American Warmonger

The politics are killing me...and you.

Many moons ago I was disillusioned by smooth talking individuals that promised the world or told me the person who promised the world is evil and not to be trusted. Who am I to believe? Am I to believe the guy that says he can get it done or the defeatist that says it can't be done? So what am I really talking about? Politicians.

I'm not even going to say that Republicans try to get things done and Democrats are just defeatists. If you believe that you've got your head stuck so far up your backside you can taste your food again before it gets digested. Both parties play the same asinine games depending what side of the fence they're sitting on. Are Democrats for the filibuster AND against it? Yes, so are the Republicans. Nobody in Washington wants to do what's right. They only want to do what will help their cause.

Okay, there's a problem. Now what can we do about it? As far as I can tell there is no real solution less than overthrow of the government structure or the lofty illusion of electing independents. Neither of these solutions can really hold much water to reality.

Now that I think a bit deeper on the topic there is one real solution that would need to start from a group that has the capabilities to guide minds. The media can fix this if they cared about anything besides the almighty dollar. What needs to happen is something called a paradigm shift. This is the swaying of groupthink from one ideal to another. It's changing how people think about their government.

Okay, great. We change how people think about government. What the hell does that do for me? How can that help set the wheels of government churning again? Remember that government is elected by the people. If we can shift the paradigm from being the two party system into that of a partyless system. Yes, I know that sounds rather utopic but shouldn't that be what we're trying for? Is it not better to shoot for the stars and land on the moon than to just look up from the ground and never try?

The big flaw in this idea is that the news outlets not exist to report the news. They exist to entertain, just like any other media source. You can see that fact by the overall play time of these dumbass domestic issues we see everyday. Natalie Holloway is fish food and if she isn't I wish she was. She has wasted more media time than any missing person should ever have taken. The only footage from Scott Peterson I wouldn't mind seeing is that of his execution. Frankly I could care less how he dumped the body off of the boat. The only reason they play these stories is not for the newsworthiness but for the heartstring value. It brings in the little old ladies that let themselves be pushed and pulled around by every little heartbreaking story. It gives the news outlets ratings.

Ratings are what the news truly runs on. The only piece that resembles news anymore, other than the weather, is the political arena. That is barely news anymore. The media has pitted Republicans against Democrats because by presenting them in that light creates controversy. People latch onto controversy. It's exciting to watch polar opposites dig into each other in combat. Today's political arena seems to be nothing more than pro wrestling from fat old guys in nice suits, at least that's what we see on television.

So now we know how the media shows politicians. Is that really how politicians act though? Yes, it's absolutely how they act. If acting like the media wants you to will get you on television, in front of your constituents more often than the other guy then they'll be more likely to vote for you. Of course it can have a negative effect, but not usually. So the politicians play to the media, the media plays to the ratings and the country gets screwed in the process. Shouldn't we at least try to fix this? Don't we owe it to America to try?

Posted by aakaakaak at August 2, 2005 10:16 PM | TrackBack