MISSOURI WATCH: IN PRAISE OF SKILLFUL NEGLECT

A late and still-missed friend, who was also a highly effective healer of mankind's medical miseries, frequently argued that most of the ailments he treated would eventually disappear. He called his somewhat unorthodox method "skillful neglect," and he followed it so religiously that he seldom deviated from his curative agenda.

As we begin a new year and news reports begin preparing us for more rounds of frenzied political activity in Jefferson City and Washington, I sometimes wonder if society might benefit from a briefly tenured round of "skillful neglect" from those who are so anxious to manage our lives. What might our world be like if we were somehow bereft of intense political activity for, say, the next six months?

Might the universe suddenly stop spinning if Democrats and Republicans in our state and national capitals stopped offering us their special versions of how-to-save-Missouri-through-enlightened-legislation? Would society as we know it quickly crumble if we were somehow deprived of the insight of a congressman from the 18th district of California or a state representative from the central part of Missouri?

Somehow I doubt it.

My suspicions come not only from the efficacy of the wisdom of my late friend but from the recent year-end capsules of the news that occurred in both Missouri and the country as a whole. That news, with room for exceptions, was remarkable in the extreme, detailing all manner of achievements that occurred in our national life over the past 12 months.

A brief summary will illustrate the point:

1. Americans earned more in 1997 than they have ever received in any other 12-month period in our history.

2. Inflation is now at a 30-year low, which is the best news low-income families have received in years.

3. American companies created more than 13,000,000 new jobs last year.

4. During 1996 and the first half of 1997, the nation's welfare rolls decreased by almost 20 percent.

5. In Missouri, the relief rolls diminished at an even higher rate.

6. Unemployment in the 50 states hasn't been lower since 1973.

7. The incidence of violent crime has fallen five years in a row.

8. The country's murder rate is now lower than at any time since 1969.

9. The abortion rate has also dropped five years in a row and now stands at a level not seen since 1976.

10. After 45 years of steady increases, the proportion of children born out of wedlock has stopped climbing.

11. Since the Dow Jones seems headed only one way, we won't even bother to mention the stock market.

Of course, this isn't all of the good news that can be mentioned and to guard against undue giddiness, I'll let these points speak for themselves, but first a word of caution:

In the real world, there are almost as many problems as there are people. The litany of glad tidings above doesn't cover the subject, and news that announces opposite results isn't listed. America, and Missouri, have other problems, but the improvements listed above are significant for many reasons.

First, several of the above items report improvement without massive political action. This is not to say that neither Republicans nor Democrats have not claimed credit for such, but in reality, many once-formidable problems have simply dissipated through the utilization of self-correction.

Secondly, many improvements were the result of efforts by those not inside but outside politics. It is patently foolish for either party to claim credit for stock market increases. Or downward unemployment rates. Or fewer abortions or declining death rates from AIDS. Virtually all of these good-news reports stemmed from the efforts of non-political types or from systemic changes that remain a mystery within a free and democratic society.

In the best of worlds, our state and national dilemmas could be cured by a legislative act, an executive proclamation or a bureaucratic rule or regulation. Yet the batting record for legislation, proclamations and regulations is usually dismal at best. Major problems are seldom solved by any combination of the three; even when success is at hand, individual initiative and effort often count for more than governmental edict.

Another problem raised by massive political initiative and activity is that, even when such is successful, the governed doubt its efficacy. Political promises are cheap, priced so low that anyone, for the wishing, can use them to gain personal popularity. Such practice has been used so often, with unfortunate results, that the governed have grown weary of their governors. A Harris Poll shows that two in three adults think violent crime is increasing, with nearly 50 percent saying "a lot." Two-thirds of the public believe the number of AIDS deaths is increasing and that the proportion of teens engaging in sex has grown.

We who are governed have long prided ourselves on our skeptical outlook. Such does not come naturally but with practice. For no one denies that we have been denied the repetition of failed programs from above.

The good news doesn't mean our society is without blemish and needs constant interest and attention. But puttering with something simply for the sake of political gain should at least rank as serious a crime as libel or slander. We have problems, of course, but shouldn't we at least recognize that not every political agenda is a solution and not every candidate for public office has been ennobled by enlightenment?

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.