Snake Oil

Snake oil is an expression that originally referred to fraudulent health products or unproven medicine but has come to refer to any product with questionable or unverifiable quality or benefit. By extension, a snake oil salesman is someone who knowingly sells fraudulent goods or who is themselves a fraud, quack, charlatan, or the like.

Let’s start out with two of my favorite axioms in life:

1. Virtually all politicians embrace, if not “live by”, the adage that “it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission”. (I must confess that as a kid, this worked pretty well with Mom, but rarely, or really ever, with Dad.) 
2. For every action there’s an opposite and equal reaction.

Now, have you noticed that the political rhetoric du jour always mirrors the media’s previous day’s breaking news. They are called “talking points”.  We are expertly guided to believe that the sky is about to fall and that the cause thereof just happened. One day we’re talking about climate change and ice that’s supposed to be melting, a heat wave in Arizona, a cold wave in Wisconsin, fewer minnows this year in some remote mud puddle, or too many mosquitoes in Minnesota. But we wake up the next day and the sky is still there. So we move on to student loans and how our poor kids are indenturing themselves for life just to pay for that 6-year advanced degree in the Evolution of Post-Depression Urban Expressionism. How will Jimmie and Sarah survive? They are doomed. How will our economy survive? How can we live with this terrible tragedy? We must do something now… right now!

Last week, everyone was in a tizzy because Oreo Cookies was opening a plant in Mexico, something Donald said, the apparent shortage of transgender bathrooms, the name of a football team....and so on and so on. 

But rest assured… there’s always a politician on his white horse galloping to our rescue. First and foremost he’ll always start by telling us that it’s the other political party’s fault. Next he’ll tell us that he’s been warning everyone about this for years. And lastly and most importantly, he’ll promise that once in office, this problem will become his first priority. 

However, once elected, his priorities will move on to a matter far more important and pressing - his next reelection. And though he knowingly lied, he has mastered the art of Axiom #1. More than likely (as evidenced by history) we will reelect him. Why? Because he knows something dark and sinister about us that we refuse to admit. He knows that there’s this little secret thing that we fear far more than we fear a liar. It’s called CHANGE. 

Most of us know that today’s urgent issues didn’t just appear. They’ve been brewing for years, if not decades. We know also that 95% of these problems were created and/or magnified by politicians who were eager to pour a quick dose of their snake oil on the “hot topic” du jour. 

The size and scope of a problem is almost always directly proportional to the term of its existence. To reiterate, big problems rarely spring up during the night. Sadly though, enduring solutions often take much longer than anticipated because of Axiom #2. Real solutions come with a big price, a lot of time, and assuredly with unintended consequences. The remedy, as did the problem, will evolve slowly; and only if that remedy is administered with caution, patience, and for the right reasons. 

Any politician who professes anything different is pandering to your fear. And without remorse, he will knowingly, if not deliberately, fail to keep his promises. But he lives his life by Axiom #1... his “Liquid Paper” of life and career (so to speak). 

Do not confuse action with progress. In my business career, I had a few guidelines that rarely, if ever, failed me. So often I would see my managers feverishly putting out fires. Their boundless energy was stimulating, but despite their efforts, something was always ablaze. Why? Because most fires can be extinguished in fairly short order. The key, though, is to insure that the fire doesn't rekindle. Therein resides where the majority of diligence is needed. Finding out how the fire started, when and why it started, and ultimately who's carrying the "matches" is rarely, if ever, a quick and easy process, However, it's mandatory. Quick fixes never work. 

Big problems are big for a reason. They always have a distinct life and history of their own, and they  didn't get big overnight. Consequently, solutions to big problems require great patience because the components of the cure must be dispensed in slow and measurable doses. Realistically, and expectedly, each corrective application will typically morph into consequences unforeseen.  (I am reminded of Shultz's Law which simply states that "Murphy is an optimist"). 

Unmonitored and uncorrected, inattention can be catastrophic, regardless of intention. Axiom #2 is a physical law of nature, but it is important to note that the reaction, though anticipated, will not necessarily be that which was intended. Also note that for each reaction there is a re-reaction, and on and on. 

When learning to fly an airplane, it is very easy to unknowingly veer off course. Good instructors understand this and within the rules of safety they’ll let you dig a “nice hole”. Eventually patience will expire and the instructor will issue a no-nonsense reprimand. Upon realizing the error, the typical student-pilot’s reaction is a quick jerk on the yoke and/or a stomp on the rudder. This novice knee-jerk reaction(s) is then immediately followed by “ass chewing” number two. 

But over time you learn to make course corrections with thoughtful deliberation and in small, if not slight, increments. In so doing you are mastering the critical component within the only reliable form of “problem solving”. The process of assessing the effectiveness (both good and bad) of each administered dose must be accomplished throughout the entire process. In the short term, this approach will take much longer and it won’t be as easy. But over time, this methodology will invariably prevail because the solution is lasting. Most importantly, by removing the danger from CHANGE, we are able to eliminate the fear of CHANGE.

Where does all of the above leave us? Know this.... any politician mounted atop his lofty steed and waving a one-size-fits-all instant solution in one hand usually has a bottle of snake oil in the other. Don’t fall for it. Do your homework. Learn the true history (and both sides) of the issue…i.e. when, who, how, and why. Only then can you assess the thoughtfulness (or lack thereof) of the pundit’s remedy. Make the effort and in no time at all, you’ll become a snake oil hound dog. 

On Thursday, I will attach a fascinating video that exemplifies all of the above and more. It’s fairly short, well scripted, and beautiful to watch. 

These are serious times. We can make a difference only if we are “informed” voters. Isn’t that the very least we can do? 

Your comments are always welcome. Thanks for listening.

Scott Sangalli