Politics
O.K., I know I shouldn’t touch this one with a ten… no, make that a twenty-foot pole, but politics is a subject which interests me. Not the bickering, name-calling kind of politics, but the honest to goodness workings of our government and the men and women who either keep it going or gum it up. When my teaching assignment was fifth grade, we studied the branches of government (Executive, Judicial, Legislative), read from our texts, and watched educational cartoons like, “I’m a Bill.” I learned that Democrats and Republicans are the two major parties, and if a person wants to know more about them, the internet stands ready to help. It all rubbed off on me and made me more aware.
Each morning the newspaper and my homepage blurt stories of what’s what and who’s who in the daily torrent of governmental parties’ information and behind-the-scenes intrigue. It seems most of it anymore is about money; why we don’t have it, who does have it, and how our government can get it. One story today tells me a candidate is having trouble raising money for a campaign, and the other that the U.S.
Anyway, I like to talk about politics, but no one else that I know does. We’re all interested but have been trained since youth not to talk about politics, religion, or money. We may be divided by party lines and ideologies. Maybe we‘re afraid of starting an argument which we think would alienate a friend or family member. Perhaps we might have to acknowledge our thinking was mixed up on something and feel the need to change direction. That in itself could make us feel wrong or dumb. Who knows? Until we figure it out, I guess we’ll go on discussing the weather, clothing, criminals, and the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Hmmm, sounds a little like politics.
I love discussing politics but I find that it is an area that is difficult to be dispassionate about -- which is, of course, why it is an almost-taboo subject for normal conversation. I don't really care about the "party" of a political person -- just their decisions and actions. While it is true that I normally agree with the decisions and actions of people of a particular party -- it is the decisions and actions that I agree/disagree with and not the party affiliation.
ReplyDeleteI find that one big problem in discussing politics is that people like to refer to our government as a democracy. It is a REPRESENTATIVE democracy. So, we should be electing people who we would choose to represent us -- and, if we do OUR jobs correctly, then they should be in sync with the majority of their representatives.
However, with the way that the electoral procedures really work -- people vote for/against people based on what they SAY about themselves (and what they say AGAINST their opponents). This is based on ability to buy media and candidates with more wealth can do that more easily -- and it is a lot easier for (especially incumbent) politicians to get that money in big doses from a small number of companies/PACs than from lots of individual contributors. So, guess who they end up REALLY representing?
In the end, however, it is truly the responsibility of individual citizens to do THEIR jobs and determine who they want to represent them. We have a great constitution and a great potential government but it requires people to work at it.
Wow, Charles! You really do like to talk about politics. And I agree with you. Of course, I had to read it three times because obviously, your knowledge of the subject is way above mine. Thanks for reading. Joan
ReplyDelete