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About the state of the union

Living a long life is a nifty way of seeing history in the making. Over the years I’ve observed the social and cultural pendulum swing from extreme right to extreme left and back again. When the pendulum is somewhere in the middle of its journey, the country is most content.

There are always extremists on both sides of an issue trying to push the envelope. Most of us are too content to take up any cause. But when we get too uncomfortable, we do act. That’s the American way. That is our strength and our weakness. Democracy is a balancing act.

About marriage

Marriage, the good kind, is also a balancing act. The politics in marriage are not so different from those on Capitol Hill. When one partner wants something that the other doesn’t, negotiation can take place that will lead to a happy compromise.

If extreme positions are taken, then arguments and worse ensue. Then no one is happy. Ideally, a happy marriage is one of moderation and not extremism.

For this reason it’s far better to marry someone with similar likes and dislikes than to marry someone with opposite values and ideals. It may not seem to some to be as romantic as having constant tension in the union, but in the end a peaceful existence profits everyone concerned, especially the children.

About crime and criminals

Most of our prisons are filled with individuals who are borderline illiterate. This lack of education is a major factor in why many of them chose the path of criminal behavior.

However, major cause of white collar crime is greed. White collar criminals are usually highly educated. There’s no excuse for their antisocial behavior because they have so many options open to them.

But most of the people in our penitentiaries are not white-collar criminals.

Poor, uneducated youngsters from dysfunctional families have few choices. They are not just underprivileged, they are bereft of everything children need to grow into decent, honest adults. Their lives are empty of the kind of adults they should have to emulate. Their parents are not oriented to understand the importance of education. If we had the political will we could change the bad choices these individuals make in their future lives to good ones.

Many of them begin their criminal behavior early in their teens, when they are the most malleable. So, ideally, we should start with youngsters in juvenile prison. Every youngster sentenced to jail would be held there until he finished a high school education and acquired a skill from vocational training and had some on-the job experience while incarcerated. The youngster would only be freed after acquiring the ability to read, write, do math and work a computer. We are a country in need of skilled electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and mechanics. Armed with those skills instead of guns and knives, former incorrigibles might just become honest, hard-working citizens. It’s worth a shot.

About politicians and movie stars

There’s very little difference between the egos of politicians and movie stars. Both seek to be glorified and adored by the public. Both are filled with hubris that makes them feel they are above the crowd and can do whatever they please. Neither could survive without the support of the public. These are people who are always “on.”

Ideally politicians should be held to a two-terms-only policy or enough is enough. Everyone is expendable and replaceable. That goes for politicians, too.

On the other hand rarely does a movie star outlast her looks. Cosmetic surgery can only do so much. Someday, live stars will be replaced with digital ones who will be able to stay young and beautiful forever.

Politicians, however, stay forever no matter how old and worn they are. Too bad we can’t digitize them, too. Then we could delete them.

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E-mail Barbara Bova at babova@naplesnews.com