An eye on the big picture

We are mowing through the firewood here at home; quite a few below zeros overnight might have something to do with that I reckon!

For my column this month I thought I would give you a couple of my favourite quotes. One is much more light-hearted than the other, so I'll do that one for you first. It still puts a smile on my face, so here's hoping it will do the same for you today! Here we go:

"Crocodiles are easy. They try to kill and eat you. People are harder. Sometimes they pretend to be your friend first." Crocodile Hunter, the late Steve Irwin.

Amusing for sure, but also a whole lot of truth is packed into those few words. My best guess would be that most of our readers will have had the opportunity to be up-close-and-personal with at least one such "friend". Hmmm... I think I'll leave it there!

I'll spend more time with this second one.

"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." Thomas Sowell.

"Wow, I would never do that", you say, "yep, for me, I make all my own decisions!"

Well, when I first bumped into that quote, I didn't think of me personally, I thought immediately of the world of politics. Don't we do exactly this, every three years?

If you have never heard this quote before, you won't have had any time yet to use your "imagine", offering up something more stupid or dangerous! For me, I have had the time to use my "imagine", and I did manage to come up with a couple of additions, or worthy extras I thought, to put in the mix here.

What about when those making decisions have serious personal financial 'conflicts of interest' in the decisions made? If it goes their way, they personally stand to make some serious coin.

Too often the truth is they really have no interest in getting it right for the rest of us.

They may play 'pretend they do’, and fool some folks, often with the media’s help of course! I would say entrusting them to make good decisions for the rest of us is both stupid and dangerous.

Or secondly, when those making the decisions not only ‘pay no price for being wrong’, but they also have zero experience in the areas they are making those decisions for. And when some clueless media lapdog who poses as being a journalist then refers to them as “experts”, all the folks with the real experience groan in utter disbelief. Stupidity on steroids, I would say!

Like I said above, politics is what came to my mind first with what this quote might refer to. And without a doubt, we in the rural sector – all the wonderful men, women and families that keep our primary industries humming along – have had to swallow way more than our share of this stupid and dangerous stuff!

Actually, I don’t think the possibility of being wrong even gets a thought; as long as the ideology is being shoved forward, all is well!

Having an effective faith helps me, and many others I know too, live above this stuff. Yep, there is always a bigger picture.

And the One we acknowledge is certainly no novice, He lived, walked, and worked among us. Stay warm and keep well. God bless.

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