“Squeezing the trigger” … there are always consequences

“Whatever mitigates the woes, or increases the happiness of others, this is my criterion of goodness, and whatever injures society at large, or any individual in it, this is my measure of iniquity!” Robert Burns

There is a scene in American Sniper when Chris Kyle has his crosshairs on a child carrying a grenade. The agony of making the decision to “squeeze the trigger” can be seen on the actor’s face. One can only imagine the agony that goes through Mr. Kyle’s mind at that moment.

I plan to use the metaphor of “squeezing the trigger” in this column to explain several things about life and decisions we all have to make in our personal and professional lives. Maybe, you can relate to some of this and, just maybe, it will help you better understand how many of us feel these days about decisions that are being made at many different levels of our government and in our society when they “squeeze the trigger.”

My Grandfather always made it clear to us grandchildren – “There are consequences to every decision you make beyond how those decisions impact you.”

As a child, I vividly recall one Christmas when I sneaked a cookie from the table before dinner. My Mother, who was always an observant Mother and whose Mother isn’t, confronted me after I had eaten the cookie. Simply, she asked me did I take it. I lied. She and I both knew better. She didn’t spank me, she simply looked at me and in a soft voice told me how disappointed she was. I had “squeezed the trigger” and there were consequences in this case loss of my Mother’s respect.

At 19 years old, I had become engaged to marry a lovely young lady. I will not go into the details because they are involved, suffice it to say though we didn’t have to get married; in other words for those of you in outer Mongolia, she wasn’t pregnant. I put off the wedding several times until my Mother stepped in and said enough was enough, I had “squeezed the trigger” and needless to say, I got married and stayed married for a decade. We eventually agreed to a divorce. She and I both went on to marry again and have good lives. I had made a commitment and there were consequences to that commitment.

When a sniper, or a hunter, looks through his or her scope and lays the crosshairs on a person or animal and “squeezes the trigger” there are consequences. The killing of another human being, even in time of war, haunts most men and women the rest of their lives.

“I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” Johnny Cash sang in the classic I Shot a Man in Reno. Watching a man or woman die, which I have done more times now at age 64 than I ever expected is not something I would wish on anyone.

The sniper knows the outcome of “squeezing the trigger” and lives with that decision forever.

Killing a deer is not something I ever relished. I hunt for food; that was the ethic I was brought up to believe in and we never worried about antlers or size or number of animals killed. I have issues with hunters who set out to kill an animal just for the sport and to brag about the size or number of antlers.

One year, many years ago when I hunted with a bunch of my buddies on a private farm they gave me a great deal of lip about “never shooting a deer.” I had hunted with them for years and because they shared their meat with me I had never shot a deer.

My ego had had enough and I told them that on that day every doe I saw, regardless of size or at what distance that I would shoot it and they would field dress and provide me the meat in nice little packages. They laughed.

I shot and killed deer from 30-yards to 300-yards that day for a total of six deer, all sizes and all does fortunately. The private farm property I was hunting had permission from the state to remove as many does as possible due to them being a nuisance to the farmer.

I was never proud of that day of hunting but I “squeezed the trigger” and I still live with the consequences of those actions. Six shots, six deer all clean kills, no suffering for anyone but me.

The deer hunting pals never questioned my ability after that event. They never have since and to their credit they did field dress, cut up and delivered the meat in nice wrapped packages.

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When I was a public servant for the federal government, and yes, I always saw myself as a servant, I had to make many decisions on budgets, priorities and personnel daily.

Many times I “squeezed the trigger” and made decisions but I did so only after much consideration, challenges from the public and discussions with employees about what the right priorities were. I even argued with my own management about what was the right thing to do in any given circumstance; and even today I live with the consequences of those decisions. Some nights, even after all these years, I still wonder if I made the right decisions or not. However, I was satisfied that I had sufficient employee and public input to “squeeze the trigger” because I had taken the time to become informed and educated about my alternatives.

Eventually, I would leave the federal government because I came to believe that my management’s integrity in making decisions didn’t appropriately engage the public in getting alternative ideas or even appropriately listening to them.

Too often, the government agency I worked for would not even bother explaining to me as a manager why such decisions were being made and they certainly didn’t want to engage the public in any meaningful dialogue. It became the old adage “I am from the government and I am here to help you” so don’t challenge us or ask us any questions or expect anything but defensiveness if you do challenge us.

I believed then and now that government at all levels owes it to the public to inform, educate and explain what it is they propose to do that impacts the public. I believe that governments should stay within budgets and limit increasing taxes whenever possible, or if they propose to do so they must explain to everyone’s satisfaction why.

Government at all levels, at the very least, must properly inform, educate and explain how and why proposals that are being made impacts the taxpayer’s and they should ask for the public’s feedback and alternatives. Government at all levels no longer are seen as being trustworthy because they don’t properly inform, educate and involve the taxpayer.

Governments get their revenue (income) by taxing their citizens to run the “business of government” and candidly, that is a challenge for any government because many people in government have never run a business of any kind, they have never met a payroll or “built a business from ground up.” They have been administrators or bureaucrats or politicians or employees of a business all their careers.

Finally, and if you think this upset me as a small businessman you are correct — “No, Mr. Obama the federal government didn’t build my business; my wife and I working 24/7, 365 for 20-years have built our business. We took the risks. We invested our savings. We are the ones that have had to make tough decisions and let many of our relationships with our associates go over the years to live within our budgets; a budget that allows us to pay our bills and our taxes and still be profitable.”

Yes, Mr. Obama we paid our taxes for government to do what it should do to help build a nation of free enterprise. Our taxes and those of our fellow hardworking citizens built roads, bridges and infrastructure, and paid for police and fire protection and national defense.

Government’s job is to provide for the general welfare and protection of its citizens and then get out-of-the-way so that the American Dream can be realized by those willing to work hard and take the risks.

We are living with governments at all levels that have taken on responsibilities for amenities far beyond their charter. We are in a “give me” society these days where our leadership doesn’t take the time to contemplate and engage the taxpayers and public in discussions about why they decide to do what they decide to do.

Public servants, either employed or elected, don’t seek input and they don’t want input. They don’t want to be challenged, prodded or reminded that they are servants to the public.

They don’t explain how they are saving the taxpayers money, if they are which is rare, or for that matter what they are doing with tax monies in general nor do they ask for suggestions on how to make a different decision rather than the one they have focused on to meet their objective, which may not be the priorities of the people footing their bill.

The TEA Party admonishes they are “taxed enough already.” Frankly, I agree with them however my concern goes beyond that mantra in that government must become “open and transparent” at all times ion all things they propose and do. The current federal administration and many local and state governments have failed at miserably at being open and transparent.

However, I believe we must return to “government by and for the people” and when elected officials and government bureaucrats are not open and transparent, communicative, explanatory and engaged with the people they serve they can and often do “jerk the trigger” and then they miss their mark.

To me, it is all about using common sense before “squeezing the trigger” but as Voltaire remarked in the 1700s, “Common sense is not so common!”