Oh brother, indeed.
Oct. 29th, 2004 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaGrar. So this is my never-thought-I'd-do-it political post for the decade, probably. Man, I hate talking about this, but it's everywhere, and if I don't rant I'll just blow up.... And I'm thinking of sending this in to my college newspaper/magazine, though I'm not sure whether to go with the mainstream or the liberal one or what. Meh. I feel better now, though, so I promise I'll never do this again.
Cut, but not friend's-locked, which is my little compromise with myself so that I don't feel I'm hiding it from shame entirely but am still not flaunting. Kinda. After all, I'm not apathetic-- I just play that on TV-- but I love my little niche just like everyone else does. The disillusioned intellectual liberal layabout loser harping on corporate capitalism once in a blue moon, when I can be bothered to care, because I don't have quite enough money pie-- that would be me, right. And hey, I don't even hate capitalism-- because everyone is half-wrong, me and you and them, but especially them, of course. Of course.
I should get a t-shirt that says, "I'm not bitter, I just taste that way."
In my student newspaper today ("the Free Word on Campus" says the tagline), there was a column by a fellow English major advocating me to "vote my truth for a change". And that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back in terms of all the conflicted feelings I've been generally suppressing this election year.
And as much as I hate politics-- as much as I hate the state of my country & the world-- I do care enough to want to "vote my truth". Yes, I want my vote to count (though it doesn't, especially in beautiful, liberal New York State); yes, I want my voice to be heard-- but for that, I'd have to dedicate my life to changing the system that disallows it, not use the obsolete political system I'm presented with as my "solution".
Hello, my name is Irina, and I'm an Independent. The concept of a political party that'd really suit me makes me snort in disbelief; agreeing with people whole-heartedly isn't something I normally engage in no matter who those people are. So my so-called "choice" this year is really no choice at all-- being between "the lesser and the greater of two evils" doesn't begin to describe it for me. I refuse to be placed in this position, virtually enslaved to a truth that's presented as a false choice. Everyone promises, and no one delivers-- so tell me, what am I supposed to do, short of starting-- or joining-- a civil revolution? Because, as I've said, I hate politics, so that's not an option either.
I wouldn't even mind the two-party system so much, except that it really does seem like a one-party orgy with multinational corporations and the religious obsessives scared of the Big Bad R-- that's "R" for "Reason", by the way. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, faith is all I hear on the news-- people's little quibbles on the technicalities of belief while they all kiss corporate ass. And no, it's not just George Bush, who's a straw man who has a big target painted on his forehead just as Saddam Hussein did, but that doesn't make him the One True Source of Ultimate Evil, though isn't it convenient to believe that? Instead of the society itself being messed up, we can all be happy hating a single man we're most likely not related to in any way. And I say this as someone who's spent the last four years alternately despising him (largely on grounds of stupidity) and thinking he was a great big joke. But the stupidity is endemic-- it is everywhere. It is part of the very fabric of our lives, if only because most people don't question their assumptions, their allegiances or their goals.
So where is my voter representative? Short of voting for myself this election, where is my truth mentioned among all the partisan propaganda? No, this is a game of picking the least loathsome of the truths of others, and I refuse to have any part in it. Any vote I cast will have a single meaning to the people who tally them-- "Yes" to the system that rigged it. Yes, yes and yes.
This is not to say "the system" I'd be supporting is a democracy (as advertised), because even that is a misrepresentation of the truth and a piece of outright propaganda. The United States of America is not a democracy, it's a Constitutional Republic (as you are, in fact, told in High School if you're not asleep that day-- or hey, skipping it like I was). So it doesn't matter if I support that "democratic" system if I wanted to (which I do), since it doesn't exist. The Electoral College elects the President of the United States, generally based on the people's vote, yes, but then you have to consider that most people vote by party rather than candidate anyway.
So again I ask, where is my truth represented in the government?
