ONE SIZE FITS ALL…AND OTHER
FABLES
It might be
just my imagination but the world, and in particular the United States, seems
to be drifting to the conclusion that one-size-fits-all…and nothing could be
further from the truth. Let’s look at a few examples of this wrong-headed
thinking, and perhaps the hottest topic in that area is the bathroom and who
uses what. If ever there was a topic where one-size-fits-all
doesn’t work, it’s that one, because if that were true there would be no need
to have separate facilities for males and females.
There would be just one facility for everybody.
Think of the money that could be saved by building just one restroom at a
sporting event, in schools or at the local shopping mall. Then, you
wouldn’t have to declare that today you “think” or “feel” like you’re the
opposite gender because the one facility would be there to utilize regardless
of your sex. We’ve already heard of males going into female
restrooms, but you will hardly ever hear of a female going into the male
bathroom…they’re just not that interested in us.
Peace…now
there’s a word that conjures up all sorts of things. To dictators it
probably means that they, and they alone, have the final word on everything…and
that’s peaceful for them. Nobody would question anything because they’d
be killed or at the very least, they’d disappear and never be heard from
again. In a democratic society like most of the civilized world, it
mostly means a time when there is no war…at least none in which that particular
country is engaged. For one particular religious cult, Islam, it
can only be achieved when all the world has submitted to it, and until that
takes place, true believers will be at war with “the West”, or civilization as
we know it. Even the United States, in its sometimes misguided
efforts, has tried to bring some sort of democratic government to places where
tribal, religious, or ethnicity differences simply would not allow it to
work. One-size-does-not-fit-all in governments either.
Closer to
home, we have Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act(ACA) which is the official
name. If ever there was a failure of the thinking that one-size-fits-all,
this would be it. To lump large numbers of people into some sort of
health “class” is simply ridiculous. Even in a marriage, which would be
the smallest “group” that one might encounter, there are bound to be
differences in health, and healthcare.
As it was explained to me, the eventual goal of the
Affordable Care Act, was to have a single-payer, and that would be the
government. If there are healthcare differences between just two
people, can you imagine the differences that might exist between millions of
people? Certain conditions which existed prior to coming into the
ACA are to be covered, others which are contracted after joining the ACA are
not covered. Right there you can see that the one-size concept
cannot work. People, by their very nature, are individuals and even
though large portions of the population may ACT like sheep, they’re not really.
Being retired
from the Navy I’m especially upset about trying to make this distinctive,
sea-going branch of the armed forces look like the ground-based
ones. The Coast Guard as well as the Navy are wearing camouflage
which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, stupid. There is no place aboard
ship where camouflage is going to blend in, which is the basic reason for
wearing it in the first place. If based ashore, there are other uniforms
for work and dress. Personally I favor the old dungarees and chambray
shirts with either white or blue “dixie cup” hats. It takes more than a
shoulder patch, or a pin on the chest to differentiate one service from another
and to say that they are all the same is doing a great disservice to each of
our armed services. Down to police departments in different cities, the
uniforms are different, so why try to make it one-size-fits-all in our
military?
In the
upcoming presidential election we definitely have a choice. If there is
ever a place where the concept of being different from anyone else is
important, it’s here. Whichever person wins out, and I hope it’s
the person I prefer, the government is going to take a turn in its
direction. The Republicans started out with seventeen candidates
and now have one. The Democrats started out with four and are down
to two, but there are those that will say it’s really only one.
Let’s suppose that we only had a one party system, and that could probably only
occur if we had a dictator, albeit a benign one. That one party
could decree that anything it said would become the law of the land, regardless
of whether it was good or bad. Wow! Talk about one-size-fits-all
being a failure, that is a prime example. No matter who the dictator is
or was, sooner or later the people rise up and change the leaders, if not the
entire form of government. A prime example of this is the American
Revolution, and following close on its heels, the French Revolution.
One-size-fits-all indeed! Not here, not now, not ever.
Wake up
America, your country needs you…desperately.
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