Posted by
peripheral on Thursday, March 18, 2010 6:39:54 AM
From My Perspective - - -
The English Language has many idioms. One of them is: “What’s good for
the Goose is good for the Gander.” At the very least, it has a possible
gender meaning- such as: What’s good for the Male (Gander) should be
equally good for the Female (Goose). It is most often used as an
explanation for retribution or retaliation – such as, when someone gets
back at someone else, makes things even, the justification being if it
was good for you to do it to me (or for someone to do it to someone
else), it's good for me to do it to you (or for that someone else to do
it back to that someone).
Another idiom is “Tit for Tat.” An explanation of “Tit for Tat” in
Wikipedia is very interesting. “Tit for Tat is an English saying
meaning ‘equivalent retaliation’. It is also a highly effective
strategy in game theory for the iterated prisoner's dilemma. It was
first introduced by Anatol Rapoport in Robert Axelrod's two
tournaments, held around 1980. An agent using this strategy will
initially cooperate, then respond in kind to an opponent's previous
action. If the opponent previously was cooperative, the agent is
cooperative. If not, the agent is not. This strategy is dependent on
four conditions that has allowed it to become the most prevalent
strategy for the prisoner's dilemma: (1) Unless provoked, the agent
will always cooperate; (2) If provoked, the agent will retaliate; (3)
The agent is quick to forgive; (4) The agent must have a good chance of
competing against the opponent more than once. In the last condition,
the definition of ‘good chance’ depends on the payoff matrix of the
prisoner's dilemma. The important thing is that the competition
continues long enough for repeated punishment and forgiveness to
generate a long-term payoff higher than the possible loss from
cooperating initially.”
With the above idiom explanations, there is an application to the
current Health Care Proposals, Debate, and Pending Enactment. The idea
is – if the Health Care Legislation is so good and necessary for the
citizenry, why is it not good for the Congress of the United States,
and the President, and Labor Unions? Why do they have a choice when the
remainder of the citizenry is not afforded the same choice? Why is it
that Presidential and Congressional determination is mandated upon the
populace that is indicating they do not want this change and Health
Care requirement? Why is it that those who will legislate and enact
ignore the latest WSJ-NBC News poll regarding President Obama’s Health
Care initiative where it is indicated and demonstrated that only 36
percent of all poll participants thought the plan was a good idea at
this time? Why is it that they disregard Poll Participants who sent an
unambiguous message to Congress - only 17 percent approved of the job
lawmakers on Capitol Hill are currently doing, and 50 percent of all
respondents said that, given the option, they would vote out every
member of Congress, including their own representative? How did the
nation arrive at such a blatant disconnect?
One other idiom (cliché) is: “Look Before You Leap.” The basic idea is
to “think carefully about what you are about to do before you do it.”
Most of us were reared with a constant reminder regarding The Golden
Rule, namely, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This
should be something deemed very serious and of great importance. After
all, in The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminded his followers (Matthew 7:12)
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for
this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” An underlying moral mandate is
given in Leviticus 19:18,
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but
love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” The summary of
Christian focus is given by Jesus Christ in Luke 10:25-28,
“…an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher…what must I do
to inherit eternal life? What is written in the Law? Jesus replied. How
do you read it? He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your
mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. You have answered correctly,
Jesus replied. Do this and you will live." No one can improve on that
guideline, instruction and mandate. The Congress could argue that this
justifies enactment of Universal Health Care. Well, then, why don’t
they use it themselves before they mandate that everyone else must use
it except them? Consider these things with me!