more from a bridge failure than they do from one that fulfills its mission and meets its lifetime goals.
Unfortunately, our government institutions and the political parties that institute them have yet to figure this out. Both parties are far too fast to start playing the “blame game” and create institutions that do not adapt but exist in spite of themselves. We have watched scrappy startups “school” bloated government agencies on massive projects that we once thought only governments could accomplish.
A prime example is SpaceX, a corporation that broke not only all the rules but also an awful lot of hardware. They have consistently outperformed NASA and the likes of Boeing and a slew of other massive space and military contractors. Ask any of our astronauts whose spacecraft they want to bet their life on.
It won’t be NASA’s.
It’s very clear to me that we must start doing exactly the same with our political institutions. It’s time to tear them apart and rebuild them from the ground up. The “blame game” isn’t going to get us where we need to go.
I know that Donald Trump will be bringing a new group into key leadership positions who are not afraid of making changes. Not all of the alternatives will be successful, but the forward motion and a momentum they will create will far outpace any of the failures. There will be a brand new vibe coming to Washington D.C., and a new way of looking at government. The entrenched bureaucracy will resist, but they have no chance of maintaining their stranglehold on our tax dollars, and on the American society.
The framers of this great nation had amazing wisdom. Their words need to remain like the laws of physics. The laws under which we operate. We, as a people, have learned this lesson.
I only hope the Democrats have learned this as well because the GOP needs strong opposition delivered honestly and with civility to do the very best for the people.
