Reality check: It's all about flash, not about what it will really take

There is a new trend in America and it is causing concern in just about every aspect of our world.

Call it equivocation or, in layman's terms, moving the goalposts or throwing up a smokescreen.

It is an understandable temptation. Looking at what the issues really are -- and divining ways to begin to solve them -- isn't easy.

It takes an honest lens and the courage to say what is real, not what is popular.

And you can imagine how many public officials and bureaucrats -- and in some cases everyday leaders -- want to encourage that practice.

So we talk about gun control. Come up with a solution that only addresses a superficial part of the concern and call it solved, when, in reality, we all know it is not -- because it is the behavior, not the gun, that prompts horror stories like Newtown.

And we do the same thing in education, too.

We create complicated measurement systems designed to gauge progress -- and threaten teachers with their jobs if those standards are not met.

Then, later, we shift those goals when, faced with the realities of a real classroom and the true obstacles to student achievement, we find out those standards are nothing but bureaucratic attempts to do "something" rather than the right thing.

We talk about welfare, poverty and what it takes to get people off this hamster wheel. Then, we throw money at the problem, which only creates more fraud, more dependency and more hopelessness, and more predators who can run campaigns on keeping that unhealthy status quo while flying the "discrimination" banner. As a result, we let them set the agenda, call us uncaring bigots and we don't talk about things like personal responsibility and better choices or how much environment and parenting matter.

And while we are ignoring the real causes of those social ills and inequities, generations of children suffer, and we have less and less money for people who really need us.

We know that it will take more than just more programs to fix what ails us, but marching and throwing blame is easier.

We watch our children become more and more used to violence, sexual activity and every other ill known to man, and we ignore the coarsening of society because talking about rights, the modern world and progress are easier than setting standards that are timeless.

And we let pundits throw daggers at faith, while calling for free expression and tolerance for every other viewpoint or philosophy.

It is hard to look at -- this new order we have created as a nation.

And it is even harder to believe it has come to pass in so short a time.

But the question now is what's next?

Change will come when people are not afraid to say what they think anymore, when they no longer shift their views based on what the trends say and when they stop moving those goalposts and standards in the name of "progress."

And it will succeed when we are not afraid to stand up and talk truth -- and to start solving problems by saying the hard stuff that no one really wants to hear.

Change takes courage.

Hope requires a champion.

Let's hope there are enough voices left to make both a possibility.

Published in Editorials on May 4, 2013 11:32 PM