Dynamic Inaction

In Search of a Wisewoman

James H. Boren (1925 - 2010) American humourist, teacher, scholar, businessman, public servant, political operative, public speaker and author wrote a book entitled “Dynamic Inaction.” I have word envy. The description reads, “ When in charge, ponder; when in trouble, delegate; when in doubt, mumble.” I laughed out loud reading his bio online, and went immediately to share it with you, Dear Readers. He wrote a book, “When in Doubt Mumble, A Bureaucrat’s Handbook.” He was a contributor to “The New York Times and poked fun at what he called “vacuumental thinking and the “idiotoxicities of Washington.” His bio says he ‘turned to satire to reform the bureaucracy through the use of humour and political satire. He ran for Vice President of the USA for the ‘Apathy Party of America.' He offered what he said was the the country’s first multiple choice platform and his slogan was, “ I’ve got what it takes, to take what you’ve got.”

Satire, from the Latin word ‘satur’, ‘ lanx satura’ - satur meaning full juxtaposed to ‘lanx’ meant miscellany or medley which literally meant ‘a full dish of fruits.” Satire has been written since the 4thC, as a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself with an aim of improvement. Strong irony or sarcasm, and the double entendre, have long been used. Political cartoons are still a format that captures and caricatures the individuals worthy of reducing with humour.

Sadly, satire would be lost on the current lot of world leaders, one of which is a particular dolt that reacts with rage to every perceived slight by enlisting a phalanx of lawyers and any means of retribution of which there seems no bar low enough beneath which he will not stoop. One must possess a certain level of intelligence for satire to be appreciated. How kind, that Mr. Boren did not live to see this current administration for he most likely would have viewed it behind bars in a swampy location.