The Problem
Probably the worst thing in the modern world is the ability for the items that we write, or say, to be recorded.
Why is this a "problem?" Well, it's not really a problem, per se. However, it will make your brain work doubly hard to keep the cognitive dissonance alive. Don't believe me? Well, while you do not have to, you also probably never will. But, if you are reading this far, maybe you are willing to go just a little bit further.
Why don't you try this link, from a man who thinks that Sarah Palin hit a "home run" during the Republican National Convention. Now, there are just as many examples of this on the Democratic side regarding Barack Obama.
So, how does the problem apply? It's simple; most people latch onto a political party and in doing so, end up going whatever stupid direction that party takes them. By the end of the journey, all they can do is win some sort of contest where they go, "I'm not as bad as so and so." And with that, the standards for government will continuously de-evolve into oblivion. All so that some one or some party can win and say they don't suck as bad as someone else.
For example, how can someone who is an atheist still call themselves a Republican? This would be akin to me calling myself a "Lincoln Republican." At this point - with names like "Roosevelt Democrat", or Jacksonian Democrat" - we are just keeping up political party pretenses with sub sections so that we can have the ability to lie to ourselves, saying we are different, while at the same time latching onto the larger party structure so that we can claim victory when "whatever your political party" wins.
One blogger that I know of specifically who gets out of this mess, other than my colleague Will, is IOZ. The catch is that in order to view the debate constructively, we need to realize that the debate is the better part of a sham. The arguments we hear on television are on the margin. Nothing is going to stop American hegemony.
The problem does have itself one benefit. Well, at least it's a benefit to cognitive dissonance. One way in which political parties work so well for us is that politicians can always be blamed. The beauty of the modern American political system is that takes away any real responsibility for where we are now, or what we have done to get here. Forget that the masses voted for these people, or that the system had been engineered in a manner to solicit our attention and active citizenship. In the end, it's quite amazing how a system designed to empower people inherently allows us to have the ability to give away that same power.
Why is this a "problem?" Well, it's not really a problem, per se. However, it will make your brain work doubly hard to keep the cognitive dissonance alive. Don't believe me? Well, while you do not have to, you also probably never will. But, if you are reading this far, maybe you are willing to go just a little bit further.
Why don't you try this link, from a man who thinks that Sarah Palin hit a "home run" during the Republican National Convention. Now, there are just as many examples of this on the Democratic side regarding Barack Obama.
So, how does the problem apply? It's simple; most people latch onto a political party and in doing so, end up going whatever stupid direction that party takes them. By the end of the journey, all they can do is win some sort of contest where they go, "I'm not as bad as so and so." And with that, the standards for government will continuously de-evolve into oblivion. All so that some one or some party can win and say they don't suck as bad as someone else.
For example, how can someone who is an atheist still call themselves a Republican? This would be akin to me calling myself a "Lincoln Republican." At this point - with names like "Roosevelt Democrat", or Jacksonian Democrat" - we are just keeping up political party pretenses with sub sections so that we can have the ability to lie to ourselves, saying we are different, while at the same time latching onto the larger party structure so that we can claim victory when "whatever your political party" wins.
One blogger that I know of specifically who gets out of this mess, other than my colleague Will, is IOZ. The catch is that in order to view the debate constructively, we need to realize that the debate is the better part of a sham. The arguments we hear on television are on the margin. Nothing is going to stop American hegemony.
The problem does have itself one benefit. Well, at least it's a benefit to cognitive dissonance. One way in which political parties work so well for us is that politicians can always be blamed. The beauty of the modern American political system is that takes away any real responsibility for where we are now, or what we have done to get here. Forget that the masses voted for these people, or that the system had been engineered in a manner to solicit our attention and active citizenship. In the end, it's quite amazing how a system designed to empower people inherently allows us to have the ability to give away that same power.
Comments