Years ago, I wrote a piece titled “A Blind Eye.” The title referenced humanity’s ability to turn a blind eye to the signs of something larger than themselves. Depending on your belief system, something larger than humans might refer to the god of the Bible, a higher power, mother earth, or a state of consciousness beyond what most of us can imagine.

Whatever belief system one has, or doesn’t have, has little to do with closed minds, closed hearts, and the blind eyes that support them. For example, consider the title of this post. It is clear two of those things have something in common, but politics? What in the world does politics have to do with gardening and wildflowers? Hopefully, I can shed a bit of light on the idea.

The Bluebonnet happens to be the state flower of Texas. The fact it is the state flower points to a problem of sorts with politics. Often, the people in charge, politicians especially, only see one aspect of a situation. The Bluebonnet is a pretty and plentiful flower for part of the year. The rest of the year, it is less than adorable. You see, the Bluebonnet is essentially a weed.

It can beautify a large area and become the site of many gorgeous and heartwarming photographs when it is blooming. Unfortunately, once the bloom is off the weed, its weediness comes into play. If it is not dealt with properly, it will become an eyesore, if not worse.

Now that I’ve denigrated a state flower, let’s think about flowers in general. The picture to the right is a “flower bed” that brings oohs and ahs from many folks in this neighborhood. The homeowners spend many hours taking care of the bed, even though they cannot see it from their house or yard.

To be fair, the residents spend a lot of time on their yard in general. It is, in some ways, a very attractive bit of residential property. In fact, from the street in front of the home, it looks like a small mansion. Unfortunately, if it were not for the flowers, the side street view would be a vine-covered fence hiding a driveway and storage area.

All right! Pretty weeds, a heavily planted strip of flower bed, and politics, where am I going? Here is my point. The government often talks about the big picture and the long-term benefits of its work.

In that way, it is a bit like the folks who spend hours, if not days, every year working on a flower bed that will look like the picture to the left, or worse, much of the time.

However, their efforts distract passersby for a time and outright hide the less attractive parts of their property. And, the neighbors and passersby overlook the dead, ugly months, waiting for the beauty they expect to return.

That is how government works. Politicians keep us looking at the shiny objects of new benefits, green energy, and what-not planned for the future. They hope that keeps us from noticing the crime, destruction, and chaos surrounding us. Sadly, for many, it seems to work.

© oneoldcop.com – 2022

Bluebonnets and flags courtesy of lorimalhiot from Pixabay