When I say there are
things about politics I don’t understand, I say that having a degree in
Political Science from an accredited university.
I was visiting last
week with a friend who also happens to have been a Political Science major in
college. Conversation, of course, turned toward politics and the present
chaotic state of our union. I was amazed when I asked him the things he would
propose to straighten out the mess in Washington. I was amazed because he
uttered the two words I have been saying for years in answer to that same
question. Term limits.
Being run by long-term
government officials who makes a life’s work in “public service” is not how our
democracy was designed to work. The citizen politician who has a real job in the real world is supposed to give a
couple of years in service to his country by serving in the government. After
he or she has done his or her part, get out of the way and go home to your real
life like the rest of us. As soon as it became important for a politician to be
re-elected and that politician became willing to trade influence for money to
pay for the expenses connected with running a campaign for re-election, the
whole deal came unraveled and leapt headlong into a huge pile of stupid. The
deal is no longer about serving and doing the right thing, it is about being
re-elected. It is only about being re-elected. Not about the good of the
nation. Not about doing the right thing. Just about getting re-elected. Pitiful.
We can argue about it
till the world slows on its axis and gets sucked into the Sun, but there is no
way to get around the truth that an electorate that finds it can vote itself
money and support out of the public treasury will surely vote for the candidate
who promises the most benefits. You don’t have to like that truth. You don’t
have to agree with it. But you will live with the consequences of it.
Both parties are
guilty of paying people to vote for them – influence peddling. They, in
essence, are saying, “You vote for me and I will deliver the goods.” Both Democrats
and Republicans do it, with different recipients, and then act appalled that
the other party would do such a thing. The Democrats are constantly railing
against the Republicans for being in the back pocket of big business. How dare
they support tax benefits for those horrid rich people? We all know that it is
God’s will that the rich should be taxed so the Democrats can make good of
their promises to the people they are paying to vote for them – the unemployed,
the underemployed, the I-don’t-really-want-to-be-employed, people in need of
free stuff (health care, educations, housing, food, child care, etc.) By the
way, (This is what my father would call an astute observation of the obvious.) free
is never free. Everything costs someone something. Just because you didn’t pay
for it does not mean it is free. So, the Democrats make good on their promises
and the Republicans paint them as dirty rats for rewarding poor behavior and
lifestyles and supporting people making poor life decisions.
Our system is built
on the philosophical concept that it is the government’s responsibility to take
care of me. That is not the intent of those who formed it but it has morphed
into that because of our career politicians. Where did the idea that the government’s
job was to hold my hand cradle to the grave? I don’t really know. I suspect it
began with FDR when he started looking at ways to fix the depression. His
administrations are proof that there is nothing more dangerous than a
government intent on fixing a problem. He tried many things and is credited
with ending the Great Depression. And he deserves that credit if you believe he
got us into World War II. Because it is our involvement in that war that ended
the depression – not all of Roosevelt’s social programs. It is my belief that
his most wonderful concept, Social Security (This, dear reader, is sarcasm.),
is the thing that got us on the death spiral of believing it is the governments
job to make sure my life is trouble free. Of course we should pursue this
philosophy because it is working so well in the European countries that adhere
to it. (Sorry, sarcasm again.)
It is an election
year so here come the political commercials. What a load of crap. I will just
stay this: 1% truth; 49% spin; 50% lies. Both sides. Every time.
Here is what I don’t
understand about people and politics. Why do older people get so wrought up
over politics year after year after year? Whether you tend to lean toward the
Democratic Party or the Republican Party, or find yourself somewhere in
between, after watching the government in action (or inaction) and in its usual
gridlock for many years, and when not in gridlock, making amazingly asinine
decisions, how can any thinking person beyond the age of 55 expect anything
good to come out of Washington? Why get all excited when you know that whatever
the outcome, nothing really helpful will come out of Congress. If you insist on
supporting a political party, how could you be anything but a Libertarian? By
Libertarian, I mean someone who basically wants the government to just get the
hell away from them and do as little damage as possible. He or she is a person
who is basically asking the government to provide some protection and infrastructure
and other than that, let me live life as I see fit. Quit making decisions for
me and for goodness sake please quit trying to fix things. Please STOP. I beg
of you – STOP!! The phrase, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”, did
not become a joke for no good reason.
Here is a little
truth for the political true believers in the reading audience. The government
is not going to fix your problems. A new job is not going to fix your problems.
Winning the lottery is not going to fix your problems. The church is not going
to fix your problems. And I am not going to fix your problems. If your problems
are going to get fixed, you will be the one doing the fixing. Once you grasp
that reality, your life will greatly improve and your frustration level will go
way down.
So, am I excited
about this year’s election? I sure am. I am anxious for it to be over.
Copyright © 2012,
William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved
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