Sub Terra Vita Chronicle #44: Questing for Normalcy: Allowing What Type of Change? How?

Sub Terra Vita

By Tim Krenz

April 17, 2016

Chronicle #44: Questing for Normalcy: Allowing What Type of Change? How?

Part 2. Based on the installment of “Sub Terra Vita,” “Part I: Allowing Change to Happen,” (The Sun, April 6, 2016), we can “examine how the changes through technology might come, and how people can evaluate it. . . .”

We must accept everything in our lives, even some beliefs, as temporary. Change has a constant equilibrium, however, between things that change fast—such as personal aging, economic cycles, modern technology, and cultural fads; and those things which change slowly—bureaucracies, the nature and type of work, physical geography, and the mind's capacity to apply knowledge to future opportunities. Even the form and shape of the St. Croix River, for example, has changed in its course through geological time. The river, like all natural things through erosion and entropy (look up the word: entropy), changes through the movable course of time. And regarding political, economic, social and cultural institutions, they all move at the same velocity of constant time, but always evolving forward. Science calls that process inertia. (Look up the word: Inertia).

When things change by forces of personality or willpower, history terms it a revolution. When that changes people's perceptions, philosophers call it a shift in paradigms (i.e. “worldview”). On the other hand, people can moderate and guide change. If peacefully done, leaders call it reform. When violently done, everyone will know it as war.

Considering all the above, how can the greater St. Croix Valley moderate and guide change here, in order to preserve the semblance of the normalcy of living, and at the same time enhance the quality of life as much as possible.

First, take it personally. Absorb the factors involved. Weigh them. Lead by the example. And as Ghandi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Second, the nature of work and economics, already moving, has to grow and mature to accommodate equity and balance. Work and economics though, both depend on the principle of risk and reward, the laws of supply and demand, the nature of diminishing returns, and the willingness to invest now for a return far later. Economics requires a policy of foresight and planning. Without those two attributes, it fails to help for the common benefit of all just as much as it fails for the individual.

Third, keep the connections between people based on real interaction. The DEVICE facilitates communication and mutual understanding. It can not replace the hard reality of living, nor should it create a phony relationship far away at the expense of nurturing ones nearby. Fourth, education determines destiny. Keep educating yourself, in any way. The nature and opportunities for education have changed and opened with the advance of technology. Yet, keep the process practical and the goal useful, not esoteric and frivolous. And whatever studied, help yourself and do the greatest good with it. All can benefit—a family and a community, if an individual succeeds.

Finally, nothing will ever come free. Materially speaking, to expect to get something so-called “free” means no less than someone else paying for it, often unjustly. Ethically, if people in the Valley and the community of Osceola want to see the types of change that will bring the area into its future, it has to pay for it, but the Valley WILL OWN IT, and no others. Like all choices in life, change involves a cost. But wisely planning it with foresight and resources, the benefits of investment accrue. (See Part 3 to follow in a future installment of “Sub Terra Vita”).