Short Term Thinking
As a recovering politician, I am sometimes asked if I miss being on Kent City Council. Most times I say 'absolutely not,' because, as you can imagine, it can be a pretty thankless job.
Not only does someone always disagree with your decisions, but it is difficult to get much of anything done. Regardless of tales to the contrary, no one runs for election — especially to an office in which you must try to convince many other people of the wisdom of your perspective — with the hope of making any big changes in our community. This is because, as a reflection of the general population, elected officials can be short term thinkers. Having to run for re-election can make some even more so.
Don’t get me wrong, there is much value in short term thinking, and indeed the need to make deliberative, even slow decisions. The public process requires that we take our time and not make major changes without thinking them through. The problem is that thinking long term is barely on the radar screen, and so strategic planning is often replaced with one year budgets with a little tinkering on the edges, and day to day decisions are often made without adequate thought to their long term consequences.
Once in awhile an issue comes up that points out the problem with short term thinking, and right now it's this issue of horizontal hydraulic fracturing for the production of natural gas. We see this new process being used with what appears to some to be reckless abandon with the promise of jobs, cheap gas, jobs, industrial production, and did I say jobs? We are told that we must exploit 200 million year old, or older, resources because they will give us 100 or more years of cheap energy. Never mind that their exploitation will likely result in severe damage to earth's sheltering greenhouse and threaten to contaminate our non-renewable store of fresh water. As if 100 years is a long time.
So how do we get city councils and state legislatures to think long term, especially in the face of the promise of jobs, and at the state and federal levels, campaign donations? It seems to me that we need to demonstrate what it means to think long term in our very own households. If we all reduced our energy consumption by 50 percent we would reduce our carbon footprints by the same, and learn how to replace our ancient fossil fuels with modern day solar source energy. We can demand that our governments create long term strategic plans that set goals to reduce our carbon footprint, reduce our energy use and generate energy by local renewable sources.
Yes, we need to stand up and pass a “bill of human rights” to ban fracking and protect our common wealth. And while we are at it, lets petition our leaders to become long term thinkers, and reward them for doing so.
Wilburforce
2:47 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
In a culture where we remove all natural vegetation from our lawns so we can put toxic chemicals on our grass promoting growth....so we can spend money on a riding lawn mower.
We don't have to pump polutants into the ground water......
Pat Ballasch
2:47 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
I agree about with your thoughts on short term thinking. My question would be," How do you get decision makers to see the advantages of long term, effective planning and efficient execution"? Those same people must be able to relay those benefits to their constituents. I guess we need to make sure our decision makers have that skill set and philosophy.
Peter Grossetti
7:51 am on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Pat - the decision makers DO the advantages ... they just choose to ignore them.
Great scene from the great 1976 movie "All the President's Men" ...
Bob Woodward: Hunt's come in from the cold. Supposedly he's got a lawyer with $25,000 in a brown paper bag.
Deep Throat: Follow the money.
Bob Woodward: What do you mean? Where?
Deep Throat: Oh, I can't tell you that.
Bob Woodward: But you could tell me that.
Deep Throat: No, I have to do this my way. You tell me what you know, and I'll confirm. I'll keep you in the right direction if I can, but that's all. Just... follow the money.
Elliott Ingersoll
2:47 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
I share your frustration with the epidemic of short-term thinking. In my work aim to reign in pharmaceutical companies and mental health professionals from mis-using tools like the DSM and psychotropic medications. I am reminded of the old slogan for the "United Negro College Fund" that read "a mind is a terrible thing to waste." Maybe we should amend this as "a mind undeveloped, reflexive and unreflective is simply a terrible thing."
I've learned from studying legal battles with "big tobacco" and now similar battles with pharmaceutical companies that nothing works quite so well as big-money lawsuits. Those eventually wore down the tobacco companies and helped many people take a strategic view of smoking. We are also seeing pharmaceutical companies being called on actions with long-term, damaging consequences like a recent decision fining the makers of "Seroquel" a billion dollars.
While environmentally sound behaviors at the household level make good sense, ultimately legal actions that hit offending companies in the wallet by highlighting the damage done by their practices may bring the long-term dangers into the public's awareness.
It is, as you point out, a hard sell though. Everyone deserves to be able to pursue earning a living and we will also need to create alternative types of work for people. If your family is hungry, you'll take what is available.
Teresa K.
2:47 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
re: " If we all reduced our energy consumption by 50 percent we would reduce our carbon footprints by the same".... us poor folks, which is the many of us, can NOT reduce anymore, elst we will cut our electric , our water, and heat off.
Small thinkers: yes, that would be those who are doing all the improvements in Kent and had houses on the list to bulldoze that might be of historic value. Small thinkers: that would be those who made up that squiggly intersection called Lake, Crain, and Water Street. That would be those trying to put up a courthouse and not really finding out all the facts. Small thinkers: want to put parking meters back in the downtown area.... not realizing people will simply go down the road a spell where there is free parking, better prices and selections. It scares me to think of what else isn't being thought of LONG TERM. I imagine it's the traffic flow once the construction sites all get built.
Matt Fredmonsky
3:55 pm on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
A comment was removed for violating Patch's terms of use. http://kent.patch.com/terms
keith a dewey
4:19 pm on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
I don’t know how to solve the long term decision making problem. But, I do know why we have short term decisions. Individual capacity level is an interaction of physiology and environment. As a society these levels do not fall into a neat bell shape curve. Rather they are distributed in a series of bell shape curves called multi-model distributions. There are about 7 models. One of the tests as to what model one occupies is how long a person can carry a task. The high end capacity person can carry tasks for 20+ years and lower capacity for only 10 minutes. Thirty years ago we started electing lower capacity law makers thus we are stuck with short term decisions. Elect a higher capacity level; we will get longer consequential decisions. But how, I don’t know?
John Roberts
9:23 pm on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Rick - There is a reason why you are a former politician. You got it handed to you because of your crazy beliefs. I would love to follow you around, visit your house, and see how you cut your energy use by 50%. Probably because you don't work and want to raise chickens all day.
louislinus
11:04 pm on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
John - I sure hope Rick works considering I just talked with him a few days ago about plans for my house.
Tim Torrence
12:44 am on Wednesday, April 18, 2012
This is what I read... Politicians are so worried about getting re-elected and appeasing voters that they fail to see the big picture. So far so good.
Bam, global warming. We're all going to die. And you lost me.
Do you know why every house in America doesn't have solar panels? They are expensive. You want to give me $20,000.00 I'll get my ladder.
Do you know why we don't have wind turbines in our backyards? They are expensive. You want to give me $35,000.00 I get my post hole digger.
These numbers are from the industries themselves. Industrial grade products are astronomically more expensive.
And then the kicker, oh the kicker. Reduce our carbon footprints by 50%. 50% he said. Did I mention he said 50%? Do you even have a plan to reduce your carbon footprint by 50%? What a ridiculous notion. Here I did some research for you. Follow the link and tell me if you think this will reduce a carbon footprint by 50%. http://www.citysquaremall.com.sg/ecocorner-reducecarbon.php
My favorite is No. 6, you don't have to do without air conditioning just tweak it.
You know why politicians cannot think long term? Because they are too busy playing the politics of fear game.
Jack Kelly
7:08 am on Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Couldn't agree more with your post. Your first and last sentences, particulary, are spot on!