Politics is Useless

Hi Readers,

When I first made the foray into the field of politics and history in high school, I'd periodically run into people who would caution me against digging too heavily into politics. I was destined for disappointment, so they said. These people were almost always the politic gurus - the people who know every details about everything you could possibly ask about politics.

Over my observation of both US and international politics in my 4 years here, I've slowly began to come to the same conclusion. Politics is really a dead-end street for everyone except politicians. The more you dig into it, the more you are convinced about the unfairness of the world, and the absolute stupidity and selfishness that characterizes what was once public office held in high esteem.

Politics was supposed to be a post defined by rationalism for service to the constituents that the politicians represent. The more you look into politics, the more you see - it is filled solely with selfish pragmatic decisions for the politician themselves. Nobody is able to make hard decisions that need to be taken anymore. Instead, politicians bicker and fight with each other, slinging mud and sticks at each other, in a choreographed dance for the sole purpose of leaving the hard decisions out of decision-making. As the media brainwashes and dumbs down Americans, the politicians are increasingly able to hide behind the stupidity of their constituents, in the guise of "this is what my constituents believe".

Politicians are supposed to serve their constituents. This doesn't mean being a slave to constituents - this means doing what is best for them. Constituents don't have the time to meddle in the complex affairs of politics, which is why the task is left up to the elected politicians. The job of the politician is precisely to make decisions on behalf of the constituents who don't understand these details. Personally, I don't want small-town America making my decisions, because they don't understand the potential for long-term implications and problems that may arise. Yet this is increasingly an argument being turned to for politicians.

I can't care about politics anymore. It literally ruins your life, to always be up in arms saying "why is XXXXX so stupid? Can't they see this is a short term solution that will fail in the long term?!?!". This isn't to say that I won't continue following politics - it just means that the next time Palin's spewing shit about Obama or Congress passes another tax cut for the wealthy, I'll just shrug and say "meh". There's nothing I can do about it - yet.

-FCDH