The Twilight of Competence

If we follow the advice of Napoleon Bonaparte, “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence”; and if we can accept the contention of the administration that the recent flurry of scandals reflect a failure to competently administrate rather than intentional misdeeds, then we must draw the conclusion that we have elected and hired public servants who cannot do their jobs.

We have all experienced the frustration of dealing with incompetence. Used to be it mostly involved being shorted your french fries at the drive-through, or the paper boy throwing your paper in the bushes. Exasperating, but perhaps understandable… these are low paying positions, usually done by young people who haven’t yet had the opportunity to develop good work habits. More than ever though, we are seeing appalling incompetence at higher level positions. Any job at first can be a little tough to learn, but forty hours a week, week after week, you wouldn’t think it would take too long to become proficient at almost anything. Yet continually we run into people who seem unable or unwilling to perform the job that are employed to do. Why?

Consider the possibility that more and more we are a nation that rewards incompetency. Fairness was once defined as “you get what you deserve”, but now it’s closer to “every one deserves an equal reward”. Unions for years have shunned the idea of merit based pay; our kids are given “awards” regardless of their performance; and the successful are automatically cast as villains. Our tax-code is so progressive as to discourage working overtime or striving for promotion; beyond the safety net, government freebies and handouts have increasingly made gaming the system a career choice for many; and our public schools seem more concerned with parenting our children than teaching them the skills they will need to compete in the marketplace.

The result permeates the work force. Cashiers who can’t make change, builders who can’t build, teachers who can’t teach. We have journalists with no curiosity and little concern for accuracy. We nominate candidates that are too incompetent to win against other candidates too incompetent to govern.

Now we have department heads, an Attorney General, a President, and a former Secretary of State, arguably the front runner for being our next President… all with proven track records of gross incompetence, and that is being kind. We are paying people a lot of money to make a mess of things… we could get that for free!

IMHO: When incompetence permeates any organization, the fix needs to start at the top. A losing sports team replaces the coach; a failing corporation replaces the CEO; and political parties that suffer resounding defeat replace their leadership. If we are going to escape the encroaching incompetence that darkens our future as a nation, then we need first to make substantial changes at the very top. It is from the top that a nation’s direction is set. From the top that values are reinforced or dismissed with. From the top that incompetence is either tolerated or stood against. It is the Constitutionally defined supreme authority of United States who in the end is ultimately responsible for this twilight of competence. The buck stops here. Where? …WE THE PEOPLE, that’s where. We are in charge here. We own this country. We elect the representatives. We decide who we fire and who we reelect. We decide what we tolerate and what we do not. We the voters, we the people, we are the ultimate source of incompetence… we are not doing our job.

It is a difficult task we have. We are both at the top and the bottom of the pecking order. Incompetence filters down, and if we don’t do our job at the top, as a group we will harvest that incompetence at the bottom, making it that much more difficult to be competent on election day. Like all things, political systems left to themselves will tend to decay more than evolve. It requires the input of fresh energy, renewed effort, education, debate, and participation to continue that progress toward a more perfect union. Each generation is charged with keeping the Republic for the next one. There may be a day when our great nation falls to decay, but oh, let it not be on our watch! Challenges are greater than ever, but so are the tools at our disposal. As our forefathers, against all odds, stood with courage against the giants of bondage and tyranny, we must now stand against ignorance and incompetence. Always it is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness, and we can light millions.