I was telling Ai the other day that I find the Voter Pamphlet they provide us with to be exceedingly dense and complicated. The booklet says one thing, and that is all very good, but distrust anything that has to do with politics; surely, as always, there is some trick to this book that is beyond me, that I am not informed enough to winkle out. For instance, if I vote for money for the hospitals, what is it really being used for? What it says? If the proponents say one thing, and the opponents say another, who is telling the truth? These things bother me. I feel my vote will be perverted by ulterior motives that I have no control over. I feel like politicians are always lying to me. I feel like Charlie Brown, running for that damned football.
In my opinion, news media is either:
1) Too politically polarized to give a clear picture of what is going on; or
2) Too stupid to understand and report accurately what is going on.
I spent part of my birthday combing through the Current Events magazine offerings at the local Barnes and Noble to see if I could find one that would suit my purpose. They are all slanted in one way or another. How is it possible? I guess I’m kind of naive. You would think, with everything going on in the world, with all the troubles, that people would find a more constructive path to channel their need than to be boorish, one-sided, close-minded.
I ended up buying a book by Jessamyn Conrad, called What you should know about politics, but don’t. It was published a couple months ago, and, while it may not be the most sophisticated book in the world, I really like it for a political primer on current issues. She claims to be nonpartisan; a critic on Amazon.com dishes her a little bit for being slightly leftist, which is okay, since she still manages not to lambaste either side too vehemently over the other (which always puts me on my guard, especially when someone or something is claiming to be ‘non-partisan’).
I just finished the chapter on Foreign Policy, and it’s like all the pieces of news I’ve read over the past ten years are suddenly falling into place. And it’s terrifying, and worse – just so goddamned sad I have no idea what to say. So much waste of life. So much mindless, needless waste. Nothing has ever made me feel as inept as I feel right now, aware of the enormity of the pain, hate, and greed in the world that has caused this, and me – even a gaggle of me-s – being powerless to help it.
I hope that whoever becomes president next is up to the task before him. I hope he uses the power of the presidency to do some good in the world, that he is better than the processes which placed him in office. I hope he will hold his duty above his own self-interest, and the interests of the greedy, despicable powers that be. We need to stop fighting amongst ourselves and gathering behind meaningless, empty banners. We need a little good. In fact, we need a hell of a lot of it.
Here’s to hoping.
And accordingly, I no longer wish hell and damnation down on the person who stole my license plate. I cannot help but be a little annoyed at your dumbassness, but you are a little fish in a big ocean full of wrong, and my being angry only tips the scale the wrong way. And so, you are forgiven. (But still a dumbass.)