To put this in context: I'm a social liberal-progressive and a fiscal moderate-- not rabid enough for either libertarian fervor or liberal pity. I believe in reason being used to rule, tempered with compassion on the societal level. I believe in the power of free speech, the education (as liberation) of the people, the protection of the environment & the use of basic fair-mindedness whenever in doubt. I believe religion has absolutely zero place in politics, and that internal affairs are more vital to our sustained well-being than any foreign issue, though of course the time for isolationism has long since past. This is merely my own greater focus & interest as a voter.
I'm generally a pacifist, and believe the only just war is one waged on the minimal scale & in a direct act of self-defense; everything else can theoretically be resolved through mediation and various non-violent means. Whether that's been the case historically or not is another matter-- of course it hasn't-- but really, if you want to repeat the past mistakes in an endless progression, don't be surprised when the planet shrivels and your milk sours, I say.
Again, where am I represented?
If someone tells me "by the Democratic Party", I'm just going to laugh. Certainly, ideologically I have more in common with the supposed Democratic platform, except the Democrats present apparently have no real desire to address their traditional voter base since they're too busy trying to look moderate & pious enough to appeal to the "white married Protestant woman" who, by the way, is nothing like me.
There are slogans which read "anyone but Bush" everywhere, which makes me laugh 'cause in my mother's & grandmother's country, the truth is that when you depose one tyrant, all you get is another kind, unless you change the society itself. "Anyone but Bush," they say. What, do they want Pat Buchanan as President?
A large enough part of me actually wants Bush to be re-elected because then the people will be forced to do things the hard way if they want to enact change. That takes effort, though-- that takes an ongoing commitment to some form of activism rather than a single so-called "stand for truth" which likely isn't even their own (as well as endless political wankage from the sidelines).
But no, because my generation likes its apathy, thank you very much, and hell, so do I. I love my apathy, in fact, and that's as "true" as I get. I was really upset by 9/11-- so much I can't even talk about it coherently-- but the reactions everyone's had (kill them! get them! infidels! murdering scum!) are completely foreign to me. I remember the first few days, when people were just crying publicly and looking sad and shocked and lost-- I still feel like that. Of course it progressed to anger and fanatic fervor and paranoia-- that's human nature for you. I like my apathy because it means I am not murderously enraged, how's that.
As for the rest of the people, older & wiser than I-- well, they have their money to make and their bills to pay, and, I suppose, their sons to send off to holy war. Activism interferes with the regular scheduled capitalist church-going life of your average American citizen, after all. Much more convenient to buy the pre-packaged truth of your parents and neighbors & the friendly television set which tells us the Iraqis are happier this way. We've bought them freedom. Right. Though perhaps us Soviet expatriates will always be skeptical of American claims to "freedom", I don't know. Just label me now, I guess. Me, I think freedom comes in degrees whatever country you're in, and you can't force-feed it to anyone, the people can only claim it for themselves, but what do I know.
Whatever the case, that's my truth and I'm sticking to it. What I don't know is what choices does that leave me with, because this November's vote isn't a choice, as it has no answers I recognize as mine.
So. My name is Irina, and I'm a disenfranchised citizen: I'm a citizen at unrest. I cannot choose not to vote this time due to a promise I made, but I'd like to stop hearing how my vote is my voice, or worse, my truth, thank you.
This vote won't resolve any issues for me no matter how it goes, and that's my truth, too.
And oh, by the way? I'm still undecided. Maybe I'll just close my eyes, stab blindly and hope for the best.
~~
And look, an HPfic link! `Unsticking the Shadow' by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pogrebin explores the Mudblood/Voldemort/Death Eater/Ultimate Solution issue so well it really deserves to be called "frighteningly good". So yeah, read that, not this.
Cut, but not friend's-locked, which is my little compromise with myself so that I don't feel I'm hiding it from shame entirely but am still not flaunting. Kinda. After all, I'm not apathetic-- I just play that on TV-- but I love my little niche just like everyone else does. The disillusioned intellectual liberal layabout loser harping on corporate capitalism once in a blue moon, when I can be bothered to care, because I don't have quite enough money pie-- that would be me, right. And hey, I don't even hate capitalism-- because everyone is half-wrong, me and you and them, but especially them, of course. Of course.
