A Part of the Solution: Politics and Me

[A rebel in your thoughts, ain’t gon make it halt
If you don't become an actor you'll never be a factor]
- Lupe Fiasco

I really never liked election years. The silly commercials, the debates and the posturing always seem distasteful to me. Everyone is talking about it more and more, though, and since it seems pertinent to say something about all this political activity, I will put my ‘two cents in’.
What I expect from this this upcoming election is some solid political discourse. Looking at the problems in our country, and coming up with a solution for them. Talking about ways to eliminate the budget crisis, making sure the school systems don’t have to cut essential educational programs due to financial problems and so on.
What I get is something rather like the ‘reality TV’ shows Americans seem to love. The silly banter, and the banal mudslinging is so ridiculously useless. None of it actually accomplishes anything except convincing certain Americans to vote for one or the other of the candidates.
The root of our problem is, as I see it, not thinking enough for ourselves in all of this.
I seem to recall a time when folks really took it very seriously when an election was coming up. They would read about the candidates, research their backgrounds and try to make their vote count for what they believed personally. Some people I think still do this, but they are the exception, and not the rule.
I admire this approach. It is the correct one. Politics can get ugly pretty fast, but if the voters know the facts, and they honestly believe in the person they are voting for, then the system is a good one, regardless of who ‘wins’.
Instead, we allow people like the talking heads on TV to tell us what to believe. We hear a few things from them that sounds like what we think we should believe, and that becomes our basis for voting for someone. The talking heads on TV only gum up the airwaves and peoples minds with political discord. I can’t think with all that noise.
I like the idea of American politics, the way it should be, but not what it is. Our history is full of examples of good political dialog. People coming together to solve issues that need to be addressed. No, they don’t always agree, and no it’s never very pretty. But that dialog seems to be gone.
We can’t even get the members of our two-party system to sit down long enough in the same room, to discuss the budget deficit that affects every last one of us, regardless of party affiliation.
Those people are voted for by ‘we the people’. We put them there, and ultimately that makes us responsible. Their inability to have dialog represents a much deeper issue. It shows us that inherently, we are the same as them. Regardless of the issues at hand, and there are many, we don’t put the right people in office, because we can’t stop the arguing amongst ourselves. We wind up choosing ‘the lesser of two evils’ instead of the ‘right one for the job’.
We vote for someone because they have the same religion, or because they are handsome or because they are Liberal.
We rarely vote for someone because they have skills and abilities that make them ideal for a position. I believe we don’t even know what those skills should be.
This election year, I will do more research. I will look at and think hard about the ‘right one for the job’, not the one with the best rhetoric.
I believe that there is a need to be more responsible, on my part, for who I vote for. I’m tired of being disgusted with politics. I’m ready to have some good dialog. I’m switching off the talking heads, not voting because of anyone else’s take, and making my own decision, based on my own research.
How about you?