I received an email from a friend, expressing his dismay over the governance of our country. I have to agree. Again and again, lines of poetry come to mind; lines of the very poem from which this blog takes its epigraph:

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.

– W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming

Read the last 2 lines again to yourself, aloud.
Oh yes, so it goes in America these days.

next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims and so forth

A Metaphor merit badge if you know the source of that quote off the tops of your tri-corner hat.

Anyway, I’ll share the thought with which I responded to my friend: to hell with governance. It has done us very little good, ever. Governance is good for building roads and starting wars. Meaningful, systemic, sustainable change doesn’t come from the top. And we should never doubt the talent of a few honest, committed people to bring change to life. Because that’s the only thing that ever has.

What we need now is leadership, not governance. If only we can get governance to stop brutally evicting leadership from the public parks, we’ll be on our way.

Actually, it’s better for the cause of progress if the police keep right on attacking and evicting, beating, teargasing, etc. As always in history, tyranny is the symbol and catalyst of the restoration of freedom.

Here’s a great short video to watch: A special comment from Keith Olbermann, 11.15.2011.