The Problem with Politics
Politics have become increasingly more polarized in America over the years, as party lines have been drawn in the sand, and etched deeper and deeper. Nowadays, politics are detached from anything more than a most basic form of ideology to which people can subscribe. Politics have become more focused on irrationality and attachment to arbitrary parties, than they are on those things which should actually matter: good ideas and qualifications.
Someone in the political sphere should, hypothetically, be aiming to prove his or her value as a leader among men and women. He or she should be coming up with good ideas for how to improve whatever body it is that he or she will be governing over. These ideas and leadership attributes should be the determining factors for any political race, as opposed to simple party lines. The fact that politics has become a contest between two factions, with neither side of voters fully grasping exactly what they are voting for, means that this battle of merit which should be making up the majority of political struggle has been undermined and buried.
In an ideal world, democratic politics would be focused not on how people look, how well they woo voters, or how incisive their rhetoric is; politics would instead be focused on the words being said, content of what the politicians are arguing for and against. The problem with this ideal world is that politics are, in actually, made up of a tremendous conglomeration of issues which overlap, twist around one another, and create a nigh inseparable knot of confusion. For any given voter to understand every strand of that knot would be a very difficult thing, requiring a great deal of time, effort, and even education. This is where the problem of our current political system lies. The majority of citizens simply don’t have the time to gain the necessary understanding for our political system to work properly. As a result, they do not vote in the originally conceived fashion, wherein they are voting for the candidate they genuinely think is best, based on a rational consideration of the candidates opinions and plans. Instead, they vote based on one factor, or two, or they vote based on factors that are entirely unimportant for the overall political process. Political offices become filled with individuals who genuinely do not belong there, because they managed to essentially hoodwink the voters by taking advantage of the voters lack of time.
The political system of America needs a dramatic revamping. How to do this in an age of television, Internet, and other forms of mass media, which allow for simplistic and manipulative tricks to be used against the voting populace, is a nigh-insurmountable problem for the repair of our politics. Any solution would essentially necessitate a tremendous adjustment to America’s entire social and media sphere, as well as America’s political system. This is not impossible, but it is unlikely to occur; any shift that dramatic could likely only be caused by a major event, something unplanned and unforeseen. Until any such major shift occurs to allow for a change in the political paradigm, however, it is up to the voters of America to begin voting with their heads, and not their hearts; it is the only way that we can make a difference to America’s political troubles.
