I’m fond of the old saying that “less is more.” It usually refers to matters of taste: too much bling, too many Christmas decorations, too much salt added to an already perfect dish. But it can apply to other areas of choice as well.

Such as goals and ambitions.

Back. in the early 1990s, when I was in Moscow seeking out a Russian partner for an educational program, I met with a number of people recommended by the Russian Embassy in Washington: people newly acquainting themselves with the burgeoning market economy, who had no idea of where to start.

These were not the people who ultimately became the oligarchs of today: those well-connected, unconcerned with legalities, and often ruthless people who were able to buy up the old Soviet assets and turn them into multi-billion-dollar fortunes. The people I met with were smart, educated, decent men and women who had suddenly found themselves in the strange and daunting position of having to create something out of nothing.

They had no private funding and no government backing. What they did have was a jumbled mass of ideas — way too many. And they wanted to implement them all at once.

I assumed they had been advised of the purpose of my trip: to establish a business school for those Russians who would be working for the new private enterprises. But what I was hearing back, without exception, were suggestions for manufacturing, marketing and agricultural undertakings that were all over the map . . . even one for coal mining, another for clothes designing, and a third from a folk dance troupe hoping for a U.S. tour!

I came away from those meetings discouraged, but chalked it up to the inexperience and naïveté of people new to a free market economy. And indeed, they did learn over time.

*. *. *

But it would be difficult to attribute the new U.S. administration’s stated — or over-stated — ambitions to inexperience or naïveté. Maybe it’s the “gold-plated toilet” syndrome: wanting everything, and wanting it now. But forget about Donald Trump the billionaire show-off. Where is Donald Trump the businessman, who should know that lasting success is the result of quality, not quantity?

Prioritize. Decide what’s most urgent, and get it done . . . and done right.

Yes, there is a lot that needs doing, and it must be overwhelming to be the one to sort it all out. But trying to run in 100 different directions at once leads only to chaos, and ultimately to very little — if anything — being done properly.

For example: Do we really need immediate raids on immigrants who have been here for years? Or should we first focus on fixing the disaster in Ukraine? Can our young people survive a little longer without TikTok? Or should we first work to bring down food prices so all of our people can afford to eat? Must we focus on grabbing Canada as a 51st state and Greenland as a territory? Or should we be keeping a closer eye on the imminent dangers presented by the alliance known as BRICS?

Prioritize.

And for the sake of all that is holy, try to do it without antagonizing all of our allies. Today’s world is too small a place for isolationism.

We don’t need a “Gulf of America.”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/21/25