From the President’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel:
You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
What do you think he meant by that? (He said it back in November.) Don’t you find that a rather scary philosophy of governing?
But are there other, more benign, applications of that maxim, not in government but in the vocations of business, churches, families, and everyday life?
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
It COULD mean “when life give you lemons, make lemonade.”
It COULD mean that hardship brings out the best in people and gives them a chance to acheive great things.
It doesn’t HAVE to mean that crises give you an opportunity to overreach your authority. But, if I were a betting man…
What he meant by that is that when people are duped into thinking there’s a “crisis,” then it is easier to break them loose from the status quo & manipulate them into accomplishing some change you desire. Whether you’re trying to start a war in Iraq with tales about WMD, or trying to shove an obscene bailout or stimulus bill thru Congress, it’s a whole lot easier if you have people in crisis mode.
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before”
That’s also a well-known sales technique. I’ve long fought off fears that our current leadership situation is the result of a long-planned and successful sales campaign. Once we bought, though, we realize that all we have is what we bought…not all the benefits and emotions that were promised to us as we signed on the dotted line.
As to other applications, I think that sales technique is used frequently. Here’s one I personally heard:
Pastors (or elders) to a congregation – We need to build this 10 million dollar project now in order to meet the growing needs of our church (based on the study he commissioned, aka “the crisis”. God has told me that we will be blessed by this addition. (yeah, we left that church. they lost more people than they ever gained. Still in debt 7 years later)
The meaning is clear enough from the “stimulus” plan. Obama cum Emanuel allowed Pelosi/Congress to draft a plan that stimulates little and is loaded with pet Democratic governmental spending projects, leading the country into a more political than free economy. Of course, the spineless people are now getting the government they voted for and deserve.
Benign applications including pulling together with better focus, talking through & brainstorming all possible options, touching base with distant friends and family to see if they need help. Every day brings new opportunities. Crises do the same.
Erik Erikson’s theory of psycho-sociological development was based on the idea that crises help the individual grow and develop. If you want to go all theological, didn’t the Israelites need to experience a crisis in order to be moved to repentance as seen in Exodus, Numbers, Judges, II Kings, Ezra/Nehemiah, etc.?
If you don’t see a need to change, you won’t. Emanuel is saying that we can use to crisis to improve life (whether or not you agree with how effective those “improvements” are) instead of trying to get back to the status quo as soon as possible and ending up in the exact same crisis a little farther into the future.
Yes, in my own personal and pastoral experience, God often uses personal crises (usually just getting caught) to provide opportunity for repentance and faith in His promises. Most people just run and hide though. But for God’s people, we pray that God will always catch us for His total rescue in Christ.
The last administration certainly made the most of their crisis to expand executive power. It’s nothing new. Every president does it, if they can.
I think he meant that it is a perfect time to ramrod their left wing agenda down out throats with very little opposition because people are afraid.
Fear is how the left gets people to follow thier idiotic schemes. It’s all emotion…no common sense.
Krauthammer has a great article today:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020502766_pf.html
It begins,
“”A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe.”– President Obama, Feb. 4.
Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared “we have chosen hope over fear.” Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.”
I think it is pretty clear what he meant.(Esp.in light of your previous post on the trampling of the Constitution by giving DC a representative in Congress)
National Review has an analysis of the ‘Stimulus Package’
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjcyODIyZGM2MGU1ZDdkNDgxZDc3OTNjYjM4ZDY1ODI=
It is a politician’s dream. Cram everything your imagination can possibly concieve into a giant bill and write a check for it on the backs of the citizens. It is basically an exponential power grab and expansion for our government.
There is much wisdom in Theresa K’s comment at #3.
This isn’t an accident.
Honestly, when the Tax Revolt comes…..
While not original to Rahm Emanuel, the meaning is clear – and as true to real politik as a Kissinger pronouncement. It is classic FUD. The new administration knows that behind a smokescreen of apocalyptic rhetoric to create an atmosphere of panic, the left can cram anything into the “stimulus” bill and escape the scrutiny of the public. Not a single representative or senator read the bill outside the pet provisions each favored – for pork or social reengineering. So much for “change” and “transparency” from the Obama crew. Not a surprise when this mob is a product of the country’s most corrupt political machine – Illinois/Chicago democrats.