Which is more significant:
a penny or a dollar?
a penny or 10 dollars?
a penny or 1 million dollars?
a penny or a large invesment portfolio diversified into energy stocks, foreign currencies, hedge funds, and real estate trusts, managed by four different investment houses, and overseen by a personal attorney in New York and an accountant in Houston?
Whoa, you lost me there. Let's talk about that penny.
We all have our limitations. As a thing gets larger and more complex, at some point, it surpasses my ability to deal with it. My mind has to be able to expand to encompass the thing. My mind might not be big enough to comprehend an investment portfolio. But it can handle a penny or a dollar.
Further more, it is hard work to expand one's mind. Given a choice, we'd rather not.
Our rulers have learned that. They create symbols. Small symbols. Small, easily understood , compelling symbols that we can all grapple with. Distractions. They take our minds off the complex stuff. The flag. Terry Shiavo. Homosexuality. Abortion. Jesus. God. Christmas. Osama bin Laden. Sadam Hussein.
What's the matter with Kansas? Why do people vote for harmful things? Small-mindedness. We focus on the small things. And miss the big things.
George Carlin said of yellow ribbons: they're symbols, and I leave symbols to the symbol-minded.
Eddie Izzard says: A murderer we put in jail. A serial killer we put in prison. But someone like Stalin who can kill millions upon millions becomes a hero. It's just too big and overwhelming.
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