Millions of Americans are deeply concerned about the direction in which the country is heading. Some think government is too big and spends too much. Others think government is not doing nearly enough to care for the needs of the people. But most Americans don't care one way or the other. They are the silent majority, the politically apathetic.
Why do so many Americans care so little for politics?
In the first place, achieving personal fulfillment is a full-time task. There's always something to worry about. Being preoccupied with the circumstances of his/her own life, believing that what does not affect him/her should not concern him/her, the average American confines his/her attention to those matters which most directly bear on one's personal well-being: paying the bills, family relations, maintaining friendships, planning vacations, etc.
Then, too, three is the bitter acrimony that accompanies the typical political debate. Partisan commitments sharply divide family members, ruin friendships and even end in divorce. Apathy is merely the means of avoiding fights. But there are some deeper dispositions that feed the fires of apathy in America.
One source of apathy is rooted in the belief that politicians and the political process, as such, are "not worth a damn." Call it cynicism. It's not so much that the people are turning their backs on politics, but that the politicians have long since turned their backs on the people.
Politicians lie for a living. They mostly begin their careers as lawyers. When a lawyer steps into a courtroom truth and reality are left behind. His/her job is to press the most persuasive case on behalf of his client (the defendant, the plaintiff, or the people). We have an adversarial system and that's what the ethical canons demand. Their law schools train them to take one position then argue the opposite position with equal eloquence and zeal. Like the sophists in Socrates' day, lawyers are people who know how to make a good argument sound bad and a bad argument sound good.
The ones who most often win their cases get a sense of their own power. Overgrown egos seek greater power, so they run for public office. That's where the real power lies. And since no one wants to be a loser, the candidate will do whatever it takes to win his/her political race.
What it mostly takes is money. So politicians become beholden to the donors who fund their campaigns and make promotion to higher office possible. The donor class consists of lobbyists who plead for special privileges on behalf of the organized special interests who employ them. The result is an ever-bigger government giving ever greater benefits to an ever-expanding, universe of organized interests.
That's known as democracy. The Constitution, after all, gives Americans the right "to petition government for a redress of grievances." But should the denial of special privilege be considered a legitimate "grievance." At any rate, the practice results in ever-greater government spending, a national debt (now $34.5 trillion), and annual interest charges presently in excess of $1.5-2 trillion
The question is how long can this "lifestyle" be sustained?
Related to this circumstance is the cynic's frustration with a political process that gives the average citizen no real choice. "They (the politicians) are all alike." "No matter who you vote for, you get the same damn thing." "They just say and do whatever they think will win them the most votes." They never take a real stand on any controversial (which means important) issue. And, if they do, it isn't the same one they took two years, or two campaign miles, ago." "Why vote when you don't know who, or what, you're voting for?"
Though we can say that the cynic is making a gross overgeneralization (surely not all politicians are corrupt), that is not his/her real mistake. It's not that the conclusion is incorrect, so much, as that your response is inappropriate. If you read about a number of burglaries in your neighborhood, you don't conclude that "all men are thieves," and leave your front door open as you go away for a two-week vacation. You secure your house as best you can and join others to demand stricter law enforcement procedures and more cops.
If you sincerely believe that all politicians are crooks, you surely can't afford to throw your hands up and turn your back on politics. There isn't a criminal alive who is capable of taking from you all that can be legally confiscated with one stroke of a politician's pen. And, there is no police force in the world that will protect you from that kind of a "crook." There is only the right to vote.
This is the heart of the problem, but it is also the key to the problem's solution. The politician's entire charade is perpetuated, not by some incomprehensibly evil force, but by the premise of cynicism and the practice of apathy. All the crooked schemes, political machines, evasions, and glistening smiles in the world will not protect a sleazy politician from an aware, aroused citizenry. And this is the fundamental truth that gives lie to the cynic's withdrawal into apathy. He/she has more power than he/she dares dream about. In America, the freest nation on Earth, there is entirely no reason to regard man as a helpless, political captive.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
-What it mostly takes is money. So politicians become beholden to the donors who fund their campaigns and make promotion to higher office possible. The donor class consists of lobbyists who plead for special privileges on behalf of the organized special interests who employ them.
