It's that man again
Nov. 3rd, 2004 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avevale_intelligencerAnother four years. And this time he either got a legitimate majority, or hid his callifudging rather more effectively.
We only get a far-off and distorted view of the politics of another country. We don't know anything we don't get from the news, from messages from friends, from Michael Moore and other such commentators. But it should be no surprise to anyone when power goes to the venal, the incompetent, the downright insane. They're the ones who choose to go into the race, to seek the power. The rest of us have more important, more enjoyable, more satisfying things to do. When we do go into politics it's because we want to make a difference at a local level, or maybe add our voice to a consensus with which we agree. And, since we make that choice, we can hardly complain if the people who get voted in don't do what we would do if we were in their shoes.
Bush in particular has been on the way for a long time. Government is run by the moneyed and always has been: democracy is a joke among them, and to the rest of us a smoke screen to hide their dirty scheming. He's just being more blatant about it than the last few have been, either because he can't be subtle or because he doesn't feel he has to bother. He bought his first term, quite openly, and whether he cheated on this election or not is now irrelevant. No-one will ever get the Republicans out of power again, because they don't have to hide their manipulations any more. Over here, we have two identical parties, so the interests of the moneyed will be served identically whichever one gets in. They don't have to care any more.
The only way out is revolution. And that will be worse, with a very very slim to non-existent chance that it might get better somewhere down the line.
I guess, at bottom, I'm just disappointed.
We only get a far-off and distorted view of the politics of another country. We don't know anything we don't get from the news, from messages from friends, from Michael Moore and other such commentators. But it should be no surprise to anyone when power goes to the venal, the incompetent, the downright insane. They're the ones who choose to go into the race, to seek the power. The rest of us have more important, more enjoyable, more satisfying things to do. When we do go into politics it's because we want to make a difference at a local level, or maybe add our voice to a consensus with which we agree. And, since we make that choice, we can hardly complain if the people who get voted in don't do what we would do if we were in their shoes.
Bush in particular has been on the way for a long time. Government is run by the moneyed and always has been: democracy is a joke among them, and to the rest of us a smoke screen to hide their dirty scheming. He's just being more blatant about it than the last few have been, either because he can't be subtle or because he doesn't feel he has to bother. He bought his first term, quite openly, and whether he cheated on this election or not is now irrelevant. No-one will ever get the Republicans out of power again, because they don't have to hide their manipulations any more. Over here, we have two identical parties, so the interests of the moneyed will be served identically whichever one gets in. They don't have to care any more.
The only way out is revolution. And that will be worse, with a very very slim to non-existent chance that it might get better somewhere down the line.
I guess, at bottom, I'm just disappointed.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 07:41 am (UTC)Seriously though - thanks. That really was lovely and true. I think you should cut and paste this in your own journal and/or let me do so in mine. It deserves its own entry.
It makes me feel like rereading books like "The Grapes of Wrath" which show very clearly that America is not about who is in power at the time.
Or more succinctly: "I knew that!" ;-)
Hugs!