Chris Jepson: Let's pursue what works

"Failure is not mere failure. It is instructive." – John Dewey

I recently listened to a 1988 interview of Joseph Heller (of Catch-22 fame) conducted by Bill Moyers. Both men I respect. In it Heller made the observation that the bright men of the 18th century (Hamilton, Jefferson, Carlyle, etc.), “assumed that in an industrial society the captains of industry would and should be the political leaders. They assumed they would be men of intelligence, men of integrity, men of vision and men who having achieved wealth would no longer have the accumulation of wealth as their goal and would be interested in the public good. That has not happened as we know.”

Conservative columnist for the New York Times David Brooks, wrote in his July 14 column that, “Personally I find this faith [in government programs] epistemologically naïve. Clinton [presidential candidate Hillary Clinton] seems to have no awareness that many of the programs she endorsed have been tried and did not work.”

Brooks sums up for me all that is wrong with the conservative approach to societal problems. Because social initiative “X” failed to achieve its stated objective (poverty reduction, low income housing ownership, welfare savings, etc.), all subsequent efforts (at addressing America’s challenges) are fruitless and in vain.

I now tip my hat to an iconic American intellectual, the pragmatist John Dewey. He and others (Pierce, James and the recently deceased Richard Rorty) developed an approach to life and living that suggested we set aside the pursuit of truth and instead pursue what works. “Failure is not mere failure. It is instructive,” observed John Dewey. Do we, can we not learn from our mistakes?

That the New Deal or the War on Poverty or The Great Society did not achieve all or most of its objectives is no justification for not trying again and again and again to help those Americans on bended knee (metaphorically speaking).

This is my major gripe with the Republican Party. Where are the men and women who Jefferson and Hamilton thought would be America’s leaders? I know they exist. I’ve observed and worked with them over the years. Many are bright, energetic and thoughtful. They need to forcefully insist that our government (at every level) serve “all” our interests. Fundamentally, they need to serve, period.

If incomes for “average” Americans have been stagnant for over 30 years, if our middle class is shrinking, if our infrastructure is deteriorating, if appropriate heath care is to be only for those who can afford it, if war is America’s primary foreign policy response, surely there must be reflective, caring Republicans who have ideas, notions and beliefs on how to address America’s many challenges. When did doing nothing become our nation’s motto?

So what, some fool liberal came up with an idea years ago to address poverty or inequality in America and “it” failed. So what the results did not materialize as planned or “promised.” Take what we did learn and try again. It has been observed that the states are the “incubators” of innovation in America. Right now, for example, Kansas is in throes of a major social experiment. Will drastically cutting taxes and significantly reducing the size of state government lift everyone’s boat there? We’ll see. I applaud the effort. I do.

To Republicans, those with brains and gumption, what are your ideas for raising the boat for all Americans? Seriously, failure is OK. Not trying ain’t.