I often like to think of what events in my life will be remembered in years to come. When 9/11 happened, I think I began to grasp what kind of time I was growing into, what things the world would face as I started to face the world.
I have always been optimistic, trying to find good even though this country continues to disappoint me. Lately it has been hard. Instead of coming together to try to fix a broken health care system, Republicans and Democrats are fighting amongst themselves, each one not trying to be seen as Socialist. The problems in Iraq are surmounting, beyond repair, yet we continue to stay in it. The Democrats are allowing the wiretapping of Americans, trying not to be seen as "soft on terror."
Last year, when the Democrats took control of Congress, America, to the best of its abilities, was trying to send a message. We do not like the way things are going. And we still don't. Recent Gallup polls show a 32% approval rating for Bush, and a even lower 23% approval rating for Congress. For some reason, Democrats and Republicans are still fighting amongst themselves, trying to gain our approval, and obviously failing.
The case of the recent veto of an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), and the Democratic response is a perfect example of how politicians only care about their personal perception. One Democratic ad attacks incumbent Representative H. James Saxton of New Jersey: “Did you know Congressman Saxton gets health care at taxpayers’ expense, but Saxton and Bush are blocking health care for 10 million children? Tell Jim Saxton to put families first.” The Democrats used Graeme Frost, a 12-year old suffering from brain injury, to issue their rebuttal to Bush's veto of the program. Republicans responded by undercutting Frost and his family, and accusing them of exploiting a young boy for political gains. (To see a pretty awful, but informative, run-down of the tearing apart of the Frost family, read conservative Michelle Malkin's blog.)
Instead of working together, our two-party system is fighting against themselves, not realizing they're destroying each other and bringing their country down with them. I no longer have faith in this political system, because those in charge of it only care about their own credibility and not about making this country a better place. If our leaders do not worry about those they govern, what makes them leaders? They may say that they are concerned about what the average American citizen thinks, but, as shown by their approval rating, they do not have the courage to try and make a difference. Attempts at change will always bring failure with it, but our leaders refuse to subject themselves to the potential for failure, and therefore, the potential for change.
I cannot have faith in a system that not only refuses to learn from failure, but actively denies it. We are no longer the greatest country in the world, if we ever truly were. I am still optimistic about what history will say about my generation, but I no longer care what it will have to say about the American political system. If our political leaders do not care about my generation, then I do not care about them.
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3 comments:
Amen, Jeff. But you'd better care about them, cause they're the ones making the shitty decisions. Anyway, who wants to get caught in a cycle of haters?
Good point Jeff. This data obviously poses a lot of difficult questions that I haven't even scene attempted to be answered. One key question is what is different in the discourse between the liberal media and liberal politicians that has created the gap between mass disapproval and the fact these politicians were elected? I think this problem must be fundamentally much more complicated than the commonly blamed syndrome of politicians losing moral initiative once reaching office. There is a sufficient amount of reason to believe that politicians act more in the motive of self-image and preservation than public good, but here too I think the issue must be much more complicated.
I would guess that problems stem at least as much from the media and the public as from the politicians. The media has a terrible tendency to simplify complex issues and appeal to emotion rather than reason. One could also blame an increase in public political apathy as a symptom of a postmodern society. Because of the IMO huge public lack of understanding of such complicated issues as health care and the Iraq war, voters/Americans can't accurately comprehend which side is right or wrong beyond what their party allegiance tells them.
I myself regrettably fall into the I-want-to-understand such issues category and I read the columns and other standard fare but remain largely unresolved on many issues. Like I know the Iraq war is in bad shape, but a best line of action is by no means clear to me.
I'm becoming less and less a fan of capitalism and I think as a country and society the end results of capitalism are being felt more than ever before. Liberals often point to Sweden and Norway as happy, well functioning models of the liberal ideology. Maybe the answer to America's problems could be resolved better by adapting a democratic socialist model similar to the ones of Northwestern Europe. With the current Socialist-phobia being spread around, I find this an improbable solution in the near future.
Any thoughts Jeff?
I never realize how dramatic 9/11 was until I realized we have no word in the English language for it and refer to it only as a date. Imagine if WWII were referred to as 12/7...
I don't like the idea that politicians should never change their minds ever over the course of their lives. It means that nobody can be convinced due to changing times or new evidence to change their positions.
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