Postby mcsproot » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:32 pm
Politics these days is about getting people to vote for you. It used to be about standing by your convictions and if the public happened to agree with you, they vote for you. These days it's more 'We think the public want X Y Z, not A B C. We want M N O but that would make us unelectable.' So they say they will to X Y and Z, do Y then do M N and O. Maybe B and C as well.
What's needed more is more straight talking politicians, they all talk with so much spin that they speak the 'truth' but bury it in clever wordplay. I was going to post something about my local politics, but that would be thread hijacking.
But to finish, what ruins governments is having no politics. Looks at Zimbabwe. One man, Robert Mugabe, has total control. He wants it, it is done. Prior to him, the country was known as Rhodesia, a British colony, and was one of the richest countries in Africa with a powerful agricultural industry. When Mugabe came to power, he ruined the country. He threw out the farmers (mostly white British) and installed 'war heroes' to their posts, because soldiers obviously make better farmers than farmers. Just one example of many as to why one word unopposed is not a good thing. Look at Zimbabwe now. For those who don't know, it has the highest inflation rate in the world bar none. A 50 billion (50,000,000,000) Zimbabwe dollar note is worth about 3 dollars US. Inflation is so high, your bus fare home from work will cost more than your bus fare TO work simply because your money is worth less than it was in the morning.
Another problem is the media. Unless you literally keep your finger on the political pulse, most things that happen will pass you by. The only things that will be reported are more likely to be 'politician X said something silly' or really radical things like 'NATO to send warplanes to enforce no fly zone in Libya'. So the good things tend not to be covered.
Politics is essential. If you are American, the War of Independence was fought so you could vote, not to be ruled by the British Monarchy. If you live in a country with free elections, look now to Northern Africa. People are dying, waging a civil war, for the right to place a X on a paper. To vote.
Politics is bull$h!t because people don't go out and cast their vote. I'd wager barely half of those eligible to vote do so, so politicians know they only have to appeal to a fraction of the voters anyway. Cast your vote, and the politicians will realise they need to impress more people, so they will try harder to get your vote.
That's the theory anyway. Sorry for the rant, I could go on all day.
23 year old guy from the UK.
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