Yet man, is by nature, a political being (see Aristotle). Shall we really "fuck" ourselves, our neighbors, our world?
Life will go on as it has. Let's be honest. The world didn't suddenly become fucked up with this election. This is nothing new and it's hard, really, to say that things are worse now than they were before. Maybe, we're just a little less ignorant or a little more self-deluded.
Any approach which just writes off either Bush or Kerry as stupid or evil is over simple and lazy. They're not geniuses, but they're not dumb. They're not "nice guys" but they're not the murderers and rapists we want to make them out to be. They're much like most Americans, only they have the money and power to do good or harm on much broader scales. We see the harm Bush has done and the folly of his ideas; we would see the same kinds of things with every president (at least, we do if we're willing to see). It's worth noting in the case of anything objectionable on the part of someone like Bush how he merely acts as part of a long tradition, doing things no differently than many who have come before him.
Neither is it a strictly partisan matter. Those who want to insist that there is a huge difference between Rupublicans and Democrats are not getting seeing past their ideologies into the nature of our political system. Our politicians are, foremost, politicians.
So yes. Life goes on. We shouldn't think that our political life rests only on elections. We should be involved in other ways. We should give a damn for our neighbors and for the world and not settle for the lousy state of current affairs. But, we should be realistic and understand that things will remain messed up, and we do what we can.
Adopting complacency toward the state of things is the worst thing any of us could do.
(One other note: Kerry promises a lot evil things that I hope he doesn't deliver if he's elected [e.g. he keeps re-iterating his intention to go kill the terrorists; when will our leaders learn?].)
Yet man, is by nature, a political being (see Aristotle). Shall we really "fuck" ourselves, our neighbors, our world?
Life will go on as it has. Let's be honest. The world didn't suddenly become fucked up with this election. This is nothing new and it's hard, really, to say that things are worse now than they were before. Maybe, we're just a little less ignorant or a little more self-deluded.
Any approach which just writes off either Bush or Kerry as stupid or evil is over simple and lazy. They're not geniuses, but they're not dumb. They're not "nice guys" but they're not the murderers and rapists we want to make them out to be. They're much like most Americans, only they have the money and power to do good or harm on much broader scales. We see the harm Bush has done and the folly of his ideas; we would see the same kinds of things with every president (at least, we do if we're willing to see). It's worth noting in the case of anything objectionable on the part of someone like Bush how he merely acts as part of a long tradition, doing things no differently than many who have come before him.
Neither is it a strictly partisan matter. Those who want to insist that there is a huge difference between Rupublicans and Democrats are not getting seeing past their ideologies into the nature of our political system. Our politicians are, foremost, politicians.
So yes. Life goes on. We shouldn't think that our political life rests only on elections. We should be involved in other ways. We should give a damn for our neighbors and for the world and not settle for the lousy state of current affairs. But, we should be realistic and understand that things will remain messed up, and we do what we can.
Adopting complacency toward the state of things is the worst thing any of us could do.
(One other note: Kerry promises a lot evil things that I hope he doesn't deliver if he's elected [e.g. he keeps re-iterating his intention to go kill the terrorists; when will our leaders learn?].)
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