I should get a t-shirt that says, "I'm not bitter, I just taste that way."
In my student newspaper today ("the Free Word on Campus" says the tagline), there was a column by a fellow English major advocating me to "vote my truth for a change". And that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back in terms of all the conflicted feelings I've been generally suppressing this election year.
And as much as I hate politics-- as much as I hate the state of my country & the world-- I do care enough to want to "vote my truth". Yes, I want my vote to count (though it doesn't, especially in beautiful, liberal New York State); yes, I want my voice to be heard-- but for that, I'd have to dedicate my life to changing the system that disallows it, not use the obsolete political system I'm presented with as my "solution".
Hello, my name is Irina, and I'm an Independent. The concept of a political party that'd really suit me makes me snort in disbelief; agreeing with people whole-heartedly isn't something I normally engage in no matter who those people are. So my so-called "choice" this year is really no choice at all-- being between "the lesser and the greater of two evils" doesn't begin to describe it for me. I refuse to be placed in this position, virtually enslaved to a truth that's presented as a false choice. Everyone promises, and no one delivers-- so tell me, what am I supposed to do, short of starting-- or joining-- a civil revolution? Because, as I've said, I hate politics, so that's not an option either.
I wouldn't even mind the two-party system so much, except that it really does seem like a one-party orgy with multinational corporations and the religious obsessives scared of the Big Bad R-- that's "R" for "Reason", by the way. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, faith is all I hear on the news-- people's little quibbles on the technicalities of belief while they all kiss corporate ass. And no, it's not just George Bush, who's a straw man who has a big target painted on his forehead just as Saddam Hussein did, but that doesn't make him the One True Source of Ultimate Evil, though isn't it convenient to believe that? Instead of the society itself being messed up, we can all be happy hating a single man we're most likely not related to in any way. And I say this as someone who's spent the last four years alternately despising him (largely on grounds of stupidity) and thinking he was a great big joke. But the stupidity is endemic-- it is everywhere. It is part of the very fabric of our lives, if only because most people don't question their assumptions, their allegiances or their goals.
So where is my voter representative? Short of voting for myself this election, where is my truth mentioned among all the partisan propaganda? No, this is a game of picking the least loathsome of the truths of others, and I refuse to have any part in it. Any vote I cast will have a single meaning to the people who tally them-- "Yes" to the system that rigged it. Yes, yes and yes.
This is not to say "the system" I'd be supporting is a democracy (as advertised), because even that is a misrepresentation of the truth and a piece of outright propaganda. The United States of America is not a democracy, it's a Constitutional Republic (as you are, in fact, told in High School if you're not asleep that day-- or hey, skipping it like I was). So it doesn't matter if I support that "democratic" system if I wanted to (which I do), since it doesn't exist. The Electoral College elects the President of the United States, generally based on the people's vote, yes, but then you have to consider that most people vote by party rather than candidate anyway.
So again I ask, where is my truth represented in the government?
To put this in context: I'm a social liberal-progressive and a fiscal moderate-- not rabid enough for either libertarian fervor or liberal pity. I believe in reason being used to rule, tempered with compassion on the societal level. I believe in the power of free speech, the education (as liberation) of the people, the protection of the environment & the use of basic fair-mindedness whenever in doubt. I believe religion has absolutely zero place in politics, and that internal affairs are more vital to our sustained well-being than any foreign issue, though of course the time for isolationism has long since past. This is merely my own greater focus & interest as a voter.
I'm generally a pacifist, and believe the only just war is one waged on the minimal scale & in a direct act of self-defense; everything else can theoretically be resolved through mediation and various non-violent means. Whether that's been the case historically or not is another matter-- of course it hasn't-- but really, if you want to repeat the past mistakes in an endless progression, don't be surprised when the planet shrivels and your milk sours, I say.
