Select a Candidate, 2008

[miftah]

Maybe I should just shut up, I don't know much about politics. I've never really cared, and I don't think much is going to change that.

That's just the opinion of a kid though, Maybe I'll start giving a crap later.

Just hope later comes before some institutes the draft.

[Gooch]

Probably a good idea, but should I ignore it (which I probably will. Procrastination! woo!) Guess I get to say hello to Bubba, the big badass marine.

[mudflap]

Maybe I should just shut up, I don't know much about politics. I've never really cared, and I don't think much is going to change that.

That's just the opinion of a kid though, Maybe I'll start giving a crap later.

On the contrary - now is EXACTLY the time when you need to give a crap.

[Gooch]

o.o


Please inform the noob.

[mudflap]

watch. the. news.

[Moxie]

If you don't pay attention you'll end up just like me, which is either good or bad, depending on your perspective. I really don't give a crap about politics, aside from a few key issues. I couldn't tell you anything, really, about the state of the world's economics or the percentage of families living in poverty in whatever country or what senator so-and-so (I can't name a single one) said at such-and-such convention. It's all a big blur of ugly suits and lies. I'm not going to start paying attention, either. I'm a devout hedonist and have no desire to fill my head with that sort of thing, which frankly, doesn't feel terribly important to me.

[Moxie]

I forgot to add the good-natured wink:

[miftah]

What follows I don't mean to be a personal attack. Just a frank response to what I've read from Moxie and Gooch.

What we regard as history is really the stories of a given society's struggles with and against a succession of robber barons. The responsibility of anyone who lives in a democracy is to be vigilant against them...the fabled "wolves at the door."

Indulge, if you would, a small metaphor: Society is a living entity and there are some among it who view it as a parasite would. Either by leeching from it bit by bit or by trying to seize the nervous system and take total control of it. The danger in disengaging from a representative democracy is that you leave the larger organism open to these people, and given enough time, the organism becomes sick and/or dies. Anything of value requires upkeep and our society as whole is no exception. It is managed by our system of government.

To what degree people pay attention is up to them. I happen to feel the more attention you give to it, the better informed your decision will be. I can't deny though that some people don't have time to pay attention, and its difficult to blame them for it. Life's intense, no doubt.

But at the moment, we have given control of our government to the robber barons. "So what?" you might ask. Well, people are dying. Both our people and theirs, and there was no need for it to happen. The reason it is happening if so that the people in control can amass more wealth. "So what?" you might ask again. The answer is that it could be you or yours, and given enough time, it will be. Bank on it.

Our economy is faltering, our people are dying in a war of theater and our national security is limp, all because of eight years of a parasite sitting in the brain cavity of this organism. To the rest of us who are doing what we can to get it healthy, someone saying, "Who gives a shit? I just wanna have fun!" inspires a bottomless resentment and for me personally, a contempt that does more to undermine my sense of community than a 1000 of George Bush or Dick Cheney.

The American people get the government we deserve. If you don't like what you get, you have to work for something better.

[Moxie]

I should add that I did, at one time, care about these things. I made an attempt to read about issues, about candidates and current events. It didn't change anything, it just made me sad and pessimistic. I am not one of the difference-makers. I don't have money to donate. I don't have time to volunteer. I am not well-educated and/or smart enough to jump in and go spreading my opinion or attempting to make other people see things in other ways. I *do* support and applaud those who do. Not everyone is cut out for everything, and there is nothing wrong with my life being about other things.

EDIT:

"What is politics, after all, but the compulsion to preside over property and make others people's decisions for them? Liberty, the very opposite of ownership and control, cannot, then, result from political action, either at the polls or at the barricades, but rather evolves out of attitude. If it results from anything, it must be levity."
— Tom Robbins

[bio]

Of course, the democratic party is in the middle of blowing itself straight to hell, so we're going to end up with a President in his 70's who's completely out of touch with reality (again!).

[miftah]

I beg to differ, Captain Optimism.

I think this whole vicious campaign thing has the believability of a middle school play. I promise you that at the end of Act II, the Democrats will have their nominee and he will have an easy time with Grandpa Simpson. For someone who's supposedly having an easy time of it right now, what real inroads have you seen McCain make? There's a reason you're watching an endless Democratic debate. The whole world's watching them; why would they give up the limelight?