Comment Same as always? Probably not. (Score 3) 572
Yes there has always been gridlock. There has always been corruption. There has always been backroom political scheming.
BUT:
-Has voter turnout always been so low?
-Have campaigns always been so pre-fab and lifeless? (the accounts of the early conventions and debates in Walter Kronkite's autobiography are highly recommended)
-Has mass-marketting always been so influential?
-Have elections always had so many people who are voting AGAINST a candidate, rather than for one?
-Have large corporations always held this degree of control over politics and legislation? (I don't think examples are necessary in this crowd)
-Has the mass-media always played such an influential role?
Sure there have always been problems with our democracy, but to pretend things today are just the same as they always have been is to completely miss the real lesson of history. Things are always changing. The world is not static. Nothing is as it always was. Politics is continually evolving, and not necessarily in ways that are good.
Our government is steadily becoming less and less representative of the people. Fewer people vote each election, because they don't feel their vote makes a difference. And by and large they are right. I don't think that's the way it was in Washington's day.
Is Ralph Nader the answer? No. I'm rather more inclined to think Ralph Nader is an asshole, but that's beside the point. You need not be a zealous pseudo-radical to think that something is wrong with our government today.
BUT:
-Has voter turnout always been so low?
-Have campaigns always been so pre-fab and lifeless? (the accounts of the early conventions and debates in Walter Kronkite's autobiography are highly recommended)
-Has mass-marketting always been so influential?
-Have elections always had so many people who are voting AGAINST a candidate, rather than for one?
-Have large corporations always held this degree of control over politics and legislation? (I don't think examples are necessary in this crowd)
-Has the mass-media always played such an influential role?
Sure there have always been problems with our democracy, but to pretend things today are just the same as they always have been is to completely miss the real lesson of history. Things are always changing. The world is not static. Nothing is as it always was. Politics is continually evolving, and not necessarily in ways that are good.
Our government is steadily becoming less and less representative of the people. Fewer people vote each election, because they don't feel their vote makes a difference. And by and large they are right. I don't think that's the way it was in Washington's day.
Is Ralph Nader the answer? No. I'm rather more inclined to think Ralph Nader is an asshole, but that's beside the point. You need not be a zealous pseudo-radical to think that something is wrong with our government today.
