I’ve been following the elections pretty closely, more closely than any previously, which is surprising because it’s just a pathetic mid term election and I have never voted and don’t plan on doing it any time soon. I’ll explain that more in the next post. But in essence that’s why I haven’t posted in some time, I’m busy and I don’t really think anyone but spammers are reading this thing anyway. If you are reading this, and not a spammer, post so I know, reassure me, I need it.
So thank god the election is over, I was getting sick and tired of watching attack ads, and so are a lot of American’s, but apparently not enough. The biggest out come of the election: most of the moderates in Congress are now gone, on both sides, so what does that leave us? Compromise? Solutions? Bi-partisan efforts to make significant change and bring our Country out of this hole? Probably not. With the moderates gone and some Republicans saying that their only mission now is to stop President Obama, I don’t see much hope for solutions, compromise and any real improvement in the quality of our lives. What I can say is that certain industries will continue to make money, the banks, Defense industries, and energy industries. I suggest you invest in these, that is if you have any money left, I don’t.
I am not a Republican or a Democrat, I am not part of the Green Party or a Libertarian. I am not allied to any party or group, I am myself, that is where I start, that is my bias. I believe knowledge is important, that each person should try to gain as much as possible, if only to better themselves, or to make themselves more happy. Of course I do believe that there are some who have an investment in ignorance, or some who find comfort in it, and I think that is sad. The one thing that makes us different from the rest of the life on this planet is that we can think beyond basic instinct levels. We have created art, culture, and technology. We have removed ourselves from the cycle of nature. We have risen above the rank and file of normal animal life on the Earth. Yet we find ourselves bickering like animals, instead of pulling the political discourse above the muckraking and attack ads, we relish in them. It seems to me like a lot of us are sick and tired of attack ads and dirty politics, but their proponents will tell you time and again that they work, for the most part. So they won’t give them up until they don’t work, why give up a good thing? So it’s up to us to make sure the dirty politics do not work. It’s hard I know, they are entertaining, and seem to get the point across better than the traditional “Hi, I’m Bob and I’m running for Senate, This is what I believe…bla bla bla” But attack ads aren’t usually fact based, full of misrepresentations, misleading evidence, and outright lies. But we don’t pay attention to that. I heard on NPR that one group did some fact checking on political ads and only found one that was pure and honest and not misleading or misrepresenting the truth, and I only heard this on NPR, which most American’s don’t listen to. I love NPR, but it is so dull and drab, at least compared to FoxNEWS or CNN. Yet NPR seems to me to be more objective and true to the ideals of journalism, something that FoxNEWS and CNN completely fail to do. So the one reliable source of news, is so boring, no one listens to it, instead they get their news from sensationalist TV personalities, not true journalists.
So now to the point, finally. You have two choices to in a political atmosphere like this. You can loose yourself and your mind in the realm of pundits and political narratives and the sensationalist news that seems so exciting that it must be true. Or you can think for yourself. It’s as simple as that. Most people I talk to are only capable of reciting slogans and political party propaganda. They think they know the issues, they are inundated by the pundits telling them what to think, so they argue with one another. And since they have no real facts, no real understanding of the issues, nothing to really argue about, they resort to yelling at each other, which solves nothing.
Our nation was founded by citizens, patriots, sitting down with one another, in taverns and town halls, discussing the issues. And they had a lot to discuss, I think most people believe that ‘The Founders’, those mythical figures of our past, were some monolithic creature which believed what they believe, and the Constitution proves it. Yet our founders were not some monolithic creature, they were human beings, from a variety of backgrounds, and with a variety of ideals and ideas. There was much discussion in those days, and arguing too. Not everyone in the colonies were convinced revolution was the right thing, some thought it to be a radical idea. So there was a lot of discussion, not yelling. People sat down and talked to each other, trying to understand the others position or maybe enlighten the other on your own position. But what is different now is that we don’t talk anymore, we yell and scream so nothing can be understood and nothing can be accomplished. If we are to take only one lesson from our founding fathers that is this: talk to each other and listen, debate ideas because we are all a little different, but we are still the same, we are human beings, who, unlike the rest of the animals, can talk and listen to each other, we can debate ideas and find a compromise, our founding fathers did it and we can too, and if we remember only that single lesson from them we will survive forever, because we will constantly adapt to new environments and thrive in them. Remember: two heads are better than one. When we talk and listen we learn and compromise and get something more out of it than what was put in. We become stronger through knowledge and understanding. We become weaker by yelling and screaming and solving nothing.
So who’s side are you on? Reason and improvement of our lives. or Screaming and stagnation. Choose your side.