How do we get rid of the donor class or better still how do we the people become the rightful donor class?
Pat Moynihan was the last honorable, insightful and truly caring American politicians.Uncorruptable.He was brilliant. Not a hyper-partisan ideologue. Though a lifelong Democrat, today he’d be considered “ far- right” by the CommunoIslamoFascist unrecognizable Dems and far-left by the too recognizable Republicans. I would call him the most patriotic American Independent. And he was rewarded for his decency with a knife in the back. Leon Panetta was the saboteur. Moynihan was never credited for his achievements. It was Moynihan who craved the Egypt/Israel Peace Treaty. Jimmy Carter was a virulent antisemite whose sympathies invariably were reserved for Islamists, given their shared hatred of Jews. Carter wouldn’t so much as look at the proposals put forth by Moynihan, but took all the.credit for the remarkable achievement. Moynihan, years later said his greatest regret was having campaigned for Carter.
Moynihan was the brain behind Reagan’s greatest legacy. The end of the Soviet Union and Cold War. A social scientist, he was able to read people. He unstood what made them tick. Reagan didn’t. Moynihan received nary a mention. He. convinced then VP George HW Bush against any NATO expansion. beyond newly reunified German. Russia was very weak and would see it as a betrayal and a threat, pushing the former Muslim entities taken by the Sovients to radicalize and align with Iran and also push a Russian alliance with Iran. He was proven correct when Clinton embarked on expansionismThough Russia had only contempt for Islam, a common enemy creates unlikely bedfellows and a resentful Muslims would indeed find comrade die with radical Islam
Moynihan was fervently pro-Israel. Reagan has nothing but contempt, second only to Kissinger, James Baker and Weinberger. Reagan was very concerned with Iran’s commencement of nuclear weapon development and wanted to disable their ability. They were in the early stage of building the turbines. Moynihan urged him to employ Israel to take them out. Israel was best equipped to do so. They knew every location, the terrain ,schedules and how Iran operated. Israel understood the Iranian psyche, had the best trained stealth pilots could strike surgically with minuscule casualties and without detection. Reagan, in his stubbornness and arrogance dismissed the proposal. Kissinger, the most vehement of antisemites.. the self loathing variety, mocked Moynihan, a devout Catholic ceaselessly. Calling him “Jewboy” telling Moynihan since he felt such an affinity for the Jews he should pack his bags and emigrate to Israel. Reagan made the absurd decision to use the Nicaraguans Contras,Moynihan was unable to change his mind, warned it would be a catastrophic mistake. It was. And Reagan, with the irredeemable CIA attempted a cover up. Moynihan could not abet the coverup, telling Reagan he would resign unless he came clean to the American people. He would destroy his standing and ultimately his pregnancy. At his wit’s end, he went to his unlikely, but very close friend, Goldwater. Regardless of the hatred of Goldwater based upon fallacies, Goldwater was very honest. Together they went to Reagan with an ultimatum. Come clean or we will go to the press. Reagan came clean and saved his presidency. Taking responsibility for one’s mistakes is often met with Grace. It takes guts to admit being wrong. In Reagan’s case, it wasn’t bravery or driven by honor. It was the threat of being pilloried by the press. Moynihan, again was correct. Moynihan also warned against using theMujahadeen to over the Communist regime in Afghanistan. It would result in an Islamist takeover. And it did. The Mujahadeen are better known as the Taliban.
Moynihan authored an editorial published in the NYT. , calling for abolishment of the CIA. It was extraordinary and succinct. His prophecy was correct. The CIA is the most corrupt, dark, manipulative threat to the American people. A cabal of murderous psychopaths. As monstrous and powerful an entity it was then, it has metastasized, expanded 300x since and is now so demonic and corrupt as to be untouchable.
