Impossible Politics Options

[Merica]

I just wrote a blog called Impossible Politics [link removed], which discusses my uncertainty about politics in general. I thought some of you here might relate to my ponderings. If you're interested then feel free to read, and I'd greatly appreciate any comments (on the blog page itself, preferably).

In all honesty, I want Obama to rule England. Dude's cool as fuck. Obama, or Bruce Willis.

This post has been edited by Merica: Jul 19 2018, 8:36 am

[Sakhmet2]

Damn, I should have discovered the off-topic forums sooner.

For my fellow forum goers from across the sea, or north or the border, or where ever, American politics are like if the WWE acquired Budweiser's marketing arm except instead of highlighting 'roided men or skimpy, flirty women they have to sell crotchety old men. Combine that with a populace that cannot devote more then fifteen seconds to any given thought or image and you have the American government.

Our government was intended to be by the people and for the people. Unfortunately, the people have surrendered their power to control their government to cable news and shifty politicians because being responsible for things sucks. It's sooooo much easier to blame someone (anyone!) else for everything that's wrong. To make matters worse, we've come to accept that all our politicians are assholes and routinely vote for which one stinks less. Because of this, political debates often devolve into glorified finger pointing and shit slinging, and he who is caked with the most shit is usually the loser.

Since we no longer spare any time to learn about the issues at hand politicians' talking points are often simple, short, universally acceptable and vague. For example, one of Pennsy's candidates for governor promises to lower taxes and increase benefits. Peachy, aside from the fact that those vague generalities explain nothing and are a tad contradictory. Addressing complex issues with complex solutions is political suicide, more so today then in past years I can remember as displaying any sort of intelligence is viewed negatively. That, or forgetting to wear your flag pin are the two quickest paths to losing an election.

To make matters worse, both major political parties play down to the field. With no real competition for their first year of power, the Democrats began infighting opening the door for a Republican resurgence in 2010 and possibly 2012. The Republicans, though, knowing they only need to not be Democrats to see gains in 2010 are devoting all their efforts to smearing and cockblocking. Hey, politicians are people too, and if you can give 20% effort and win, why would you ever think of giving more?

In addition to sucking both political parties in an effort to separate themselves from each other in the minds of the voters spend a great deal of time campaigning on what are called "wedge issues" such as immigration and gay marriage. According to most politicians, as well as nearly every cable news outlet, there are only two sides to any given wedge issue. You're either for immigration (read: illegals) or against it, for gay marriage or against it. There's no grey area, despite the fact that complex problems usually require complex (or grey) solutions. Those are hard to report on though and compromise just isn't sensational so we ignore them. Just as another kick in the balls, most wedge issues have very little to do with properly maintaining a national economy but many of us Americans vote based off of the wedge issues anyways.

We also do corruption well in this country. In order to get people to the polls and voting (especially on the national scale) politicians need expensive, repetitive ads running on TV and in print. These advertisements are often very flashy and well composed which costs a great deal of money to do, not to mention the money it costs to buy the ad time. Even with a healthy donation pool from the Joe Sixpacks of America most politicians won't have the cash to fund these ads (or the aides, or the managers, or the spokespeople, etc.) and here enters the corporations. It is never stated explicitly, but generally if a company makes a generous enough donation to a politician or party they usually see a little back from the government in return either in favorable laws, tax breaks, or other such incentives. To compound matters politician has (d)evolved from a temporary pursuit of someone passionate about their country to a career choice. If being a congressman is your job, and the only way to get a raise is to vote yourself one (which will likely see you lose your job) you might be tempted to turn to outside influences to supplement the ol' income. I know I needed another yacht, was nice of Goldman to give one to me as a gift...er...donation...er...forget about it.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. At the end of the day, the people still control their own destiny, government or otherwise in this country (excluding a few special cases, of course) provided we assume both the responsibility of the job, as well as the blame for the horrid mess that's been left by our inaction. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure how to remind everyone that they can make things better provided they take ownership over their government and their actions. Ah to hell with it, I'll just go watch some TV.

Oh, and just so I don't feel left out, I'm an eight dollar an hour stock boy with a Bull Shit in chemistry. Judge as you please.

Congrats on that B.S. That's probably what makes you such a good political analyst; politics is all b.s. anyway

For myself I have a grad degree in ancient Mesopotamian archaeology. It's an ultra-useful degree which qualifies me to file unemployment claims in cuneiform