Politics have never really been an interest of mine. As kid when it was that time for all those election ads to be running on television, interrupting what I was watching, I wouldn't have a passing interest in the whole process. As I got older that level of disinterest stayed pretty constant. The whole thing seemed like a lot of talk and posturing, but very little actual work being done. Obviously laws and changes were being done at some point. Someone somewhere was running the show. The thing was unless it affected my day to day, I wasn't all that interested in knowing anything about how the sausages were made. Unfortunately this nation is made up of a lot of people who still think that way. We always hear about how great democracy is and how people around the world are fighting for their right to have a voice in the system. We hear this and yet there is quite a bit of ambivalence when it comes to the whole political system.
First off, part of the indifference may come from the fact that the system seems unnecessarily complex, meant to deter people from looking too hard. Then again maybe the government really is that complex and things are as good as they are because of all the tiny details that go into making something law. Still there are bills that go into hundreds and thousands of pages. What is all that detail really for and could anyone ever claim to understand it all? It almost seems as though it's one thing piled on another because everyone wants their piece included. Eventually it becomes unmanageable or watered down to a point where it's ineffective, defeating the purpose in the first place. There are those situations where elected officials are playing a complex game of back scratching. In order to vote for one thing they have to first promise to vote a specific way on something completely different. How is that any different from saying you'll pick someone first for your kickball team as long as they share their cupcake with you at lunch?
On the flip side there seems to be a lot of fighting among the various sides that are in charge. Part of that is because there are usually two distinct sides to anything, even if there isn't. Not everything can be broken down into black and white sides and yet it feels like either you're with Democrats or Republicans. The dividing line isn't usually so apparent. There seems to be a mentality that either you're with one or you're against another. Of course if you don't pick one of the big kids' team then you're going to be classified as part of the lunatic fringe known as Green, Tea, or Independent. It seems like it would be nearly impossible to agree on a whole with everything that a party stands for. At least as a voter I've never found myself agreeing completely with any one side. Thankfully I have the luxury of not having to choose a specific side. The people who are running for election do though. I find it hard to believe that any Democrat or Republican agrees with everything on whichever side they've chosen, however, in order to have a chance at being elected they are going to have to at least pretend to agree with nearly everything. It's the only way they can get the support from their party and ultimately the vote from their party members. If that's the case then are there politicians that are going against their own beliefs for the sake of getting elected. It reminds me of when I was a kid and being told that I had to eat my vegetables if I wanted to have dessert. In order to get what I really wanted, I'd be eating some things I didn't want in my mouth.
In that avoidance of putting something bad in their mouth there is quite a bit of misdirection going on. This is done in a lot of different ways, but the most noticeable to me is when hot button issues like Social Security, abortion, or immigration suddenly become the most talked about subjects during election time. Politicians know that they can polarize the voting community by coming out for or against a specific issue. Then the story is all about that rather than one something else that may have more substance. Now I'm not saying any of those issues are unimportant, but they aren't the linchpins that they would like us to believe. Should they be addressed? Yes. They should be looked at and hopefully resolved before they become a crisis. In a lot of cases they want you to think it's already a crisis and in thinking that way there will be a bit of panic, which leads to less thinking and more reacting. If more time was spent actually making and implementing laws that make effective change rather than on railing about something that's known to get everyone upset maybe we'd get to a point where there was reasonable discussion about what the options are. Maybe that's expecting too much from people who are more concerned with winning than with doing good.
Why do both sides spend so much time fighting against each other? The things that unite them are greater than the things that divide them and yet they choose to focus on that small fraction of issue they don't agree on. When we were kids if someone agreed with you on nearly everything except who was the better G.I. Joe ninja that didn't stop you from being friends. Your similarities brought you together and it would be stupid to let one small thing drive you apart. Now I know that a character from a toy line isn't as important as what to do about Social Security, but for children it could be. Eventually there will come a time when the debate about abortion will seem trivial because there are larger, more important issues that need our attention. Right now we can't see that because for us it seems so important that we simply can't take our eyes off it. So the fight goes on and we're being told that something is important, even if it isn't important to us. How much time has been wasted on arguing an issue until it's no longer relevant?
The thing for me that is most upsetting is that in a lot of cases one side seems more interested in beating the other guy rather than coming up with solutions that could help everyone. One side could have a proposed plan to fight inflation. They bring it to the floor and it's immediately torn apart by the other side, not because they have a better plan, but because it wasn't something they came up with, therefor it can't be any good. I wonder how many bills or resolutions have failed because if it passed that would mean one side "won" while the other gets nothing. Not every idea brought forth is going to be great. In fact by the time most ideas get through the system they're anything but great. They're just survivors of the process.
The people making the laws are elected, which means we're ultimately responsible for them being there. If we don't like what they're doing it's our job to let them know. Sure not every voice is going to be the one that makes the decision, but decisions are made by those who show up. If you don't vote then you've essentially given up your right to complain. I'm not an idealist and I have no delusions that any political system will ever be perfect. I just know that any system has room for improvement.
