{"id":1314248,"date":"2019-09-03T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T02:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/whiting-column-consider-the-possibility-of-permanence\/"},"modified":"2019-09-03T20:28:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T02:28:00","slug":"whiting-column-consider-the-possibility-of-permanence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/whiting-column-consider-the-possibility-of-permanence\/","title":{"rendered":"Whiting column: Consider the possibility of permanence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The phrase \u201cpossibility of permanence\u201d is interesting and bears consideration.<\/p>\n

Whether it be decision-making, potential actions or possible solutions, we often don\u2019t realize the possibility of permanence carries with it significant ramifications and consequences.<\/p>\n

The nature of our actions with this possibility increases as we age. When parents changed our diapers, they probably felt the odor possessed this possibility. The social disasters and other negative interactions of middle school may have seemed all-encompassing, but time proved they weren\u2019t permanent.<\/p>\n

As we grew older, classroom efforts proved more significant. Ignorance has the possibility of permanence. I\u2019m reminded of the high school senior in Washington on the Social Studies trip. During the White House tour, the President\u2019s wife walked by and stopped. The student asked, \u201dAre you the First Lady? \u201cYes I am,\u201d she replied. \u201cWow, what was it like to see dinosaurs?\u201d<\/p>\n

Careers generated another step up the possibility of permanence ladder. Without skills, demonstrated work ethic and ability to win an interview, we learned unemployment might be permanent. At the very least, we would start several rungs down the ladder from what we envisioned.<\/p>\n

Complementary careers became a consideration. The ski and bike shop; fishing guide and ski patrol; veterinarian and taxidermist. The customer got their dog back either way.<\/p>\n

Education and work experience can\u2019t be taken from us. It\u2019s permanent. We have to make sure it\u2019s good and meets our needs.<\/p>\n

Dating has a logical progression. The first date is similar to a baseball at bat. It might result in a base on balls, strike out or hit, but nothing catastrophic. Dates #2, 3 and more, begin to possess a possibility of permanence.<\/p>\n

Consequences become an issue, especially if intimacy enters the picture. Emotional, let alone physical, intimacy creates a higher level of responsibility and the possibility of permanence; desired or not.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the purpose of the dating process. We are letting time test the waters, determine compatibility, assess values as we experience their heart beyond the initial attraction. It helps us make the right decision as we consider the possibility of permanence.<\/p>\n

Elections possess the possibility of permanence. It\u2019s difficult to defeat an incumbent and some hold office for decades. It might be desirable to change the process to provide a \u201cdating\u201d period; to facilitate determining a politician\u2019s true nature.<\/p>\n

Too often, the candidate says one thing to get elected and does another in office. They express concern about us in the short term, but change to their or their party\u2019s agenda. As in dating, we could call off the \u201cengagement\u201d after six months or a year; before becoming permanent. We can only hope.<\/p>\n

Similarly, we need to consider the need to adopt more and more laws each year. Legislation possesses the possibility of permanence, since it\u2019s easier to pass legislation than repeal it, regardless of its effectiveness. In 2018 Congress passed 441 new laws; Colorado introduced 700 bills. It\u2019s unlikely our country changed enough in one year to warrant such.<\/p>\n

A legislator\u2019s effectiveness should not be measured by the number of bills introduced or executive actions taken. Rather, whether they emphasize their constituency or their ego.<\/p>\n

We needn\u2019t worry about the possibility of permanence when it comes to party politics. Both change their opinions as it suits their needs. JFK asked \u201cwhat we can do for our country,\u201d Bernie Sanders asks, \u201cwhat can the country give you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both parties supported and condemned the Vietnam war, depending who was president. One can find numerous Democratic and Republican flip flops on any issue, whether it be taxation, immigration, national defense or others.<\/p>\n

Of course, permanence isn\u2019t all bad. I recently attended my fraternity 50 year reunion. I asked one of my \u201cbrothers\u201d if he was married. \u201cYes, 40 years\u201d he replied, \u201c10 years each time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Permanence can be a valued achievement or a source of confusion. Two 10-year-old boys were at a wedding. \u201cHow many wives can you have?\u201d asked one. \u201c16\u201d responded the other, \u201cfour better ones, four worse ones, four rich ones, four poor ones, and you can\u2019t ask if they\u2019re sick or healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The arrival of the internet and social media reinforces the need to understand the possibility of permanence. Once on the internet, it\u2019s there forever; like it or not. The impact on college admission, career employment and relationships is significant.<\/p>\n

As life progresses, we learn to think about others in regard to our words and actions, because their effects have a possibility of permanence. We can take a piece of paper and crumple it up any way we want. We can spread it out, flatten it, trying to return it to its original shape, but the lines and creases will still be there. They won\u2019t go away.<\/p>\n

Sometimes we need to step back, take a breath and think before we act. We don\u2019t want to do something permanently stupid, because we are temporarily upset now.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the possibility of permanence should encourage us to act now. We shouldn\u2019t wait to say something to someone we care about, take steps toward a goal or move on an issue of importance because our presence, in this world at least, isn\u2019t permanent. We may not have control of the time when overt action isn\u2019t an option.<\/p>\n

It is ours and our country\u2019s personal responsibility to consider the possibility of permanence as we make choices and take action.<\/p>\n

Bryan Whiting feels most of our issues are best solved by personal responsibility and an understanding of non-partisan economics rather than by government intervention. Comments and column suggestions to: bwpersonalresponsibility@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The phrase \u201cpossibility of permanence\u201d is interesting and bears consideration. Whether it be decision-making, potential actions or possible solutions, we often don\u2019t realize the possibility of permanence carries with it significant ramifications and consequences. The nature of our actions with this possibility increases as we age. When parents changed our diapers, they probably felt the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 22:23:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314248\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}