I want to be clear about the motivation fueling my rants against our current president, specifically during the Katrina fiasco. I was driven by what I saw as Bush’s indifference or insensitivity, not his incompetence. His incompetence doesn’t offend me.
I expect incompetence. From everybody. When we suffer from the horrors of incompetence it’s usually due to our misplaced faith in our abilities. We err in our belief humankind is anything but inept.
Most of us fail to spellcheck our e-mails. We say the wrong thing to a spouse. We drive to grandma’s house and make a wrong turn.
So, no, I don’t see how it’s reasonable to assume all the levees will hold, supplies will get to where they’re needed, rescue efforts will save everyone. The best-intentioned, hardest working, sharpest-witted people will still make dumb decisions. Relief efforts will go badly. Children will remain trapped under buildings. The elderly will get abandoned.
(This is not to suggest we throw up our hands and get back to ordering kitchen appliances that match the decor; I’m pointing out that when bad things happen, bad things happen.)
Things never go as planned. Plans never plan for everything. The unexpected always lurks. The best ideas often end up being the worst.
Googling “history of human incompetence” brought me to the SDS’s Port Huron statement, which states “We oppose…the doctrine of human incompetence…” I thought, oh what a silly revolution.
I’m not saying let’s exalt the doctrine of human incompetence. I’m saying let’s acknowledged it, let’s accommodate it in the blueprints, let’s make it a serious consideration. I’m saying in our all our endeavors let us remember we are, at base, a bunch of dingbats.
Then maybe one more dam holds, one less town gets left stranded.
Perhaps we’d only march to war, as opposed to diving into it.
Surely our earthly condition can improve. I just don’t see us making serious headway until our every deliberation begins with the recognition that the human race is a cortege of boobs.
Posted by Bobby Farouk at October 19, 2005 11:14 AM