Thursday, March 18, 2010

Conceptualize: The Goose and The Gander

From My Perspective - - -

The English Language has many idioms. One of them is: “What’s good for the Goose is good for the Gander.” At the very least, it has a possible gender meaning- such as: What’s good for the Male (Gander) should be equally good for the Female (Goose). It is most often used as an explanation for retribution or retaliation – such as, when someone gets back at someone else, makes things even, the justification being if it was good for you to do it to me (or for someone to do it to someone else), it's good for me to do it to you (or for that someone else to do it back to that someone).

Another idiom is “Tit for Tat.” An explanation of “Tit for Tat” in Wikipedia is very interesting. “Tit for Tat is an English saying meaning ‘equivalent retaliation’. It is also a highly effective strategy in game theory for the iterated prisoner's dilemma. It was first introduced by Anatol Rapoport in Robert Axelrod's two tournaments, held around 1980. An agent using this strategy will initially cooperate, then respond in kind to an opponent's previous action. If the opponent previously was cooperative, the agent is cooperative. If not, the agent is not. This strategy is dependent on four conditions that has allowed it to become the most prevalent strategy for the prisoner's dilemma: (1) Unless provoked, the agent will always cooperate; (2) If provoked, the agent will retaliate; (3) The agent is quick to forgive; (4) The agent must have a good chance of competing against the opponent more than once. In the last condition, the definition of ‘good chance’ depends on the payoff matrix of the prisoner's dilemma. The important thing is that the competition continues long enough for repeated punishment and forgiveness to generate a long-term payoff higher than the possible loss from cooperating initially.”

With the above idiom explanations, there is an application to the current Health Care Proposals, Debate, and Pending Enactment. The idea is – if the Health Care Legislation is so good and necessary for the citizenry, why is it not good for the Congress of the United States, and the President, and Labor Unions? Why do they have a choice when the remainder of the citizenry is not afforded the same choice? Why is it that Presidential and Congressional determination is mandated upon the populace that is indicating they do not want this change and Health Care requirement? Why is it that those who will legislate and enact ignore the latest WSJ-NBC News poll regarding President Obama’s Health Care initiative where it is indicated and demonstrated that only 36 percent of all poll participants thought the plan was a good idea at this time? Why is it that they disregard Poll Participants who sent an unambiguous message to Congress - only 17 percent approved of the job lawmakers on Capitol Hill are currently doing, and 50 percent of all respondents said that, given the option, they would vote out every member of Congress, including their own representative? How did the nation arrive at such a blatant disconnect?

One other idiom (cliché) is: “Look Before You Leap.” The basic idea is to “think carefully about what you are about to do before you do it.” Most of us were reared with a constant reminder regarding The Golden Rule, namely, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This should be something deemed very serious and of great importance. After all, in The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminded his followers (Matthew 7:12) “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” An underlying moral mandate is given in Leviticus 19:18, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” The summary of Christian focus is given by Jesus Christ in Luke 10:25-28, “…an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher…what must I do to inherit eternal life? What is written in the Law? Jesus replied. How do you read it? He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. You have answered correctly, Jesus replied. Do this and you will live." No one can improve on that guideline, instruction and mandate. The Congress could argue that this justifies enactment of Universal Health Care. Well, then, why don’t they use it themselves before they mandate that everyone else must use it except them? Consider these things with me!

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