Politics

I am starting to believe, maybe wish, that politicians are going to make themselves completely irrelevant. I was listening to Joe Sestak on NPR tonight (he is running for Senate in PA) and i liked a lot of what he had to say, but i did not really believe a word of it. I do not think i am the only one. I am not talking just about him either. I do not trust anything that any politician says and i bet most of the people in the country do not either.

Republicans and democrats will not agree on anything so virtually nothing gets done. There are some major problems out there that should be dealt with but they are not because these people in our houses of government are more worried about maintaining their power than they are about doing a good job for the country. It is not about making the world a better place it is about keeping your party in and the other party out.

States and cities are starting to make their own moves toward green energy or other things that need to be done because it is becoming apparent that you can not wait on the federal government. It seems that if anything is going to happen it will be on the local level because the federal government is too busy bickering to get anything moving.

Why vote in the big elections? It seems like an opiate to me. People believe that their vote makes a difference and it keeps them from enacting real change or from doing something that might actually be worthwhile. Most of the time, it feels like even if you knew you had the vote that would decide the whole thing, what difference would that make? How do you tell who is the better choice? Petty quarreling is mainly what we get in the name calling that we have for elections. It also seems to be all that politicians do. When do these people work? There is a near constant stream of campaigning that goes on, no sooner are they elected, that they begin raising money for the next campaign and getting out on the trail. It is madness.

The things i think we need to do will never be done. So much money goes towards these campaigns. If you are not a super rich person, you can not compete in a campaign. That money could be much more well spent. Do not let politicians advertise. Make several debates and give each of them an equal amount of air time. Hopefully this will allow better candidates to emerge. Money does not need to be a factor. Why should we be spending billions of dollars as a nation on political campaigns. It would be lovely to actually get to know a candidate and have it not be a money contest.

I do not pretend to have all the answers but the system does seem broken. I want to declare my neutrality from it. If you want to vote, do it in a way that counts. Vote with your shopping. Companies listen to that sometime. Don't buy into the system. Stop spending money on all the disposable crap we use. Don't drink bottled water. Stop using disposable cameras. Walk when you can. Tell off someone who speaks racist garbage in your presence. Get off the electric grid. Run away to the woods. Do something. Work in a soup kitchen. Be nice to a stranger. Feed a parking meter for somebody. Stop watching so much TV.

This is a super late night rant. I know the voting thing is a touchy issue. People died for our right to vote. That makes me sad. That can not be all it is about. People will shove that down your throat and make you believe that by once every couple of years going out to push a button you are making a difference. It keeps people happy and feeling like they did their part and it creates the illusion that we have a voice. That can not be all you do. Politicians lie to you. You have no idea, really, what you are going to get when they get into office. If you want to vote, do so, but do not let that be all that you do. Make a difference around you in the world, make it a better place and let your vote be the icing on that cake. Good luck trying to figure it out, i know i haven't.