Tearing down and building up (originally written Jan. 21, 2017)

America has elected, and now confirmed by his swearing-in, its 45th president. During the next four years, we're bound to see a wrecking ball taken to most Obama-initiated Executive Orders and a wholesale attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act along with other laws. It is the nature of new administrations that do not share a common political view to want to completely re-do what has been done.

It is also the nature of politics and politically-driven people to want to take apart and discard anything that reminds them of the prior inhabitant of the office. I get that, so we should not be shocked when President Trump's people accelerate the process of de-Obamafication, right from day one. None of this surprises me, but what does make me shake my head in disbelief is the fact that we haven't moved much closer to adopting a national economic and political ideology (or strategy) that most Americans will accept!

In fact, it's downright bewildering that after two world wars, a serious depression, and 45 Presidents and 240 years of ruling ourselves that we still don't know what we want. I could accept this kind of attitude if we were 330 million teenagers entering puberty, but really, Virginia, the USA is unable to adopt an ideology that WORKS! Oh, I know, we've flirted with socialism in times past (and in times present with Bernie Sanders), but those were just summer romances and really didn't mean anything. One of more of our generations were just rebelling against the status quo. We really wouldn't have traded in our SUVs for a Lada Niva even if Sanders had won, nor would be calling each other 'comrade' or 'citizen.' It's just not in us, that's all.

We're capitalists. We like our overpriced latte frappuccinos at Starbucks and Siri who speaks to us in dulcet tones from our iphones. Who wants to go backward in time even for the sake of the revolution? Revolutions are supposed to propel us forward and show us what's over the next hill. The Obama presidency is over and while he gave us eight years of tumult, it wasn't all his fault. It rarely is. Blame must be shared by those that didn't  learn the lessons of yesterday. See, that's my point. Instead of ripping everything off the walls and deep-sixing every old report and memo to make room for the new, we had better take a close look at what's going out to the dumpster. Some of those things could be pretty valuable in a few months or years.

Ideas have a way of skirting the edges of time and perching themselves just within sight but slightly out of our reach. Some ideas wait patiently to be discovered or re-discovered while others are grabbed off the shelf right away and put into practice. The new Trump Administration has done its pre-governance due diligence, but as anybody coming into a new job or office will tell you, "Look in back of the desk or in that last filing cabinet. You may be surprised at what you'll find." Suspicion and skepticism are part of the fabric of Washington, D.C., so sometimes it's understandable that new administrations want to wipe the slate clean and start afresh. But that's not always the best decision. Creative destruction isn't always creative, and destruction isn't always beneficial. Before we tear up the immediate past, it might be a good idea to actually talk to the people that implemented the regulations and procedures.

Theirs is the real valuable knowledge that is often lost in a transition.

Stephan Helgesen is a retired diplomat and now political strategist and author. He has written six books and over 600 articles on topics ranging from politics to economics to social trends. He can be reached at: stephan@stephanhelgesen.com