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サマリー
あらすじ・解説
I encountered an interesting term today. “Sunken Cost” Supporters. The author was referring to people who turn out in support of a candidate, party, or platform that they no longer actually believe in or want simply because they’ve already invested so much in supporting that thing to date. Maybe they would feel embarrassed or dumb to drop out now. Maybe they can’t imagine anyone better. Maybe they’ve just lost hope. Maybe the system has just consumed them and burned them out.
This is something that should resonate with all of us. No matter to which end of the political spectrum you may align, our government is full of these “Sunken Cost” politicians and causes. We just almost had the second consecutive election between the two oldest people to ever run for the office, and two of the most divisive. If Democrats could have faced the reality of Biden being too old and frail to fulfill his duties, perhaps he could have retired with dignity and democrats could have had a better turn out this election. If Republicans could face the reality that Trump is also too old and out of touch, perhaps they could have elected someone who would actually help make eggs and energy cheaper and make everyone happy and the economy better and healthier in the process. Who knows? We’ve sunk so much into their same tired antics, both sides, and the complimenting antics of the many other establishment and career politicians in our government today, that we almost can’t imagine any other way. We have been tricked into thinking that these people have valuable experience that we need.
Why do we consider experience valuable? My high school swim coach had a great philosophy on this. Because practice makes perfect. Right? Wrong. PERFECT practice makes perfect. He was so right. Drilling a sports skill the wrong way doesn’t get results. You can lift weights all day; you will never have Luigi abs if you aren’t doing it right and following a wholistic approach to better health. So why do we keep reelecting people who didn’t get the job done the first time they had the chance? Or the second time? Or the third time? What makes anyone think that the people who largely created these problems, or at minimum continuously failed to address them, will be the ones to ultimately solve them in the end? They won’t be. It will take NEW FACES, who maybe don’t have “experience” in the form of decades of lack of substantial achievement in government and a fancy ivy league law degree, but who instead have LIVED EXPERIENCE and know that there must be a better way and that if we work together in unity, we can find it and do it.