“I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone, Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
When I think about enduring, I think about Roman structures, their concrete that remains in relatively great condition thousands of years later, even when they’ve been regularly used. For a very long time, the secret to their longevity was unknown; however, with modern science, we’ve managed to recreate it. Concrete used water to heal itself, in a sense repairing itself.
I think our goal as a nation should to do much the same, build a powerful lasting legacy. We need to build for the future, not just the now. This can be a very daunting task, but we already have a foundation, we just have to work on letting it repair itself.
There are a few way we can work on this. Firstly, and this should a high priority, they should follow and support the constitution. And yes, I know that a lot of politicians claim to, but their word is about as trustworthy as a viper snake. Yes, even your favorite one. However, actions speak a bit truer. Look at what they do, not what they say. Many honey their words while delivering dung. And I mean really look, there might be things you like that they’re doing that are still unconstitutional. It cannot be okay for one side to break it and the other not to, otherwise the Constitution cannot stand.
Another process to build a lasting legacy that doesn’t burn apart like Ozymandias’ kingdom is to plan long term. Very often politicians offer quick solutions to problems that damage things long term. That isn’t sustainable. As the saying goes, haste makes waste. When we don’t plan for the future, we’re planning to shoot ourselves in the foot.
Lastly, beware of demagogues. A demagogue uses prejudice to gain popularity. If our elected leaders are gaining their rise because their goal is to beat someone else, to stop them, or to be against someone, they won’t build a lasting effect worth having. A case and point for this, Franklin D. Roosevelt was President during World War Two. He ordered over 120 thousand American Citizens to be put into incarceration in camps. Sure they weren’t anywhere near as horrible as the camps Russia or Hitler used, but to be comparing anything we as a country willingly did to our own fellow citizens to them is already morally dubious.
To put the writing in stone, all of these decisions have had a history of being very popular, liked, and some celebrated. Even some of the worst ones were willingly enforced, even if not the most popular. And no political party has been free of this. Not a single one. So if you believe yours is perfect, or very close to it, I invite you to take serious reflection.
Concrete cannot allow itself to be repaired if it refuses to acknowledge the cracks, and when that happens is the cracks build, and the stone crumbles. I’m not asking to ensure that your politicians are perfect, or even always the best. They’re politicians—often we have to settle for ‘somewhat alright’ as the best option. But when they stray, hold them accountable. When we let anyone go above the law, we’re inviting disaster. But if we do, there is hope yet.
