Let Them Eat Cake

One of the major driving forces for starting to write, and hence, this blog, seemed to be evaporating here lately. Maybe it’s the stress in my regular non-internet based life. Maybe a life replete with head injuries and minor concussions has finally caught up to me. Maybe politics has finally reached such a level of absurdity that it’s become intolerable. Wait . . what did I just say? Whoa.

Perhaps in my youthful naivete, I believed that one aim of politics, and everything that falls under the umbrella of it, was to actually improve the polity and the lives of all therein. (Excuse me for a minute . . . ) Sorry, I just had to break into a fit of laughter which devolved into a blank stare and a single dramatic, slow-motion tear. This might be one of those necessary and painful rites of passage. I’ve been overwhelmed with what feels a lot like apathy in this regard. This was a new feeling for me. I wasn't really sure how to manage it. I don’t see politics as the process by which competing factions are refined into an equitable or more centrist solution. I see it as the process. Period. A game.

I’m looking at this on two levels: the actors in a lead role (The Executive, and Legislative branches. To a much lesser extent, the judiciary) and the supporting cast (The rest of us.) I think it’s the actions of “the rest of us” that are so troubling. (But I think this plays into the broader problems.) What is clear now is that we are bitterly divided. I’m starting to think this is part of the plan. In a Marie Antoinette fashion, “Let them eat cake.” Or more appropriate for our current economic state and the level of opaqueness surrounding much of what transpires in federal-level politics – let them kill each other for bread crumbs. A more united citizenry could be problematic - for the powers that be.

Today, I was forced to slow down. The past four or five days have been brutally exhausting. I took a couple of hours and watched “Fair Game” courtesy of my local Redbox. This movie is about former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband, Ambassador Joe Wilson. (Not to be confused with “YOU LIE!” Joe Wilson.) That apathy dissipated for a moment. I realize I have had a string of fairly light-hearted posts, and I hate to kill that semi-playful vibe, but allow the opportunity to say that it was a healthy reminder of the Iraq War and how Executive Power can steamroll and mystify us into stupid submission. I felt angry again. Not the overwhelming, uncontrollable anger. The kind of anger that can be put to good use. It felt good to be myself again.

The other day, I indicated on facebook that I was “in.” As in, I would be voting for Barack Obama in 2012. I’d like to formally re -declare my status as “In, with one foot out the door.” (Unfortunately, that option did not exist .) And that option doesn’t exist in reality either. Obama (and whoever runs against him) is set to become the nation’s first billion dollar candidate. So at that bargain price (1/3 the GDP of Zimbabwe, roughly), we Americans can elect a leader who will never have to be subject to the needs of people like you and me, but will assuredly pay lip service to doing so.

So what to do? I plan to start learning a little bit more on if some actual change is really possible. When the dust settles a bit on the homefront, I think I’ll start with reading more thoroughly “A More Perfect Constitution” by Larry Sabato. (Read it years ago, and my recollection is foggy.) I’ve done a little research on public choice theory (legislation as an economic theory) and it seems to me that the only way to curb the self-interested behavior we see with political representatives who are largely funded by major corporations and presumably advance the interests of those groups when in office, is to alter the level of “transaction costs” faced by the players in the game. Essentially, make it harder for them to bullshit us so easily. Also, I believe that voting is important. I’ll be looking into other candidates – even third-party candidates. The two-party system is one hell of a mess. I wonder if it is no longer sustainable. I would genuinely love some feedback or thoughts on this issue.

At the end of “Fair Game”, Joe Wilson (as played by Sean Penn) quotes Benjamin Franklin:

“When Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall just after the 2nd drafting, he was approached by a woman on the street.

Woman : ‘What manner of government have you bequeathed us?’

Benjamin Franklin : ‘A Republic, madam. If you can keep it.’

The responsibility of a country is not in the hands of a privileged few. We are strong, and we are free from tyranny as long as each one of us remembers his or her duty as a citizen. Whether it’s to report a pothole at the top of your street or lies in a State of the Union address, speak out! Ask those questions. Demand that truth. Democracy is not a free ride. I’m here to tell you. But this is where we live. And if we do our job, this is where our children will live. God bless America.”