Cynicism leads to apathy, sure, but that doesn’t make it okay.
Along the lines of an earlier discussion here regarding complaining without acting, I came across a post on a blog I’m reading regularly, Violent Acres, called The Government Who Cried Wolf to which I had some mixed reactions upon reading it.
The general gist of it is this — since there’s so much bullshit coming out of Washington now, it’s impossible to know who to believe (this part I agree with), so I’m disengaging from the process (this part I vehemently oppose). Apologies if I’m messing up the message, but that’s what I walked away with.
Yes, there’s an unmitigated pile of lies streaming from Washington. The Democrats are lying, and the Republicans are lying. Over and over again, the people who are in power demonstrate that the most important thing is to be in power, not how one uses it. So the Democrats talk a tough game, but when push comes to shove, they cave since they want to keep their position of power. And the Republicans… well, I have an obvious bias here, but they’ve just given up any sense of shame and overtly screw us over and over with little to no pretense of there being a problem.
But in both cases, what we get is a gigantic steaming turd of dishonesty, and it’s next to impossible to know who to believe.
But if we disengage from the process, then the dishonesty has won. If we don’t hold these people accountable, then why even bother calling ourselves a democracy?
I call my representative and tell him what I want him to do. The typical result is some form letter back that states a position without stating a position, but occasionally I’ve seen it make a difference. Not just when I do it, but when others do it.
C’mon, V, don’t disengage. Your goal was to teach him not to lie. But the rest of your post teaches us that if you lie enough, you get to win over and over because people stop caring. That’s not a solution.
I don’t have an answer that makes everyone happy. Disengaging may be more personally gratifying, but I’m choosing to look at the bigger picture and stay engaged. I read the news every day, I read the alternative press to try to filter out some of the bullshit and get to what’s really happening.
Maybe it’s time to start supporting more independent candidates. I don’t know. I do know this Democrat/Repbublican, Kodos/Kang, Jack Johnson/John Jackson stuff isn’t doing the trick. Instead of disengaging, how about pushing for change? Push to try to end this stupid two party system. Push to end the electoral college so the decision on who gets to run the country doesn’t boil down to who can pander the most to a couple of swing states. Push to hold elected officials accountable — there are still some people of conscience in Congress who back good bills to bring this thing under control, but they’re not heard. Maybe if enough of us shout about it, they will be.
Just a thought. I know I’m not disengaging, no matter how cynical I get.