Recently I have had a couple of friends express support, in a very general way, for politicians that they are in agreement with, on only one issue that I am aware of. In fact one of them told me they she didn't really agree with a particular politician on most issues but that she supported her because they did agree on one issue. Please forgive me, but how can anyone see this as anything but insane? Dick Cheney supports same sex marriage but I could never support him because his views overall are in direct conflict with my views overall. If a senator or representative supported universal health care while at the same time promoting further financial industry deregulation I could never vote for them as their election would be bad for our country. If a politician is pro-gun or anti-abortion would that allow you to ignore the fact that they might also be a rapist or a serial killer? If someone knocks on your door and says that they support working against climate change could you look past the white robe and hood they are wearing? Many people apparently can and do.
The problem is that the crazy, single issue people who wear blinders when they walk into a voting booth are pretty much the better of two evils right now. It seems that people either care only about one issue or they care about nothing at all. They reject politics as being boring or pointless. They have given up on our government because they see it as corrupt and incapable of doing anything to benefit people like themselves. Well they may be right, but if they are they must also understand the only reason our government is as corrupt and incompetent as it is, the only reason it was able to get to this point is because we allowed it to be. We were so busy being either completely apathetic or so worked up over only one thing that we forgot about every other issue and those other issues have come back to haunt us.
Well congrats America, you are on the verge of getting exactly what you want. A government so far out of your control that all of your ideas about it will be proven true. It will be completely incapable of working for the majority of people in his country and it will be beyond our control so that we can do nothing about it. After years of working towards this goal we finally managed to get a set of Supreme Court justices just bad enough that they can overturn Supreme Court ruling after ruling, overturn a century of political practice in this country and decide that corporations, corporations that can't vote, corporations that might be controlled by individuals from other countries, heck, that might be controlled by the governments of other countries, can now put as much money into supporting or working against any candidate that they want, in other words any corporation, any government, any enemy of the United States can now buy an election here and put into power the people who will make the laws in this country. "This message brought to you by your friends at Al Qaeda." Sound scary? It is scary, no one, conservative, liberal, Democrat or Republican should rest easy knowing that we may have just given China the ability to decide the future of our country. We may have just given Wal-Mart the power to pick our next president, we may have just given our country away to the highest bidder.
So now what do we do? Well we will probably wind up doing nothing until it is too late, I really doubt we will do anything then, we have become to fat and lazy to care any more. If, however, by some strange chance we decide to do anything then we must first decide to take action, even if we think it might not help, even if this isn't "our issue", we must make those calls and send those emails, we must get out and carry signs, we must show, beyond any reasonable doubt, that this is completely unacceptable and that our law makers must now work to come up with a way from keeping this from happening. Some have already started working on this problem but as we have seen partisanship means it will be almost impossible for a bill to actually get passed. So call your senators, send your representative a letter and let them know that you don't care if they are as fat and wrinkled as an elephant or smell like an ass, they must get this done if our nation has any hope of remaining a place to have pride in.
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I could not have put it better myself. I am not sure when it happened, or how, but we have became a nation of single issues, and single issues that are the most devisive at that. I am sure there was a time when people voted for someone because they represented their ideas, not because they agreed with them on one issue. That is ridiculous. To vote for someone based on a single issue is truly ridiculous and we do deserve what we have. I think I have said before, I find the courts decision insane. However, I am not sure it makes a difference. The American people have already given up their rights and responsibilities when it comes to voting and getting involved in the process. Whatever excuse we give, we deserve what we get until we learn to act.
ReplyDeleteuhm...
ReplyDelete"the only reason our government is as corrupt and incompetent as it is, the only reason it was able to get to this point is because we allowed it to be"
i disagree. My first assumption is: from the beginning of time those who have power, wish to keep that power. second assumption: pure democracy is not in the self-interest of the powerful.
I know that you're of the persuasion that the government has a legitimate right to exist and that we can change it for the better. However, I believe that the structural design of our government and economic system is at odds with pure democracy. While Chomsky puts more emphasis and locus of control on mass media than I feel comfortable doing, I think he points out some of the mechanisms by which media (entertainment, sports and news) function to influence the majority of the population.
Also, "we" are not fully to blame for the way things are, or rather, low civic participation is not the only or primary cause for the way things are. For example, "we" elected Obama, for a multitude of reasons. Primarily, people who voted for him did so because they hoped he would represent their interests. If you look at his proposed energy plans and off-shore drilling it would be a mistake to claim that environmentalists are responsible for off-shore drilling, since they voted for Obama. this is just an example. the deepest pockets always calls the shots, at least in our current society.
in a completely unrelated note... if one does not grant that the gov has a legitimate right to exist, then voting only serves to legitimize it.
...also, very well written peice. very enjoyable. I hope in the depths of my soul that you're faith in reform will prove to be the correct path. I don't agree with the underlying assumptions that you make.
ReplyDeleteBut, I want to make it clear, I offer my help in any action or endeavor that you think is important. I mean that. If there's a march, a protest, a petition, a letter-writing campaign, etc. I want to show solidarity. (this is matt not sarah PS, she would probably agree with everything you wrote and be much more cheery than me)
I always hope to hear from people who disagree with me. One of the reasons I didn't enjoy living in Seattle was that there were too many people who agreed with me. How do you keep your beliefs relative if they aren't challenged?
ReplyDeleteAlso please understand that I don't think the government has a right to exist, I just know that in a system as inherently immoral and unfair as capitalism we need something to keep the forces of greed and oppression in check, so far we haven't found anything capable of doing this other than the government. So I don't think the government has a right to exist, I think it is like an attack dog kept to protect a home or business. It is a necessary evil that we have to keep under control.