Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."
“Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” (Emerson)
What exactly is a hobgoblin? In Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the mischievous sprite Puck, who creates havoc in the forest, is a hobgoblin. Dobby, the interfering house elf in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, is also a hobgoblin.
Hobgoblins create problems.
In this season of jack-o’-lanterns and witches, Halloween parties and trick or treating, there are truly frightening things adrift in our national political scene. And one of the most frightening could be summed up as the “fear of change,” the impetus behind many of the most extreme positions.
In modern politics, a hobgoblin is the citizen who will not look at the facts, as well as the politician who projects sensational rhetoric, courts division, does not speak truthfully, nor consider change. Checking facts, bearing in mind others’ informed opinions, talking to experts, and weighing new evidence is the essence of intelligent governing.
Some say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. There is nothing wrong with changing one’s mind, or one’s position, to change the outcome. That is how we apply what we have learned, how we grow. If we did not change, we would still be children; if we do not change in our adult lives, we cannot make rational decisions.
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Much criticism has been heaped upon those changing their minds on issues in the political arena. But when new information is presented, be it on fracking or climate change or foreign influence, it must be considered.
Rumors or unsubstantiated claims are only distractions from the true work of change and progress. How’s this for a harrowing Halloween tale: cat consumption by immigrants? At best, an urban myth, prejudicial and damaging. At worst, a blatant lie, motivated by clumsy political grasping.
Our society has changed, and will continue to: racially, economically, in every way. We are a diverse nation and growing more so each year. Time does not run backwards and the world moves quickly. We want leaders who keep up or, even better, lead.
Watch a movie made just 20 years ago. Staying with the Halloween theme, try “Shaun of the Dead” from 2004. The means of communicating, the styles, the rhetoric, all have radically changed since. DVDs, Motorola’s Razr phone, Bratz dolls and the ubiquitous “Livestrong” bracelets now have the flavor of antiques. At the accelerating rate of change, 2044 will seem eons past our 2024. Nostalgia is one thing, but we cannot cling to old slogans any more than to our old flip phones.
Of course, there are some things which should not change: the very foundations of a happy individual and a thriving society. Good moral character, honesty, hard work, kindness, a genuine interest in others’ welfare, etc., are never outdated, always in vogue and always essential to making a person, or a country, great.
So, what do we want for ourselves, for our children, for our country, for our world? Certainly not to remain stagnant. And absolutely not to plummet backwards.
It is never enough to be against something; real change means solutions and solutions usually initiate more change. This is no time to coddle misconceived notions about the “way” America is “supposed” to be. On to the future.
Every voter in the United States will have the opportunity to weigh in on Nov. 5. That date is is also Guy Fawkes Night in England, when an effigy of Fawkes is burned in towns and villages throughout the country. Guy Fawkes was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed attempt to blow up the House of Parliament in London.
Certainly no one would ever attempt to destroy our Capitol in Washington, D.C.?
Again, Emerson: “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”
Don’t let the hobgoblins in. Vote with your integrity in mind.
