How To Combat & Alleviate a Lazy Political Culture
Let's face it people, we are currently living in a lazy political culture. This is a stage, this is only a stage, and the reason I think that is because we are in for great changes coming later this year and in the next year. The idea of who will be president is now up in the air, we need to accept that it can either be Clinton or Obama and have to make peace with that either/or reality, otherwise how else can we take the White House back for America?
According to recent poll, 82& of Americans are not satisfied with the way our country is going. Who can blame them? The quagmire in Iraq, the possibility of Iran, the housing crisis, the pressure at the gas pump, No Child Left Behind is failing, our international relations are screwed, and we have a president who would much rather dance at summits, make faux solutions to serious problems, and marry his daughter privately( he's put more into his daughter's wedding than the whole country in general) than do something. Thank G-d I'm in that 82%.
Anyway, what does this poll mean for us? Its just a poll that politicians can either agree on or easily deny. What does that mean to the common American like you and me? Ironically, the same thing. In better times, polls like this would inspire people to do something like start national marches, go to people's doors to rally support for their cause, leave class to rally, demonstrate, and protest. Who is doing that now? I remember in high school I wanted to leave and protest the war in Iraq so much the second semester of my freshmen year, but couldn't because the pressure to stay in school was too much I had to give in. People did, people still do, and for that tidbit at the beginning there were sparks of something changing. Yet, in the past few years, the protester is viewed as an enemy for some odd reason, and get bad press rather than good, not to mention frowned on by many. As someone who is very well aware that America was born on protesting, it's disappointing.
What is making us lazy? Our busy, technology-addicted lives is one. The modern life is run by machine, from the television to the treadmill. We believe whatever the TV tells us, even though most of it is sensationalized entertainment covering for news. We cannot help that we are busy, because we are. We CAN help by recognizing the distractions. For example, the last news broadcast you watched, how many minutes were you watching of more on Barbara Walter's illicit affair with a former Senator versus actual coverage of the war in Iraq? Britney Spears' spiraling downfall rather than the state of mental health of our troops? Anna Nicole Smith anything versus coverage of people suffering from the 9/11 illness? Sound familiar?
Case in point, its time to wake up and become more involved. Rather than watch the news, make the news not for the news itself but because you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Organize a march on Washington for whatever is pissing you off at the moment. Call your Congressperson, schedule an actual appointment with them. This is America,goddammit, we are a democracy! Let's DO as we say. It's one thing to write on a blog, its another thing to let the blog inspire you to go grassroots.
Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go grassroots.
According to recent poll, 82& of Americans are not satisfied with the way our country is going. Who can blame them? The quagmire in Iraq, the possibility of Iran, the housing crisis, the pressure at the gas pump, No Child Left Behind is failing, our international relations are screwed, and we have a president who would much rather dance at summits, make faux solutions to serious problems, and marry his daughter privately( he's put more into his daughter's wedding than the whole country in general) than do something. Thank G-d I'm in that 82%.
Anyway, what does this poll mean for us? Its just a poll that politicians can either agree on or easily deny. What does that mean to the common American like you and me? Ironically, the same thing. In better times, polls like this would inspire people to do something like start national marches, go to people's doors to rally support for their cause, leave class to rally, demonstrate, and protest. Who is doing that now? I remember in high school I wanted to leave and protest the war in Iraq so much the second semester of my freshmen year, but couldn't because the pressure to stay in school was too much I had to give in. People did, people still do, and for that tidbit at the beginning there were sparks of something changing. Yet, in the past few years, the protester is viewed as an enemy for some odd reason, and get bad press rather than good, not to mention frowned on by many. As someone who is very well aware that America was born on protesting, it's disappointing.
What is making us lazy? Our busy, technology-addicted lives is one. The modern life is run by machine, from the television to the treadmill. We believe whatever the TV tells us, even though most of it is sensationalized entertainment covering for news. We cannot help that we are busy, because we are. We CAN help by recognizing the distractions. For example, the last news broadcast you watched, how many minutes were you watching of more on Barbara Walter's illicit affair with a former Senator versus actual coverage of the war in Iraq? Britney Spears' spiraling downfall rather than the state of mental health of our troops? Anna Nicole Smith anything versus coverage of people suffering from the 9/11 illness? Sound familiar?
Case in point, its time to wake up and become more involved. Rather than watch the news, make the news not for the news itself but because you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Organize a march on Washington for whatever is pissing you off at the moment. Call your Congressperson, schedule an actual appointment with them. This is America,goddammit, we are a democracy! Let's DO as we say. It's one thing to write on a blog, its another thing to let the blog inspire you to go grassroots.
Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go grassroots.