Bashing & Kicking Cans & Mahatma

I've known very few people who don't occasionally bash politicians. And it doesn't seem to matter on which side of the aisle a basher resides. What's the most recent thing an elected official did that annoyed you? Notice how fast you came up with it.

My biggest gripe has often centered on how easily politicians seem able to kick a can down the road. As our nation was being born, our representatives - authors of the Constitution - somehow managed to postpone the thorny issue of a "home of the free" that sanctioned slavery. In my view, the current can being kicked the hardest relates to climate change. These days, many ex-climate change deniers have shifted their message - "OK", they say, "the science is convincing. But prove to me it's man made." Remind me now - how does that matter? If it's real, can't we do something aside from posturing? Why exactly are we delaying?

But then my reflections shift to cans I've kicked down the road. How many times have I postponed or put off or procrastinated about giving needed attention to something important? You? It could be my gripe about can kicking politicians is disguising a deeper discomfort with a shared human condition. I'm reminded of Gandhi's wise words: "We must become the change we wish to see in the world." Here's hoping I remember that the next time I begin bashing.