Enough with “Enough is Enough!”

Do you ever say “Enough is enough?”

I hear this tautological expression in the media and in personal conversations.

It can be a very satisfying, non-obscene expression of frustration.

But is it useful? Is it effective?

How do you respond when someone with whom you disagree says “Enough is enough”?

Back in 2020, I heard a Maricopa County bureaucrat say it in reference to continued Republican auditing of the Maricopa County Election. I had a strong reaction: He sounded desperate. The Republicans were tightening the noose and he saw doom in sight. Not the image he was trying to portray, I am sure.

I daresay, when we use the phrase in conversation with someone with whom we disagree, they will react in much the same way. Whatever we say there is enough of, they surely want more. In the case of our Maricopa bureaucrat, he wanted an end to election auditing. I wanted more!

When we say it to someone who agrees with us, well, it isn’t advancing the discussion any.

We say “Enough is enough” because it expresses frustration with little mental effort. The problem with saying “Enough is enough” is that it just expresses frustration and it avoids mental effort.

We say “Enough is enough” because it is difficult to articulate what we are really thinking or even to think clearly at that point. We feel rushed to speak immediately before we have put our thoughts together. Our mouth is getting ahead of our brains.

If we are in that situation, then we are no longer in a useful conversation.

In fact, when we say “Enough is enough”, we are generally saying that whatever there has been enough of is something that was wrong in the first place and there should never have been any of it.

When you catch yourself about to say “Enough is enough”, take a breath and think about what you are really trying to say.

Enough of what?

Enough government waste?

Enough lying?

Maybe you don’t need to say anything. You have said it all and there is nothing left to say. Don’t say “Enough is enough” because you have said enough!

Maybe it is a signal to yourself to quit bitching. It is time to switch from bitching to brainstorming.

Now, that would be difficult. It requires a few difficult things:

1. Switching your mindset from frustrated bitcher to determined fixer

2. Switching the other person’s mindset from frustrated bitcher to determined fixer — or at least open-minded listener.

3. Coming up with some solutions

Let’s say the conversation is about election fraud (a current favorite of mine) with a fellow Republican. That could easily elicit an “Enough is enough”.

What to say instead?

Well, you could say, “I wish [insert Republican politician or organization here] would stand up and do something about this!”

Okay, fractionally better. It’s an understandable wish. But if wishes were horses, beggars would ride!

How about “We have got to do something about this!” or “We have to resolve this!”

Okay, a definite improvement. It includes yourselves in the nebulous “we” of responsibility for change. It does not propose a solution or pledge any personal action, but it is where you start.

If you’re lucky, it will prompt the other person to say, “Yeah, we do (need to do something).”

At other times, the other person will be like a locomotive speeding down the “somebody else needs to do something” track, unable to change conversational direction. When that happens, stay on your track, not his.

Either way, you have turned a corner in the conversation. You alone or both of you together are moving to a mindset of problem-solving. What can we do? Who else is tackling this problem? How are they doing it? Do they need help? The answers are always just a google away.

You might be motivated to get actively involved or to donate to those who are.

You will then be a part of the solution.

And that is enough.