LIVING IN A POLLYANNA WORLD

There is a seeming abundance of people in our fair city who just can’t face conflicting points of view, let alone harsh realities!

These people live in an artificial realm of persistent but often unjustified optimism.  They are downright fearful of confronting anything that would intrude on their overtly blissful outlook.  Much like the Three Blind Mice pictured above, they want to hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. 

They are the same people who heap excessive and often disproportional praise on themselves, their friends and neighbors, and our elected and appointed city officials for doing ordinary and generally expected things.  Commonplace actions are labeled as awesome, wonderful, amazing, splendid, awe-inspiring, tremendous, and astounding.  

If you attend Wildomar’s council meetings regularly, I am sure you have seen and heard this drivel from the dais.  So often allotted agenda time is given over to “feel good” ceremonies rather than city business.   Hearing from residents about problems or concerns is given short shift.

Things can’t just be good, they must be great!  In short, these overly positive people believe that perfectly ordinary events are somehow remarkable.  And woe unto anyone who dares to point out that something could be flawed, unsound, faulty or imperfect.

In the eyes of this optimistic crowd of perpetual city boosters it is an unpardonable offense to point out that something is amiss and might need corrective action.  Heaven forbid mentioning that our elected or appointed officials may be headed in the wrong direction, taking unlawful actions or that their performance could stand improvement.

And therein lays the rub. For our democracy to work, ordinary citizens have to look below the surface at things and issues which might make them uncomfortable.  They have to get involved, demand better information, and yes, even question authority and the status quo.

Few Wildomarians are willing to take the time or run the risk of coming across things that would intrude on their comfort level or the blind trust they have in government. The problem is that at some point they will pay a high price for their misplaced trust and unwillingness to deal with reality.