(no subject)
This is an enormously long political rant. If you don't find American politics interesting, don't bother. You will be bored. If, however, you are as frustrated with American politics/society as I am (I know you are), read on. A fairly melodramatic account of the current political/social climate follows...
So I walked by the union the other day and there was a sign that said the Republican Party Chair was going to be answering questions (when? who knows. it didn't say and i never saw him, but ok.) so I started thinking about what I would ask him if I had the chance. Well, what I thought of, was "What is it going to take to resolve the issue with Iraq?" This is kind of interesting to me, even in just a non-biased way. Whether the resolution is getting out, "winning" (whatever that means), stabilizing it, etc., just what is it going to take for that to happen? What I've realized is, no matter how much liberals (or anyone with any power) say they want out, they're not going to be the one to make that happen. Why? Whenever we get out, there will be violence and bloodshed and other ominous, undesirous things....as there have been for centuries upon centuries. But no matter what, when that happens, who's going to be blamed? Whoever made that decision. NO ONE wants to be that person.
Anyway, I find all this political stuff captivating. But once I figured out my question, I imagined all of the inevitable BS I would receive as an answer. And then I got angry and frustrated. And then suddenly this anger led to clarity. Clarity about the problems that are causing the political climate of right now. And I'm not blaming people for being lazy or politicians for being assholes...or maybe I'm blaming both...it's very circular. Anyway, this is what I came up with.
The problem with society is a vicious circle. There is no start or end (not an apparent one anyway, nor is it important) so the following problems all cause one another. The blame falls on all of us, not a single entity.
The problem with society: We have more of a voice than ever before. TIME Magazine named "you" person of the year, complete with mirror cover and everything. We have blogs, we have youtube, we have myspace, we have television, we have every opportunity to be heard. But what do we post on these things? Dogs humping ducks, cats playing the piano, freaks crying out for Britney Spears? Not that I haven't watched and laughed at these things (after all, I too am to blame) but there should be more. There's no reason why, in addition to dogs, ducks, cats, and freaks, there shouldn't be honest dialogue, opinions, discussion voiced through these pulpits. Ok, yes, I know. Youtube has both some girl dancing in panties for Barack and videos of Presidential candidates discussing their platforms. But we need intelligent people (not politicians) speaking their mind (intelligently) about serious issues. We complain that politicians don't listen to us, but I don't think any sane person has said much! Clearly protests are not an effective way to be heard; it just gives the impression that you are an extremist, a liberal, a hippy. It just doesn't work anymore. Our 21st century equivalents to the protests of the sixties and seventies are now the blogs. The problem is that we our currently standing in front of the Washinton Monument, our college campuses, San Francisco, everywhere, watching a cat play the piano. We need to say something. Otherwise, we're just whiney, lazy, and stupid.
The problem with politicians: They see us as whiney, lazy, and stupid. This may have to do with them watching above-mentioned youtube videos. Or it may have to do with them being pompous "intellectuals" themselves. By this I mean that they seem to think that none of us "common folk" could possibly understand the intricacies of running a country. And maybe we can't. That's why I'm not president. (Well, one of many reasons...) But the point of a democracy is that politicians are educated people who know how to run a country and their constituency reminds them of what's really important. They play their political game and we say, "Hey! We don't wanna die over there! We don't believe in it!" or "No, we believe we should have these rights." or "Woah, woah, woah there. That's not right." But now, they respond, "Ok, but it's clearly more complicated than your simple, youtube-watching minds could possibly comprehend so back off and let us do our jobs." Which is, by the way, ridiculous and unconstitutional.
But, just to remind you, this is not all their fault. We do, in part, cause this lack of faith in ourselves by being whiney, lazy, and oftentimes, stupid. Why do we do this? Perhaps because it seems as if we have nothing to gain by complaining to deaf ears. The fact is, there are intelligent Americans. Granted, that group may be small and dwindling by the second, but that's a whole 'nother rant. But we do exist. Now, if only politicians would realize that and at least take into consideration what we might say, if we had the motivation or felt like we were being heard.