The last epic battle and utter betrayals
of the American blue collar and farmer workers occorred concurrently Clinton’s NAFTA Trade alliance.and Clinton’s NATO expansion, Moynihan was fiercely opposed to illegal immigrationmultilater trade deals and outsourcing American manufacturing. Moynihan was devasted. He was a supporter of Cesar Chavez and the farm workers Union.American jobs that were the livelihood of many otherwise unskilled workers. They were pelaced by migrant, low wage workers, decimating toss dependent on their jobs in order to put a roof over their head and food on their family tales. The NATO expansion betrayed the signed treaty with Russia was an encroachment and Russia was forced to align with Iran for self preservation. Moynihan was a thorn in Clinton’de. Panetta dealt with it by leaking Moynihan’s letter to Johnson, urging him to delay putting forward the Civil Rights Act , painting him as a racist.Johnson was the racist. Moynihan was anything but. His. call to delay was to set the stage for a ready transition that would result in trading, improved schools and housing creating upward mobility and self reliance. Resuscitate a permanent dependent class relegated to the vicious cycle of ghetto life. Johnson wanted them to remain a beholden underclass with all those ni&@rs voting Dem forever.Look where we are now. Obama pushe harther, adding more NATO members, resulting in Russia’s conflict with Georgia. The 2014 US orchestrated 2914 Orange Revolution and ouster of the duly elected Russian friendly President , installation of American owned puppet, Poroshenko,legitiming and arming Ukranian Nazis ended with Putin annexing Crimea. The denizens , 90% persecuted ethic Russians were only to happy to reunite with Mother Russia. And Biden has pushed used to WWWIII with the total usurpation of the Eastern block and every EU nation. Great job!
Why are so many either angry and hopeless-resentful, feeling voiceless, unrecognized and so frustrated that the anger is escalating to violence, suicide and nearing Civil War others are exhausted. Worn out from the constant fighting, name calling and have reached the point of such disappointment, they no longer care. If America collapses, they’re resigned to it. We have a choice ( or not, given the Dems inevitable theft by rigging the elections. The Republicans don’t even make an effort to thwart them. They prefer cannibalizing their own, obsessing on the most divide and overreaching issue that should have been put to bed long ago. A total ban of abortion and now fighting in the Supreme Court to have the abortifactant pill removed by the FDA. To satisfy their brand of Christianity. I find it a violation of the Separation of Church and State, religious freedom, the Right To Privacy,Doctor Patient Privilege, bodily autonomy, government overreach, equal rights and sadistic. There must be sane parameters. The extremism is begetting extremism and meanwhile, America is imploding people. cannot afford healthcare, childcare, food or provide for those outside the womb. Forcing women to bear an unwanted child from an unplanned pregnancy, including that of rape, incest, a 13 year old who did something stupid and isn’t physically developed or mentally developed enough to handle the changes, hormonal shifts, vomiting or pain of childbirth is beyond cruel. But they won’t let it go. We’re living in a time of such uncertainty, on the brink of a New World Order of tyrannical transhumanist technocratic slavery .. our every freedom being stripped away with increasing rapidity. Our assets being seized, our voices silenced, our every move surveilled, targeted, abusive, coercive “ Behave, conform or expect armed Feds to raid your home and take you to prison in cuffs and ankle chains. I would not bring a child into this world. Literal IslamoNazi mobs in the streets and their insane Marxist acolytes carrying placards emblazoned with Death to the Jews , Hitler Was Right, Fire Up The Ovens- and the most enthusiastic supporters are delusional, self loathing Jews.
White Christians a labled the greatest threat to democracy, Domestic Extremists,,colonizers, White Patriarchy, KKK, Nazis
Segregated classrooms, DEI, CRT, BLM, Hamas, MS-13 brutal gangs, radical sexualization and indoctrination of children..
And we have a choice between to divisive, uncouth unfit candidates. One, senile, insane, corrupt to the core and souless. The other, uncouth, exhausting, no impulse control and so narcissistic he suck the oxygen from the atmosphere. The other e bales enough carbon ni oxide and sulphuric to melt the sun.
Trumps only salvation is Tulsi Gabbard on the ticket. She is strong, honest, young, a great messenger , independent, interesting, modern and… calming. It’s the Hindu influence. My son in law is Hindu, his parents emigrate to the US in the early eighties. They’re wonderful. Lovely culture
RFK Jr is quite interesting and unlike the rest, goes after the epicenter of the tyranny. The UN/WHO/WEF/endemic corruption, corporate capture, war machine, Pharma, tech , Great Reset, CIA.
They’ll kill or disappear him .
I’d kill… for a Javier Milei, Burkele, Geert Wilders or Polivievre.