Sophie's Choice or Buridan's Ass?

As our election cycle has us now with our two presumptive candidates, we are now faced with our two choices.

This is not a simple choice between Obama and Romney. It is a choice between the unknowable future of their; 2013-2017 administrations, innumerable policies and programs (and their ability to be enacted, and the results that would ensue if they were enacted or were unable to be enacted), choices of personnel for appointments (probably most importantly, any Supreme Court nominee), reaction to world events, ability to understand current crises in a future historical context and to act accordingly, and many other unknowables.

In this situation the choice remains for the undecided. Those who are for Romney (whether specifically so, or by default based on the primary results and their right wing allegiance) are for Romney. Those who are for Obama (whether because of, or in spite of, any perceived successes or failures of his first term) are for Obama. Thus the undecided are those who must make a choice.

So, there they are. The undecideds. Standing midway between the choices of Obama and Romney.

As in Buridan's Ass, they see the promise of positive programs and entitlements on one side and the promise of low taxes and smaller government on the other side. And, if they so choose, they try to see through the promises to what those future unknowables might be and how they might affect them.

As undecideds, these citizens have choices. The most basic choices are who to vote for, and whether to vote or not.

If they are unable to decide, and choose not to vote, they take the position of Buridan's Ass, stuck hungry and thirsty midway between water and hay, to the point of death of hunger and thirst unable to choose their salvation.

They may, alternatively, see themselves in the position of having to make a Sophie's Choice between what they see as two alternatives that provide them with mutually exclusive positive attributes.

Do they sacrifice programs and entitlements for low taxes and small government? Or do they sacrifice high taxes for spending on programs, entitlements, and infrastucture investment. Do they sacrifice regulation in the hopes of accelerating the economy at the risk of abuse or environmental degradation? Or do they sacrifice the economy's short term vitality for controls on corporations in the name of fairness and environmental protection.

These are some of the choices that we all must make. The real goal that we need to pursue from now until the election is that of influencing the undecideds to make an educated Sophie's choice rather than to be a Buridan's Ass.