- Joined
- Apr 22, 2019
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- Political Leaning
- Progressive
There's a paradox that politics don't matter in an of themselves. There is nothing really exciting about stupid donkeys and elephants, cheering for politicians, good government creating regulations, public budgets. The less people have to deal with politics, the better for them.
Except.
Politics have a huge impact on people's ability to do other things. On their power, their wealth, sometimes their freedoms. You want roads, healthcare, education, clean air, and more income - politics have a huge impact on that. And so it's rather important for people to care about the garbage that is politics.
Unfortunately, few do - when they DO care, it tends not to be about things that matter more, and more about the 'team sport' and personalities and who to hate and bickering and propaganda.
And unfortunately, when people do get a bit involved in politics, it tends to be for petty self-interest, not the public good, not justice for others.
The analogy for me is like having a county fair, and giving everyone a gun as they enter. When they went to the fair they had no interest in conflicts or violence or guns, but now that they have one, a lot more conflicts tend to crop up. Things that wouldn't have been arguments become arguments, and arguments that wouldn't have escalated, escalate. As a net effect, you see more tension and shootings happen.
That's what people tend to do with their power in politics. They, using a white person for example, might not be interested or setting out to harm, say, black people. But when their choice is one politician saying 'I'll do more to blacks and less for whites, and the other says 'I'll do more for whites, and less for blacks', who are they going to choose?
And so you get politicians pandering to majorities, because that gets them elected, even if those majorities weren't out for the pandering agendas otherwise, and you see bad policies, you see injustices. You see people supporting things because they happen to be carrying the gun of a vote, that they weren't trying to do otherwise against others. But hey, if someone's gonna get shot, it better be them.
We've allowed money to dominate politics. And money comes from people who want to gain money wrongly, by buying the policies they want. good government, the public interest, don't tend to get a lot of donation, while harmful policies that will enrich someone get big bucks. All voters tend to get are acts at best and lies at worst. The didn't pay for that politicians, why would they get anything more?
Except.
Politics have a huge impact on people's ability to do other things. On their power, their wealth, sometimes their freedoms. You want roads, healthcare, education, clean air, and more income - politics have a huge impact on that. And so it's rather important for people to care about the garbage that is politics.
Unfortunately, few do - when they DO care, it tends not to be about things that matter more, and more about the 'team sport' and personalities and who to hate and bickering and propaganda.
And unfortunately, when people do get a bit involved in politics, it tends to be for petty self-interest, not the public good, not justice for others.
The analogy for me is like having a county fair, and giving everyone a gun as they enter. When they went to the fair they had no interest in conflicts or violence or guns, but now that they have one, a lot more conflicts tend to crop up. Things that wouldn't have been arguments become arguments, and arguments that wouldn't have escalated, escalate. As a net effect, you see more tension and shootings happen.
That's what people tend to do with their power in politics. They, using a white person for example, might not be interested or setting out to harm, say, black people. But when their choice is one politician saying 'I'll do more to blacks and less for whites, and the other says 'I'll do more for whites, and less for blacks', who are they going to choose?
And so you get politicians pandering to majorities, because that gets them elected, even if those majorities weren't out for the pandering agendas otherwise, and you see bad policies, you see injustices. You see people supporting things because they happen to be carrying the gun of a vote, that they weren't trying to do otherwise against others. But hey, if someone's gonna get shot, it better be them.
We've allowed money to dominate politics. And money comes from people who want to gain money wrongly, by buying the policies they want. good government, the public interest, don't tend to get a lot of donation, while harmful policies that will enrich someone get big bucks. All voters tend to get are acts at best and lies at worst. The didn't pay for that politicians, why would they get anything more?