One day -- way back in the early days of our nation -- somebody got the idea we needed more R&D, we needed to inject R&D directly into our political system.
Research and development, right? I mean, what could be better than researching the issues before making decisions? What could be wiser than planning and bringing projects to fruition -- development?
Sounds good to me. Bring it on. R&D is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Then, along came the Republican and Democrat parties. Turns out, the person who was calling for R&D in our political system had no intention of inserting research and development into the equation. Nope. The R stood for Republican and the D stood for Democrat. And that R&D was exactly the opposite of the other R&D. The Republican and Democrat R&D meant you stick to your ways and you don't consider new ideas. You had everything right the first time, so why should you change?
In the research and development R&D, you look to see what your competitors are doing. And, you learn from others and build upon it. It's the old Isaac Newton principle: "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." And, it's the not-so-old John F. Kennedy guiding principle: "Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democrat answer, but the right answer."
Today, a Democrat would never admit there could be a "giant" among the Republicans. And, a Republican certainly would cringe to think it suggested there could be a "giant" among the Democrats.
The two parties are not like two competing automobile makers, each learning from the other in a quest to make the better product. No, each supposes they have already perfected the product -- they have the best answer -- and there's no need for any new thoughts.
If Republicans and Democrats were running the automobile industry, we'd still be driving the Model T.
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