The more things change the more they remain the same.  We are mired in the Status Quo.  By this I mean that the more things change the more they remain the same.

Some examples: Politics, Economics, Welfare for those who cannot help themselves, Reliance on oil for power, Warfare instead of Diplomacy and anything else you or I could think of.  All of these are mired in the Status Quo: We have fallen down and we can't get up.

The Politics of Remaining the Same is simply being mired down in one or two positions.  You sometimes have the feeling that you want to stay but sometimes you have the feeling you want to go. Stay, Go - the feeling stays with you - that is the Status Quo.  Our political policies are hoary and weary but we hold on to them and those who are in power, have the power and fear losing the power try to keep the newcomers from having any.

In Economics we are mired in a structure built on vanishing reserves of oil.  Yet, we persist in thinking in terms such as - oil will last forever: we have reserves in coal shale and off-shore drilling and drilling in pristine (slightly used) wildernesses that some would rather leave to the flora and fauna to which those wildernesses belong.  We still believe that the poor will always be with us - for, the poor have always been with us with the rich riding on their backs.  The more things change the more they remain the same.

We are mired in war and cannot get out of it.  We talk but we use the wrong words which are based on the threat of unlimited power in the form of dirty radiation.  We, the World, are held hostage by Mr. Ahmadinejad who clearly states that he will not change his policies but seek, like the North Koreans, to provoke war.

All of these are mired in the Status Quo.  We cannot easily change because those in power like things just as they are.  The Status Quo favors them and you cannot have stability if you shift the power around.  Of course you could say: The Rich and the Powerful Unite - you have nothing to lose - except the Status Quo which favors them.   We are mired in the way things are and we resist change.  The windmill and the solar panels are out there but some power magnates want to drill for the power of heat deep in the earth.  They belong to the present owners of power and they drill and set off earthquakes.

The more things change, the more things remain the same.