Why the Hurry?

This morning as I was doing my daily readings, I was struck by the thought that Americans are in too big a hurry.  In the 1700s, Quaker John Woolman said, "So great is the hurry in the spirit of this world, that in aiming to do business quick and to gain wealth, the creation at this day doth loudly groan!"  This sentiment applies even more so today, not just in business but in all our affairs. 

My hubby's recent blog post talking about the war in Afghanistan brought to mind how we rushed into war with Iraq before we had all the facts.  We later learned the truth about the lack of weapons of mass destruction, but it was too late; we had turned our own weapons of mass destruction on innocent civilians.  Within the past year, our government rushed in to borrow billions of dollars to invest in private corporations in order to "save the economy."  The various bills that were passed to fund these bailouts were hastily slapped together.  They were so voluminous that it is impossible that our lawmakers actually read them prior to passing them into law.  Now we are addressing the healthcare "crisis."  Again, we're being pushed into making decisions without careful consideration and honest public debate.  We have a sense of urgency, that it's a now or never deal.  In rushing to fix problems, we tend to create more.  The need to rush to a decision is not based on the issues at hand but on the potential for politicians being voted out of office. 

We need to keep in mind what Alexander Pope said, "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread."  Let's not let artificial timelines mar our judgment.