Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Fatigue
Is it November yet?
This is the first presidential election cycle where I’ve been actively avoiding the news. I read a few blogs and get a “good enough” perspective on what is going on from there. I’d like to say I won’t be paying attention on election night, but that’s just not true. I always vow to stay away and I always fail. I get too emotionally invested in this sort of thing.
I realized not too long ago that my perspective on elections has changed since the last election cycle, and it took me a bit to figure out exactly what it was that changed. Then I realized – it was Nock and his writings. Every time I hear anything from the media about the election, a couple of Nock’s phrases repeat over and over in my head…
…just a bunch of people rooting for sports teams…
…it’s nothing but boob-bumping…
Nock was very cynical about democracy. He felt that the people certainly had a right to have a say in their government, but just because they had that right didn’t mean that they had the wisdom to use that right effectively. In fact, what he saw around him was people viewing politics as just another competition, with people lining up to mindlessly root for one side or the other, and the majority of the political process dedicated to banal stunts that might influence this mindless herd of people.
I’m not quite that cynical about democracy. I think many people make rational decisions about which side to support, though I’m sorry to see that the values of our nation has a whole have slipped to the point that centrism is where it is today.
What drives me nuts is that the candidates and the media seem to play hard to the idiot demographic though. Yes, Obama misspoke, probably due to suffering from intense fatigue. Can we get back to talking about how he is a commie? Yes, McCain has a bunch of houses and hates poor people. Perhaps we can talk about why he still believes in global warming now?
No, instead we get inundated with stupid inconsequential stuff. Every single day. Even news outlets that should know better get caught up in it. National Review in particular is a magazine that I read for its ideas. Every once in awhile they get caught up in politics rather than ideas, and during election season, it shifts almost all the way to pure politics. I don’t care about the speculation surrounding McCain’s VP choice. Let me know who it is once he’s picked, and I’ll decide whether or not I can stomach it enough to pull the lever. (Don’t pick Leiberman. Please.)
Perhaps the American people aren’t that interested in ideas, and both the media and the candidates are reacting to that. Or perhaps some fraction on either side is interested in ideas, but there are enough people that are not that a pandering campaign can bring a candidate to a majority. Or perhaps the only voters who are actually undecided are the ones that are most easily influenced by a circus.
Regardless of the reason, I can’t take it anymore. Wake me up when it’s time to pull the lever.
