I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow. —  Woodrow Wilson

I know Ben Franklin said to be neither a lender or a borrower but simply speaking he was just plain wrong about that when you put it in context to the Woodrow Wilson quote above.  When you borrow wisdom from others it is definitely not a bad thing.  That’s called pragmatism and in my mind that is definitely a good thing.  But this is an area that we Americans have a LOT to learn. We just can’t seem to learn from other’s wisdom or experiences. Particularly those beyond our shores.

The rest of the world has pretty much figured out how to contain their healthcare costs but we in the United States stubbornly refuse to learn from them. Instead we blame our bloated healthcare costs on Medicare and those seniors who are gobbling up our health dollars.

Another area where we find it impossible to use the brains of others to solve are problems is in the area of gun violence. We have certainly seen way too much of that in the recent past.  We let the NRA nitpick their way through this process instead of learning how other countries have tackled and mostly solved their problems with guns.  Australia is a prime example. They to even a greater degree than us are a nation of hunters but when they had their taste of mass killings in 1996 they tackled gun safety head on.  They instituted some of the most strict gun regulations in the world and as a result have had no mass killing since then. When will we ever learn to use all the brains we have and also all that we can borrow. We would be a much stronger, safer, and secure country if we could just learn this simple lesson.

The Silver Bullet…

Another similar topic that is stuck in my craw lately it the idea that all our problems must be solved by one single solution, commonly known as a silver bullet.  When was the last time that actually occurred? Problems with multiple facets are solved with multiple solutions. Plain and simple.  Those yahoos in Washington need to get that message.  We can’t solve the current money problems by putting it all on the back of our old people via Medicare issues. We can’t solve everything by an additional tax on the rich (although I wish we could 🙂 ). We especially can’t solve all our problems on the backs of the poor.

I’m just a simple guy but I can even see this. When will those “washingtonians” get it through their thick heads that  our problems require a bunch of small things and there is just no silver bullet out there that will do it all and especially without some personal pain.