I
meant to take a camera to the polls and get a topical photo for today's
predictable subject. I forgot the camera, and really saw
nothing remarkable. I really didn't have much time to spend
there, anyhow. I
meant to take a camera to the polls and get a topical photo for today's
predictable subject. I forgot the camera, and really saw
nothing remarkable. I really didn't have much time to spend
there, anyhow.
This volcano was Picture of the day at Wikimedia Commons.
So what the heck does a volcano have to do with election day?
I don't know much about politics. I looked at the ballot today and was surprised at how many offices were up for for renewal. I feel a little guilty that I threw my vote away. Having not seen my property tax reduction, and instead getting tax increases in other areas, I obviously did not want to vote for many incumbents. The discarded vote comes from the fact that I could not instead fill in the oval for the closest competitor. So when the charts are printed, my votes will be off to the right hand side, in the smaller columns. The only vote I confidently cast was for the Senator who's office caused some helpful action after a call I placed yesterday.
So what the heck does this have to do with volcanoes? I think a reason that I don't have a good handle on politics is that the effects of politics happen so slowly. At least, in my mind they do. Whether I can afford to eat eat steak or Ramin noodles is more the result of my own actions than the economic policies of the last 14 presidential administrations. It is the next generation, and the ones after that who will noticeably suffer or enjoy the effects of government policy today.
The
volcano pictured is part of a slow process. The process
started almost 5 billion years ago, and is still occurring. The
volcano
will eventually result in the formation of rocks. The small
rock pictured here has a line dividing it into two different colors.
I don't know the technical name or reason for this.
It doesn't mean that it is the joining of two different types
of rock. It is all the same rock. I imagine that time,
pressure, and physical breakage produced it's present character.
I wonder what it will look like in another 5 billion years.
The longest lasting societies on earth were on the order of 3000 years. The USA at a little over 200 years is really just an infant. Today's vote may alter the shape of this society in a small way.
In the longer run, election results may shift as a result of haphazard votes like mine. A small drop in one column, a slight uptick in another. Over time, pressure from forces rising up from the will of the people will define the shape of future society.
Let me throw in one final thought (actually, it's about a 30 year old thought, I just never applied it to politics). The rate of technological advancement may throw out the window all these concepts of the slow inexorable change that I try to portray. With news from across the country and the world immediately available to everyone, we have this phenomenon where if a kid bumps his head on a playground in East Oshgosh, a week later, politicians everywhere are shouting for more regulation in the playground industry. We have an economy where milliseconds of latency in a transaction can affect whose pockets millions of dollars end up in.
Maybe I should have filled in that other oval.
