Tuesday, October 25, 2016

An Opinion from the Upper Decks

From my seat in the upper decks, I have watched my country devolve from one I was comfortable living in into one I am not.  I see nothing but hate and discontent on all sides poisoning our shared love of country.

Hate and discontent at election time is normal.  Now it seems that nobody , Right or Left, is happy 24/7.  In spite of being better off, if only slightly, than we were 8 years ago, many of us are convinced that Life in the USA is going down the tubes.

Why?

I do not pretend to know all the why's.  But I do know who I would blame for this over the top dissatisfaction Americans have regarding their lives now.  I blame the media weasels and the leadership of both the Right and the Left and their mutual reliance on Fear to herd us into their various corrals.

But ultimately, I blame our citizens for allowing things to get out of hand.  We have ended up with the government we deserve, by not insisting on better.

We piss and moan about how nothing gets done.  We allow ourselves to become mind numb followers of leaderships spoon feeding us lies, empty promises, accusations and doom on the horizon scenarios.  We buy into their fear rhetoric because it is easier to fear a thing, than try to face it.

So, if we want to blame someone for what is going on, we might look in a mirror.

Shifting our selfish focus on the quantity in our lives to the quality of all our lives might just be a good place to begin turning things around.

Later ...........................................

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I agree with this and you're saying what I was tried and failed to say in a recent post.

Things are pretty good. There are a lot of people who could need help and could have it better but in general, things are pretty good.

The constant screaming that we're one election away from total oblivion is not helpful.

Ol'Buzzard said...

Of course, I lived in the south during segregation and I saw extreme hate then; but I have never known such ignorance driving the country as now. Usually we move through crisis back to the center before the next crisis. I am not sure there is a move back now. It seems the most ignorant and unapologetic extremist now have a national microphone. They were welcomed by the Republican Party for decades - now they have taken over the party. That leaves us with a party for elitist and a party of raving anarchy to vote for.
It does no good to point fingers - it is what it is. It has never been a perfect system; but now the only choice is to try and maintain some degree of basic sanity - if that is possible.
the Ol'Buzzard

Tom Harper said...

America's 24/7/365 polarization and tension and mutual hatred is a multi-billion dollar industry. Media companies and political consultants are making a fortune from our constant fear and loathing. They want us to stay paranoid and hateful so we'll keep donating to political causes out of fear of "The Other" candidate getting elected. And people who are constantly tense and fearful probably soothe their anxiety through purchasing more consumer goods; so there's a trickle down effect from our mass anxiety.

It's up to all of us to not let ourselves be manipulated by this scam.

The Blog Fodder said...

Your analysis is dead on. Work gets done by the people who show up. Democracy is more than making an X every four years and expecting nirvana. But it is always easier to let someone else do it while we get on with our lives, not noticing until the 'others' have shifted the ground out from under our feet.

BBC said...

America is getting the government it deserves, the ignorant fucks should have rejected both of the front runners.

MRMacrum said...

Nasreen Iqbal - By its very nature of inclusion of all, Democracy will always be messy, sometimes ugly, and never perfect. And while the form of Democracy we have in the USA is far from the ideal, it is the best effort out there in the world. Before we open our mouths to whine and complain, we should take a second and reflect on just how lucky we are to be able to whine and complain. Maybe that will shut a few of us up before we get started.

Ol'Buzzard - Absolutely. Neither party gives a hoot about the citizens. Its all about retaining power or regaining it. Any positive action that might come from their back and forth struggle for power is purely an accident on their part.

Tom Harper - Agreed. We have met the enemy and the enemy is us.( Thanks to Pogo)

The Blog Fodder - Until the citizens of our country take responsibility for the leaders they put in power, what we have now as a political process will continue unabated.

BBC - I agree with you. I do not like Hillary, but at least she is sane.

yellowdoggranny said...

we're fucked