Elective Ideology
by Miki SaxonMid-term elections are coming up, so I thought I would share some something I wrote a couple of years ago.
In general, I’m not a cynical person, In fact, I’ve always said that I’d rather be a chump than a cynic, but I also believe in two old adages,
(This post generated some interesting comments.)
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
The first time it’s a mistake, the second time it’s experience and the third time it’s stupidity.
I try very hard to avoid the third time.
But time and experience have taken their toll and my cynicism has increased over the years—especially in politics.
We have no leaders, let alone statesmen, just ideologues, elected by like-minded ideologues, who care only about getting reelected, bringing government money back to their constituency and making lucrative connections in the event they aren’t reelected or are caught by term limits.
In most elections I find myself going to the polls, holding my nose and voting for whomever I see as the least offensive candidate—the one I believe will do the least damage—and maybe even buy us a bit more time to find real solutions.
But I don’t hold my breath.
Solutions mean going against entrenched interests—the same interests that pony up the money needed to win the next election.
And so it goes.
Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”
Sad to say we’re at the same level that created them—if not lower.
(This post generated some interesting comments.)
Einstein also said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Americans must be insane; we will go to the polls flip the party in charge and expect different results.
Based on the past, what we will get is a different ideology that screws up differently, not better results.
Better results would require real leaders and even a few statesmen if we were lucky, but again, I’m not holding my breath.
What do you think would really make a difference?
Image credit: Atom Smasher