“If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always gotten.”
Jessie Potter
That was the advice of Jessie Potter, an educator and counselor on family relationships and human sexuality. The context of his quote was about sex and love. He was asserting that change is needed in the American way of growing up, falling in love, raising a family, and growing old.
Similar statements have been attributed to a number of people, from Henry Ford to Tony Robbins and even to Albert Einstein, who also expressed a similar sentiment when he said:
“The world as we have created it is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
Albert Einstein is also broadly credited with saying that:
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”
And Russian author Leo Tolstoy said:
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
All four of these quotes are about change. Changing the way you think, the way you act, and what you do. Because change is progress and failure to change is stagnation.
I promised myself I wasn’t going to go political in this post, but oh well. Conservatives generally don’t like change. They prefer to keep things the way they are — or the way they were, you know, like they used to be (“Make America Great Again”).
They don’t particularly like societal changes. They don’t embrace changing demographics. They deny climate change. They want the U.S. Constitution to be interpreted just as it was written around 230 years ago, as if time has stood still since 1787.
But change is as inevitable as the sunrise and the tides. And remember, if we fail to change, we stagnate.
Written for Linda G. Hill’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt.
This, That, and the Other 
I fully believe change is good for everyone.
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Me, too. And I’m on old fart who is set in his ways.
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All really thought-provoking statements!
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Thanks. I thought so, too.
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The main thing people needed to do was start becoming honest about themselves (where they weren’t), and respect others. Apparently still needed in certain places.
Alright, I wasn’t going to bring this up, but to get very specific — not in terms of exclusivity — I was driving home this morning and saw a sign about becoming a member…
… as I heard on the radio [again, after hearing yesterday] about the most recent exposure of abusive priests. What is worth the stained glass windows? What is authority?
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Speaking of Time, which watch piece do you wear and prefer Sensei? Looking for a watch, stuck between Casio and Seiko.
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I wear an Apple Watch that is synced up with my iPhone.
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What did you wear before?
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Movado. Never had a Casio, but did have a Seiko, which was a good watch.
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That’s expensive. Probably I’ll go with Casio seeing it still has stopwatch and word time feature.
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All that said, I believe it’s a human trait to resist change, even if it’s beneficial. Changing is a lot of work and it’s uncomfortable. Just look at the process leading up to a wedding.
I think it’s unfair to say “conservatives generally don’t like change.” I’m pretty sure dislike of change is apolitical.
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I too think that’s a mixed bag, James. I’ve thought over a number of examples. I don’t know about going into a lot of illustrations, but I’ll give one. I have a cousin (as close to a sister as I have) who is lesbian. And she is liberal… mostly, but I’ve noticed she’s also conservative in what I have come to see as what is one of the biggest markers if not the biggest markers of being “conservative” in our culture. So, she’s a little more libertarian (this fits well into a conservative milieu). Money (or power) is what earns you freedom or rights, even life. And this is what both Democrats and Republicans have been working on behalf of (to different degrees) for decades (or more). In her case, I think this is a bit subconscious because her dad was abusive (and then financially neglectful after her parents’ divorce). So she learned largely to survive. (Her wife is more conscious of these dynamics.) My cousin also really likes to do things out of habit, even most moves each day. Habit, habit. This one she evaluates frequently and tries to break out of to some extent as a prescription (not that the tendency hurts her).
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Like I said above, I think resistance to change is apolitical. It’s human to resist change once we reach a state of equilibrium in our lives. I have a Masters degree in Counseling and being a therapist is all about helping people change. They’re always resistant, even when change is beneficial, such as quitting alcohol or drugs, or overcoming a pathological fear. Usually, a person has to temporarily go into a crisis in order to overcome internal inertia, and then be able to direct the change to a more positive position (yes, even getting married in some sense qualifies as a “crisis,” in that a person is introduced to a very different living situation and then has to adapt (and when they don’t, that sometimes leads to divorce).
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Her wife is an excellent counselor. Great family member, too.
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Isn’t the definition of “progressive” making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities and favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are, especially in political matters? While the definition of “conservative” is holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion.
