Words from Dic(tionary)

Allegation: (n) an assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong, typically one made without proof.

I will give you my State of the Union: America is in a tizzy with a focus on fussiness. Somehow or another we’ve convinced ourselves:

• That bickering is a sign of intelligence.
• That uncovering scandals is a way to promote honesty.
• And that manufacturing allegations will somehow make them true, no matter how much proof is given to the contrary.

We like conflict.

You might ask, “What’s the big deal? Don’t we have the right to enjoy and pursue our own happiness, even if that is no more than thinking that interpersonal human relationships are meant to be conducted with the same rules as Roller Derby?”

And candidly, you are correct–because I have no intentions on inhibiting the flow of free expression, even if I find it to be neither free nor expressive.

Yet I despise allegations. I especially abhor the “Preamble to Allegations,” which is the suspicious question asked, in an attempt to cause us to become defensive, so that people can note our trepidation and therefore assume we must be guilty.

But I find the best way to fight ignorance is to avoid acting smart, and instead, just do more good than “bad” has the energy to achieve.

So I’m going to give you a little four-line piece of philosophy that you may wish to adopt (or leave from reading my entry today and produce allegations against me). Here it is:

If you can’t, don’t.

If you don’t, do.

If you do, try.

If you try, improve.

In other words, if you can’t change something, don’t talk about it. What could be more useless than for the Lilliputians to discuss Gulliver?

And if you find you don’t have any power in a situation, go and do something where you do have talent and power.

It is only the Shakespearean characters who lament. We are Americans. We bitch.

And when you finally decide to do something that is within the spectrum of your ability, try to make it good. Don’t be like the mediocre syrup company which put out a product that was not sweet enough, but insisted it was still good because it was sticky.

And while you’re trying, put yourself in the high percentile of human evolution and work on improving what you do instead of assuming it is perfect on the first go-around.

The State of the Union is a focus on fussiness.

To put the Union in a different state … we will have to learn how to focus on the power of our abilities.