The Sad Truth About American Politics
Ever since I started having in interest in Government and Politics I realized one sad truth about politics in America. That sad truth is that most American politicians are that they do nothing or they do little. To explain this further, they do either two things: they either go for band-aid solutions to the problem or keep talking about the problem without actually doing anything.
The first thing they do is to just talk about the problem. In this do-nothing response they either talk about the problem in a variety of ways. They either talk about the problem in general but they don’t offer any type of solution. They can talk about the problem in general but do not talk about the root cause of the problem. Finally, they talk about the problem but they provide a solution that is worse than the problem.
Now, name an issue. Like now with the current occupations. They pulled the same crap, with Afghanistan and Iraq, and now they doing the same s**t with Iran. We are seeing the same solutions like financial or economic sanctions or worse: Outright war. They’re doing the same crap with as they did with Afghanistan and Iraq.
With Earth Day on the way, we are hearing talk about clean energy and the environment without talk of the root causes and the solutions. We all know the real solution for the potential energy crisis. But all we are hearing is either nuclear energy, natural gas, or more drilling for oil. But the real solution is a crash course in real clean energy and conservation. But are we hearing that? NO
The second is the band-aid approach. The band-aid approach is where they treat the symptom of the problem but do not go after the root cause of the problem. The problem with this approach is that it either hides the problem until it happens again or it makes the problem worse. The recent Health Care Reform Act in my opinion is a good example of a band-aid solution. And why is it a band-aid solution? Because it does not truly control costs via insurance premium limits. There is no provision for the Federal Government to regulate insurance rates even for basic care in the Health Care Reform Act that was recently passed.
Why politicians do either of the two ways of problem solving? If they did their actual jobs, like going after the root causes of problems via legislation they would eventually be out of a job because they have little knowledge of new problems that face them and will be effectively voted out by newer people who know what problems they face. American politicians in general are less motivated by public service and they are more motivated by political careerism. Essentially how much more money and influence they get, and the more they will serve their real masters: The corporate and wealthy funders (instead of their actual constituents, THE PEOPLE)
That is the sad truth of American politics; most politicians do not actually go after the root causes of the problems we face.
Frankly, for the most part I'd prefer that the politicians use up most of their time in endless debate, it's when they actually try and "fix" something that I start getting worried...
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“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson
Jacoby
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iamnotaparakeet
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I think that if America is to remain a Republic, that the current process of election should be defenestrated. Whatever process to replace it should have the purpose of eliminating the idea of being a politician as a career. People who rule should be people who know what it is like to have been ruled.
If America continues its course of political nonsense as Rome did, it may be interesting to see if a general or admiral decides to go Julius Caesar style.
Jacoby
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Alas, this is very true.
Yes, but then you'd get rid of any good politicians too after a few terms - plus it's not like they'd go away - they'd just go to different jobs in the executive/judiciary/state government - or get replaced by people just as corrupt.
Problem is, government right now is stagnant - there's no incentive to actually fix things - you fix things, you take a risk if your fix isn't effective or is effective but doesn't show results fast enough to keep up with elections. You take nominal actions, kiss a few babies, stand in front of a flag and talk about how wonderful and patriotic you are - people buy it, you take pretty much no risks and you get re-elected. Voters are dumb and ignorant because they have no incentive to care - so they care more about sex scandals and other non-issues than about their politicians' voting records. News media knows people don't care so they focus on fluff issues and scandals, so people become even less informed. No idea how to fix it though - government is as good as the people that accept it, and if the people don't care, why would the politicians care?
Jacoby
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I can probably count the number of "good" politicians in Washington on one hand so I'm not too worried about term limiting them. Way more bad ones have been entrenched in congress for decades. I actually think it would make for a more talented legislature since leadership, at least I hope, would be more based on talent and ideas rather than seniority and who did the most favors.
It wouldn't solve all the problems of an out of control government but it would at least give people a fighting chance. The advantage of the incumbent is too strong to ever change anything.
I can point to a few factors that I think contribute to this:
1) The frequency of elections. Because representatives must face the ballot box every two years, a great deal of public policy making is focussed on capitalizing on the current Zeitgeist. Polling is king, and positions are staked out, not on the basis of their soundness as a public policy approach, but rather how they will play in the media, "back home."
2) Campaign financing. Politicians are beholden to the hand that feeds them, and so long as they are allowed to take large cheques from PACs and other deep pockets, their interests in public policy making will always converge with those interests.
3) The apathy cycle. A significant bloc in the electorate is persuaded that voting is irrelevant, which means that politicians can safely ignore the opinions and ideas generated by people in that bloc, which further entrenches apathy.
Significant democratic reforms, like term limits and campaign finance regulation will only occur when it becomes politically expedient to do so. That will only occur when enough people who are fed up with their representation insist on reform at the ballot box.
As long as Americans are prosperous enough not to care who gets elected, reform is a pipe dream.
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--James
If America continues its course of political nonsense as Rome did, it may be interesting to see if a general or admiral decides to go Julius Caesar style.
A government can be staffed by people picked by chance, as in being chosen as a possible juror. This method was used in ancient Athens to populate the juries that heard cases and made laws. Every eligible adult citizen of Athens had his name placed in the pool and names were selected by lot from the pool. People were not allowed to serve two years running and the choosing happened every year.
ruveyn
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