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Those labels don’t necessarily reflect the ideals of those people tagged with said labels. I consider myself a conservative in the sense of being a conservationist, that is, protecting finite resources. While progressives like to believe they are ever driving forward toward positive and beneficial change, that path travels along a very predictable trajectory and does not seem to deviate from it. It can be just as absolutist and inflexible as those values held by conservatives. And as I hope we have both learned, we are more than the sum of our labels. We’re human beings, not stereotypes, so we can tolerate and even pursue change on some levels, and shy away from it on others. It’s not as simple as the “brand” someone sticks on us.
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If you’re a conservationist, you must be pretty upset that Trump just killed a rule restricting coal companies from dumping waste in streams after the Republicans/conservatives in Congress (House and Senate) voted to repeal the so-called “stream protection rule” — using a regulation-killing tool known as the Congressional Review Act. I would suggest that most conservatives are anything but conservationists. Just look how many rules designed to protect our natural resources, from water, air, park lands, to endangered species, have been rolled back by Trump, the EPA, the Dept of the Interior, his “conservative” cabinet, and the conservative Congress. Doesn’t that piss you off?
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Don’t we kinda put labels on ourselves, though? Sometimes, anyway?
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All the time, I’m afraid. But then again, others choose to interpret what those labels are suppose to mean. That’s called stereotyping, and no one group is invulnerable to that human tendency.
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That actually reminds me… a few people recently have said they are conservative about money or finances or economically conservative or something like that — but socially liberal. It has occurred to me that they think it is clear enough to the hearer to say such words. This has happened live, at lunch with a new acquaintance, and online. It can be difficult to consider clarifying; sticky subject matter. But do they (or does one) mean careful with their own money? Do they mean they liked our cultural direction when they were younger (war on poverty, keep Social Security, have unemployment insurance, keep the economy booming)? Do they mean blow the economy up with libertarianism? What can it mean?
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I’ve described myself at some point as a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. I think I should have described myself as being “fiscally conservative,” meaning I don’t make personal investments in risky businesses or ventures and my investment strategy is moderate to conservative rather than aggressive. At the same time, when it comes to social issues, I’m quite liberal in matters like healthcare for all, women’s reproductive rights, racial equality, gender equality, LGBT rights, education, etc. Of course, that’s what I mean by it. I can’t speak for others, only for myself
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It can be stereotyping, I suppose. But it can also be the current implication. I used to think being conservative included ecological+ conservation. It should, but* it doesn’t (now). (Also, if you tend toward “conservative” news sources you aren’t likely to be informed on the topics in a conserving sort of way). Conservative in politics, rather than in … you know, I’m going to absolutely have to ask when I’m first meeting someone in “real life” if they mean personally or culturally (on both economics and social issues) even when we are talking about politics (which people didn’t used to talk about as much right off the bat); some people are more about what they want permission for or simply what they do in their yard or life, while others are more about their vision for the world or the country or care for others or self along with neighbors).
Then, beyond that, I’m now going to refer to fandango’s 9:50 pm yesterday (further below). That’s important to keep in mind, too: “fiscally conservative” vs. a fiscal conservative. Also, some things in the area of being socially liberal involve economics or financial commitment (and that touches on monetary philosophy, like people without money don’t deserve to die); education for one. This is a topic where I began to need a hard look at where I was and decided I have to diverge from current trends in being conservative. Everyone should have access to education… education itself, not vouchers. I was homeschooling my own children when I decided this. I decided I wasn’t in favor of a tax break or rebate for myself (based on principle). I didn’t need it, and most kids do need and benefit from their local public schools.
[Additionally, having both public schools and private schools contributes to the available quality of either and both. Sometimes public schools will try to include some features of private schools, and sometimes private schools will see what is good in public schools.]
* I don’t know if we were just being tricked back then (when the EPA was founded by a Republican). More and more, conservative in politics means you’re on you’re own — no one cares about you or the general good.
Nevertheless, it was maybe a month ago when I said I could describe myself as a progressive conservative (and I included something else, liberal I think). It’s not only that people can jump to conclusions but that we need to think through who we really are and what is helpful in our world and what enables destructive forces.
+ I don’t know if you actually meant conserving ecological resources (for us all) or if you meant conserving/protecting your family resources.I
Finally, while I see your point about “progressives” having predictable goals that seem rigid I will say again that you are doing what you are saying not to do. (And yes, that is not only the territory of one group or the “other” group.)
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Change is inevitable so might as well roll with the flow. I’m very introspective which drew me to Tolstoy. I’ve changed myself so much I’m a pretzel and still trying to find some new ways to bend.
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