So I walked by the union the other day and there was a sign that said the Republican Party Chair was going to be answering questions (when? who knows. it didn't say and i never saw him, but ok.) so I started thinking about what I would ask him if I had the chance. Well, what I thought of, was "What is it going to take to resolve the issue with Iraq?" This is kind of interesting to me, even in just a non-biased way. Whether the resolution is getting out, "winning" (whatever that means), stabilizing it, etc., just what is it going to take for that to happen? What I've realized is, no matter how much liberals (or anyone with any power) say they want out, they're not going to be the one to make that happen. Why? Whenever we get out, there will be violence and bloodshed and other ominous, undesirous things....as there have been for centuries upon centuries. But no matter what, when that happens, who's going to be blamed? Whoever made that decision. NO ONE wants to be that person.
Anyway, I find all this political stuff captivating. But once I figured out my question, I imagined all of the inevitable BS I would receive as an answer. And then I got angry and frustrated. And then suddenly this anger led to clarity. Clarity about the problems that are causing the political climate of right now. And I'm not blaming people for being lazy or politicians for being assholes...or maybe I'm blaming both...it's very circular. Anyway, this is what I came up with.
The problem with society is a vicious circle. There is no start or end (not an apparent one anyway, nor is it important) so the following problems all cause one another. The blame falls on all of us, not a single entity.
The problem with society: We have more of a voice than ever before. TIME Magazine named "you" person of the year, complete with mirror cover and everything. We have blogs, we have youtube, we have myspace, we have television, we have every opportunity to be heard. But what do we post on these things? Dogs humping ducks, cats playing the piano, freaks crying out for Britney Spears? Not that I haven't watched and laughed at these things (after all, I too am to blame) but there should be more. There's no reason why, in addition to dogs, ducks, cats, and freaks, there shouldn't be honest dialogue, opinions, discussion voiced through these pulpits. Ok, yes, I know. Youtube has both some girl dancing in panties for Barack and videos of Presidential candidates discussing their platforms. But we need intelligent people (not politicians) speaking their mind (intelligently) about serious issues. We complain that politicians don't listen to us, but I don't think any sane person has said much! Clearly protests are not an effective way to be heard; it just gives the impression that you are an extremist, a liberal, a hippy. It just doesn't work anymore. Our 21st century equivalents to the protests of the sixties and seventies are now the blogs. The problem is that we our currently standing in front of the Washinton Monument, our college campuses, San Francisco, everywhere, watching a cat play the piano. We need to say something. Otherwise, we're just whiney, lazy, and stupid.
The problem with politicians: They see us as whiney, lazy, and stupid. This may have to do with them watching above-mentioned youtube videos. Or it may have to do with them being pompous "intellectuals" themselves. By this I mean that they seem to think that none of us "common folk" could possibly understand the intricacies of running a country. And maybe we can't. That's why I'm not president. (Well, one of many reasons...) But the point of a democracy is that politicians are educated people who know how to run a country and their constituency reminds them of what's really important. They play their political game and we say, "Hey! We don't wanna die over there! We don't believe in it!" or "No, we believe we should have these rights." or "Woah, woah, woah there. That's not right." But now, they respond, "Ok, but it's clearly more complicated than your simple, youtube-watching minds could possibly comprehend so back off and let us do our jobs." Which is, by the way, ridiculous and unconstitutional.
But, just to remind you, this is not all their fault. We do, in part, cause this lack of faith in ourselves by being whiney, lazy, and oftentimes, stupid. Why do we do this? Perhaps because it seems as if we have nothing to gain by complaining to deaf ears. The fact is, there are intelligent Americans. Granted, that group may be small and dwindling by the second, but that's a whole 'nother rant. But we do exist. Now, if only politicians would realize that and at least take into consideration what we might say, if we had the motivation or felt like we were being heard.