Politicians R Us
I’m sick and tired of everyone blaming politicians for our problems.
If our intent is to truly identify who’s at fault for so many troubles, then perhaps we should all look into a giant mirror.
Hey, people —————- it’s *us.* We are the problem.
Do you really think politicians are any different than all the rest of us? Of course not. They reflect precisely who we are. They reveal our core values. principles, and priorities. They mimic our own morality and ethics. They’re clones of our character.
Yet, politicians get singled out all the time. Jokes. Memes. Derision. Constant criticism. Next time you see a social media post criticizing “politicians,” dig deeper. Voters excoriating politicians is sorta’ like blaming Jack Daniels for a hangover. Yeah, the Jack made the room spin and sent us into the toilet. But we poured ice into the glass and picked up Jack (several times), lifted him to our lips, sang his praises, and now it’s 5:17 am on a Sunday morning. Instead, how about taking some measure of personal responsibility? Politicians aren’t a foreign occupying force of outsiders holding the rest of us as hostages. “We the people” put them where they are and “we the people” give them their authority. Fact is, they come 100 percent from our population pool. So maybe, the *problem* is with the population pool. Ever think about that?
Sure — many politicians are indeed corrupt…..that’s because so many of us are corrupt. Many are inept…..because so many of us are inept. Many are dishonest…..because so many of us are dishonest. Many lie…..because we lie. It’s far too easy to point over there at the bad guy rather than doing the harder deed and taking a look at who *we* are and admitting *we* created these problems ourselves.
And what do you expect from a society that worships money? What do you expect from a culture where someone meritless can be famous just for being famous? What do you expect to happen when we take marching orders from the billionaires who have so often gamed the system at the expense of others? America’s economic and political system is rigged so that power and money flows upward to the top; and capitalism is that tool rewarding grift, where the objective of all markets is to destroy competition, and hoard all the proceeds. Whoever ends up with the most toys wins. When a culture views lying, stealing, and dishonesty as daily entertainment, what else would you expect? Truth? Honesty? Seriously? Get real, people.
We make celebrities out of criminals. Half the country now seeks clarity from a dysfunctional megalomaniac who appropriately renamed his company “X,” lacking any understanding of civics or the foundations of a representative democracy.The same goes for sports, which is no longer a game, but a business. It’s the same in nearly everything we do. What do you think it is that America leads the world in the consumption of antidepressants, and so many wealthy celebrities commit suicide? The capitalist shell game tragically produces many victims. Money. Money. Money.
Given these realities, why would politics — at local, state, and national levels — be any different?
People created these problems. Only people can fix them. Gee, it’s such a fantastically simple concept.
Building a better nation might begin with electing better leaders and quit singling out politicians as morally and ethically inferior. Quit parroting the tired old tropes of politicians as atypical fraudsters. The fact is — POLITICIANS R US. Until we recognize this fact, nothing changes.
Improvement begins with fixing ourselves.
