Just a Thursday Morning Rant

Just quickly, because, you know, I've got things to do, places to go and people to see:

So, I was blessed with a husband that when he takes to something...he takes to it heart and soul.

This includes things like microfinance, Notre Dame football and politics.

In fact,

He gets so incredibly into these things that sometimes I can't help but think of Brian Kelly and Mitt Romney as sister wives...ish.

I love his passion.

And it doesn't hurt that, at the end of the day, I'm still the favorite wife.

But this is not really my point.

My point is this:

By proximity, I've been much more into this political race than I have in the past.

I've listened to a number of debates (albeit some much more passively than actively),

I've caught meaty chunks of both the RNC and the DNC.

And as I listen to all of the bitter "Us v. Them" debates and digs and the insane amount of "Go Us!" rhetoric, I really can't help but think of Six Sigma and mold.

Yes, I'm sure you need an explanation.

For those familiar with Six Sigma, you will remember that the crux of this business strategy is to identify and remove deficiencies to improve quality.

As I listen to verbose politicos, I can't help but think that we're missing the root cause of a lot of our problems.

At the risk of sounding overly self-deprecating, I do not think I've quite got the intellect of an economist, political strategist, or member of any sort of think tank.

But, I don't think it's too hard to see that policies aren't the root of the problem, people are the problem.  More specifically, the hearts of people are the problem.  And the longer we focus on anything but the root cause of the problem, the problem is just going to grow.  Like mold in Maryland.

After listening to NPR this morning, I had the urge to re-read this.

I just want to know WHO is going to be willing to quit skirting around this issue and give it to us straight:  As a whole, we are becoming too self-interested to do what's good for us.

We take aim to blame, but really should implore introspection of ourselves first, and others next.

How willing are we to sacrifice our own, individual self-interest for the greater good of our family, friends and society?

How willing are we to subscribe ourselves to a Higher Power and to a higher way of living?

And why is this, our individual responsibility, not part of the political rhetoric?

If treated early, mold is easy to stop.

If left to grow unbound, it threatens us with ultimate decay.

And I think that's a pretty high price to pay for self-interest.