Rip Van Winkle

Mention the name Washington Irving and people snap their fingers and say, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

They’d be right of course, as that fabulous story about the headless horseman has haunted children’s dreams for two centuries. There is an often overlooked story he wrote though, that reminds me a bit of the times we are living in right now, the tale of Rip Van Winkle. If you recall the plot, a nice man goes into the Catskill Mountains, makes some new friends, drinks a potion and wakes up twenty years later.

By the time he opens his eyes everything in the world has changed.

None of us has been asleep for twenty years, but I marvel at how quickly things are changing in the world I grew up in. I’m by no means an expert on the human condition or political science, I’m just the former paper boy from South Troy who writes for a living, talks on the TV and pays attention. But if you ran into me in a pub, bought me a pint and asked me what was going on?

I’d likely tell you I see three things at the root of much of the dramatic change- secularism, politics and good old-fashioned greed.

Let’s take marijuana. If you wanted pot to be legal, you needed to do three things. First, do public opinion polls and show politicians that if you legalize pot, it won’t hurt you politically because most people want it. Then, find a progressive state and get them to be the first to legalize it. That will lead to a few more coming on board.

Then, wait for an economic crisis (like a pandemic) and launch a public relations campaign in the more purple states, showing them the money that can be made on marijuana. Viola’ it’s legal.

In my opinion, it’s a good thing that people with criminal records over marijuana possession are having them wiped clean. Those laws were used to punish people who were more guilty of following the Grateful Dead around than any high crime. I just wonder if more children will be likely to try pot now because it is legal.

And I worry about people driving under the influence and the nightmare this will bring to H.R. managers trying to sort out who has been smoking pot on lunch break and who just wears a jacket that smells like they were. I suspect our lawmakers focused more on the money they’d get their hands on than those pesky sideissues.

Let’s take mobile sports betting. At a time when we have 10 million Americans fighting a gambling addiction, we are making it easier for someone to blow the rent money without the need of even getting off the couch. Good idea? Again, proponents will tell you that other states are already doing it and it generates lots of free money, which ironically, you can use to help gambling addicts.

The circle of life Simba. Now this week I see a fullcourt press for assisted suicide legislation. Again, the argument is the public wants it and other states are doing it. In fairness, this issue is different than the first two I mentioned because it is not about money. The people pushing for it are true believers in their cause. I do find it curious that they don’t use the word suicide to describe it.

Here in New York, it’s the “aid in dying act.” If you are doing a good thing, why the need to soften the language? Just an observation.

I caution people to be careful siting polling data as the moral compass on what is good vs bad. The public has been on the wrong ends of many issues in the history of this country, chief among them slavery. Sometimes a thing is wrong no matter what the polling tells you. Are the three things I mentioned right or wrong?

I’ll let you decide for yourself. My point is, don’t base your morality on a Quinnipiac poll.

I mentioned secularism earlier and I do see that thread running through much of this. In the spring of 2021, I don’t believe you are allowed to make a moral argument anymore without being shouted down from the stage. If you strip away the “but it’s going to generate lots of money and everyone else is doing it anyway” arguments, are we allowed to just honestly ask, is this a good thing?

On its base, at its very core, is this law we are about to pass a good thing for people?

Someone wiser than me, once said, politics is the art of compromise. I fear that train has left the station. As we become more polarized, we are seeing both parties ram through legislation without a single vote from the other side. Worse, people have stopped listening to any argument that doesn’t’ line up with theirs. Life in the echo chamber. Now, just this morning, I turn on the news and see a bill to expand the Supreme Court. Why? In poly-speak, “They cheated by holding up our nominee, so we’ll cheat right back by packing the court.”

It Rip Van Winkle were alive; I fear he’d spend ten minutes on Twitter and go right back to sleep.