You might think I am sick of the advertisements - I am not, really, as I have almost no exposure to them anymore (not listening to radio or television will do that for you). You might think I am sick of the political speeches (see previous reference to lack of radio and television). You might even think I sick of the candidates themselves (on that, you might be right).
No, what I am truly sick of is the smugness and hubris of people.
It is splendid, I suppose, to be enthused by one candidate or the other - it is a bit like a sports team, perhaps. It is even okay, I suppose, to be rather excitable about your point of view.
What is not okay - what is never okay - is the crass and utter destruction of anything resembling human relationships I am observing.
I chose the word "smugness" intentionally. Because that is what I feel as I watch people list that they voted. It is not the sense of exercising the vote, the proud action of a free citizen participating in their republican form of government. It is the sly, sickly smile as someone proclaims "I fought fascism today" or "I fought communism today" or "I am getting the country on the right track" or "I am keeping the country on the right track".
Believe me. Read the actual histories of World War II or Korean or Vietnam or the Cold War. None of you are doing anything close to that. At best you are voting against a person or a party you disagree with. And no matter how much you like to believe it, the authoritarianism you are theoretically voting against will rise up to control you with more glee and smugness than you ever experienced when you left the voting booth.
The reality is, the day after the election is decide, when someone wins - and someone eventually will win - these same people will have to go back to the people they named communists or fascist or just plain evil and somehow realize they have torched relationships for the sake of politics. "We are all in this together" we will hear - but in reality we will be farther apart than ever. Raised fists are seldom turned into open arms.
Maybe I write more for myself than for the country at large. I am rapidly finding that the circle of people that I am interacting with - or even want to hear from - continues to become smaller and smaller, mostly by my own choice at this point. Having lived through the election and having seen how people are reacting, I am coming to see them as they really are. Occasional interactions are no substitute, it turns out, for what people actually believe and enable in their lives. Or perhaps rather, people have always told me who they were and I chose to ignore that because in some way, I would either believe the best of people or at least believe they were not as they seem to be.
It has become like a forest fire: having failed to clear out the underbrush in the good times, we are left a fire that consumes all in a roaring inferno with heat so intense that it is creating it owns weather, a vortex of flame and embers that destroys everything in its wake as it hurls smoke to the sky in cascading billows.
Those that think they will wake up to a new utopia will only awaken to a dead landscape, burned to ash.
Sometimes, I think of things, and then visit them occasionally to see if they are valid or if they fit reality...
ReplyDeleteI remember the gold chain wearing mid-lifers. The realization of fading youth, made them unbutton their shirt and take stupid risks. My "mid-life" crisis, was to realize that life is short, dirty and ugly. If I can surround myself with good people. People who tell me like it is, call me out when I need a come-uppence, or commiserate, the short-dirty-ugly is a bit more bearable... might even be nice at times. And this is important to me at this stage of life.
I crave clarification. If I can see clearly, the way is obvious. Folks that help me see clearly are priceless. That's why I visit here...
Thanks STxAR! What a kind thing to say.
DeletePeople are the point. And the fact we are torching our relationships as fast as we can is not a promising development long term.
Standing Ovation!
ReplyDeleteI have a DVR and never watch anything live these days so I miss the television commercials and mostly I listen to public radio so I miss the ads there too though I suppose I'm exposed to the biasness of reporting. The one positive about the Plague is that I have an excuse to avoid others who want to spit with fervor about their political candidate of choice.
I already voted absentee this year and for the second year in a row, voted third party. I already know my candidate won't win or even get a mention on election night so for me, these next two weeks are already anticlimactic. Although I have voted for both of the two major parties over the years and for candidates that went ahead and won the presidency, I've never been enthused about my vote. I've always felt like I voted for the lesser of two evils. If I could dream of one change that I would like to see our country undergo politically, it would be for a third centrist party to become relevant.
Ed - Trust me, if the small sampling I am getting while here at The Ranch is any indication, you are missing precisely nothing.
DeleteI, too, have voted for both major parties over the years. I really wish we had a viable third party - but then again, I wish a viable third party had a track record of some kind: running a county, a state, something that they could demonstrate that they can successful achieve what they proclaim. The "Trust Us, we can do it" motto never works out well anywhere else in life.
I am also, as you are, tired of voting against something instead of for something.
TB I am probably full of beans, but I think your nation is fighting for its soul. As I get older, I become more convinced that the demons that wish to enslave us or destroy us... they attack us through our virtues first. Once they are burned away only scorched earth and vices remain.
ReplyDeleteGlen, I think it is fair to say that history shows that once virtues are gone, only the vices remain. Until they are burned up in the inevitable firestorm that comes because of them.
DeleteI have no dreams of utopia. I think that I'm a realist. I'll also tell you that I am sick to death of all the political discussions and debates and controversy and advertisements and phone calls and...
ReplyDeleteWell, let's put it this way. I've had to take a bit of a break from news and social media. It just got way too overwhelming.
Debby, I completely understand. I am a political science major (or was, at one time). I enjoy the theory of politics, but am sure not enjoying how politics is run these days. Or maybe this is just how it has always been.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
I agree that the Superior "I Know More Than You" attitude can get on one's nerves. People should consider how many times a politician or judge will rule against what they promised they would do.
ReplyDeleteThis election is important - it isn't a difference between two men, it is the vision of what a future America is steered towards.
Anonymous, I always find it interesting that for both parties, their constituents (on the whole) do not hold them accountable for how they act the bulk of the time they are not campaigning. If they did, there would be a lot more primary challenges.
DeleteAgreed that this is a vision sort of election -that said, I am not sure most people are thinking of it in that light. The question to ask - for any party - is "If your vision is practiced for 20 years, what will my children's or grandchildren's (or relational child of your choice) look like?"
Thanks for stopping by!
I'm so glad to have discovered your blog; my wife pointed me to it after she recently discovered it.
ReplyDeleteVery encouraging to read of your interests, particularly Japan and Japanese culture, martial arts, etc.
This particular post was enlightening. I myself have been musing about how my circle of friends seems to be shrinking, and not without my own hand in the shrinking. Interesting times...
I'm looking forward to browsing in your archives and getting better acquainted with your thinking. I like what I see so far!
S.K - Thanks so much for the very kind words (and please thank your wife for me!). I very much appreciate anyone who takes time out of their day to read and comment here (it is in such short supply, after all).
DeleteIt is odd to me - I do not know that I have taken such an active role in slowly pulling in my acquaintance borders as I am now. Or at least as consciously as I am doing it.
Thanks for stopping by!