Yuri Tarnopolsky                                                                                                                               logo
 

This is a compact version of  updatable Essay 28: Simple Reasons.

Simple Reasons

                            

Contrary to the popular belief, there are simple reasons for everything and they can be stated in a few lines. Just start your question with a “why.” Here is a demo.


            1. Why is the US Supreme Court so often split if the US Constitution is remarkably concise and clear?


Because the US Constitution is a result of an intelligent design, while the modern life is result of evolution.


2. Why are we insatiable consumers?


Because the more we have, the more we have not. If we have a car, we don't have a better car. If we have a car and a boat,             we don't have a better car and a better boat. 


3. Why should we watch out for simple people in the government?


Beware of simple people: they have only one goal. Most probably, it is different from yours, while a complex person may
             have a common ground with you as well as with your neighbor.


4. Why do we elect a simple person to lead the country in the complex world?


This is natural if we don't like our neighbors.


5.  Why has the Iraq war failed the expectations of its planners?
 

Incompetence is the simplest of all reasons. Unless you are Noah, you may botch a catastrophic flood, but insurgents have
            been fighting regular armies throughout history.

 

6. Why don’t we boot out the incompetent commanders?


History gives us an excuse for military failure: one of the sides loses all the time.


7. Why are people unable to draw somber lessons from history?


Those who could learn the gravest lesson are dead. Those who have survived can draw only a lesson of optimism.    
      

8. Why are people rarely honest about simple reasons?


Money does not smell. Simple reasons do.
 

9. Why are the reasons in fact simple?
 

Because complex reasons can offset each other and stall any action. Since they are simple, even Hamlet makes his move.


10. Why is the mutual loyalty in the inner circle crucially important for some leaders?


They have something to hide.


11. Why is the level of education in many public high schools so low?


Because the teachers are paid while the education is free.
 

12.  Why is the world fragmenting into ever smaller states on the pretext of ethnic or religious independence?


In a smaller state you improve your chance to have a friend or a relative in the government.


13. Why is the opposition to Darwin so strong in America, the paradise of science?
 

America is a paradise of common sense. Whether God or Darwin,  it is about the long gone past and has nothing to do with
             making money today. It is like playing golf for fun. But you want to beat your opponent, anyway.

 

14. Why is death such an unpopular subject in America?
 

              Because the dead do not shop.


            15. Why do we deny easy death to terminally ill people?
 

They never hire a lawyer to sue for the torture before death.
 

16. Why would some people in America want to weaken Social Security?


They know that without safety net there will be more poverty, the USA will depend less on cheap foreign labor, and America
             will stand strong.


17.  Why do the same people want to strengthen religion?


Obviously, if you make the government weaker, you need another strong hand to keep the flock together.


18. If the reasons are always simple, why do we mess everything up so often?


The reasons are simple, but the solutions are complex.
 

19. Why is America so anti-intellectual?


Because intellect cannot be taxed. One of the most fascinating contradictions in the modern psyche is that while few things are
             as repulsive for us as tax, anything that cannot be taxed is regarded worthless.
 

20. Does it mean that tax cuts make American values worthless?  Does it mean that religion is worthless?


Sorry, you have to start with a “why.” Why? It makes you think twice.


21. Why could globalization undermine America?
 

Because the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Dependence on Foreign Labor, Oil, and  Talents do not
             walk hand in hand.


22. Why are financial achievements in America more glorified than intellectual ones?


You can never lose your intellectual achievement, but you can lose your money.


23. Why is the two-party system risky?


Because as "there is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous" (Napoleon) , there is only one step from the two-party
             to the one-party system.


24. Why can't we have a three-party system?


Because even a small third party would be the most powerful one in Congress, shifting the vote balance. To woo it would not
             be cheap.


25. Why is the concept of "the only superpower" senseless?


Because the power must be proved in the contest with an equal.
 

26. Why do we as a nation need strong and invincible enemies?


Because when an enemy is defeated, his former features are kosher to borrow. A good enemy inoculates us from becoming
             our own enemies.


27.  Why is it possible for a democracy to attack another country with the purpose of democratizing and thereby
             preventing it
  from attacking other countries?


Sorry, simple reasons apply only to rational decisions.          

           
            Politics is simple. As an exercise one step harder, look for simple reasons in your private life.


2006                     


For more simple reasons, see Essay 28: Simple Reasons.