Of the People, By the People, For the People!
The older I get the more I realize how important it is to get involved in at least trying to influence this screwed up world in some sort of positive direction. Reading some of the blogs on here is encouraging to me as it shows that there are some citizens who aren't completely apathetic to what's going on in the world and in their own country. Unfortunately, I think they're in the minority-especially in America.
The prevailing attitude of most Americans seems to be, "politics are boring, news is boring, I just trust the government etc.". I believe this attitude goes a long way to explaining why Americas' young people are dying in a completely unnecessary war, why global warming continues to ramp up the volume with bigger and better natural disasters, why the middle-class has become an endangered species and why this countrys' leaders continue to act any way they see fit, lying, pandering to lobbyists, stealing, voting themselves pay raises, shipping american jobs overseas and generally shafting Joe Q. Public left and right. American politicians act this way for one simple reason, they know they can get away with it. This is because, one they think the American public is in general-stupid, and two they know that at the least the majority of Americans are woefully ignorant of the issues and are too busy being entertained by "Deal or No Deal", to realize they're being played for fools. The year leading up to the invasion of Iraq proved this to be true without a doubt.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't particularly care for being treated like an idiot. I don't believe that most Americans are stupid, but I do think they are underinformed, due to a misguided notion that being a citizen means simply existing, buying stuff, having fun and standing during the national anthem. True patriotism means paying attention, knowing what's going on and then acting on that knowledge by making informed decisions and voting . Anything less is a slap in the face of our forefathers and all of the men and women who've given their lives for this nation. Perhaps more importantly continued apathy by Americans will be the nails in the coffin of this democracy as a democracy can only thrive when it's people are knowledgable and engaged. Just one Americans opinion for what it's worth.
The prevailing attitude of most Americans seems to be, "politics are boring, news is boring, I just trust the government etc.". I believe this attitude goes a long way to explaining why Americas' young people are dying in a completely unnecessary war, why global warming continues to ramp up the volume with bigger and better natural disasters, why the middle-class has become an endangered species and why this countrys' leaders continue to act any way they see fit, lying, pandering to lobbyists, stealing, voting themselves pay raises, shipping american jobs overseas and generally shafting Joe Q. Public left and right. American politicians act this way for one simple reason, they know they can get away with it. This is because, one they think the American public is in general-stupid, and two they know that at the least the majority of Americans are woefully ignorant of the issues and are too busy being entertained by "Deal or No Deal", to realize they're being played for fools. The year leading up to the invasion of Iraq proved this to be true without a doubt.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't particularly care for being treated like an idiot. I don't believe that most Americans are stupid, but I do think they are underinformed, due to a misguided notion that being a citizen means simply existing, buying stuff, having fun and standing during the national anthem. True patriotism means paying attention, knowing what's going on and then acting on that knowledge by making informed decisions and voting . Anything less is a slap in the face of our forefathers and all of the men and women who've given their lives for this nation. Perhaps more importantly continued apathy by Americans will be the nails in the coffin of this democracy as a democracy can only thrive when it's people are knowledgable and engaged. Just one Americans opinion for what it's worth.
posted by Leo at 2:13 AM
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