Again, where am I represented?
If someone tells me "by the Democratic Party", I'm just going to laugh. Certainly, ideologically I have more in common with the supposed Democratic platform, except the Democrats present apparently have no real desire to address their traditional voter base since they're too busy trying to look moderate & pious enough to appeal to the "white married Protestant woman" who, by the way, is nothing like me.
There are slogans which read "anyone but Bush" everywhere, which makes me laugh 'cause in my mother's & grandmother's country, the truth is that when you depose one tyrant, all you get is another kind, unless you change the society itself. "Anyone but Bush," they say. What, do they want Pat Buchanan as President?
A large enough part of me actually wants Bush to be re-elected because then the people will be forced to do things the hard way if they want to enact change. That takes effort, though-- that takes an ongoing commitment to some form of activism rather than a single so-called "stand for truth" which likely isn't even their own (as well as endless political wankage from the sidelines).
But no, because my generation likes its apathy, thank you very much, and hell, so do I. I love my apathy, in fact, and that's as "true" as I get. I was really upset by 9/11-- so much I can't even talk about it coherently-- but the reactions everyone's had (kill them! get them! infidels! murdering scum!) are completely foreign to me. I remember the first few days, when people were just crying publicly and looking sad and shocked and lost-- I still feel like that. Of course it progressed to anger and fanatic fervor and paranoia-- that's human nature for you. I like my apathy because it means I am not murderously enraged, how's that.
As for the rest of the people, older & wiser than I-- well, they have their money to make and their bills to pay, and, I suppose, their sons to send off to holy war. Activism interferes with the regular scheduled capitalist church-going life of your average American citizen, after all. Much more convenient to buy the pre-packaged truth of your parents and neighbors & the friendly television set which tells us the Iraqis are happier this way. We've bought them freedom. Right. Though perhaps us Soviet expatriates will always be skeptical of American claims to "freedom", I don't know. Just label me now, I guess. Me, I think freedom comes in degrees whatever country you're in, and you can't force-feed it to anyone, the people can only claim it for themselves, but what do I know.
Whatever the case, that's my truth and I'm sticking to it. What I don't know is what choices does that leave me with, because this November's vote isn't a choice, as it has no answers I recognize as mine.
So. My name is Irina, and I'm a disenfranchised citizen: I'm a citizen at unrest. I cannot choose not to vote this time due to a promise I made, but I'd like to stop hearing how my vote is my voice, or worse, my truth, thank you.
This vote won't resolve any issues for me no matter how it goes, and that's my truth, too.
And oh, by the way? I'm still undecided. Maybe I'll just close my eyes, stab blindly and hope for the best.
~~
And look, an HPfic link! `Unsticking the Shadow' by
pogrebin explores the Mudblood/Voldemort/Death Eater/Ultimate Solution issue so well it really deserves to be called "frighteningly good". So yeah, read that, not this.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-10-29 08:29 pm (UTC)Dude, you could not have said it any better than that.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-29 09:19 pm (UTC)Anything that causes invitations for lickings is good in my books.
Your political rant makes me happy and sad at the same time. I'm happy that I don't live in the US, but sad that what you said sounds like a lot of stuff I've been hearing from US voters so very disenfranchised with their political system.
I say we both move to New Zealand.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-29 09:28 pm (UTC)A lot of this resonates with me, especially your frustration with the system.
And the best answer I can give is that change has to happen from people working both within the system and from outside of it. As much as I would like to be one of the people on the outside pushing for reform and speaking my truth, I have to recognize that that change can't happen without people who are on the inside of the deficient political machine, who are willing to listen and work and slowly be changed.
And, my deal is that I feel like the American public this year has been moved to do that--so many of us have been motivated to stop and think and debate, and change the way we think about politics--from within that political machine. Nothing is more compelling, I think, than a people who are really waking up to the fact that their vote matters, that their vote and their opinion can be crucial even if it is not an all-encompassing statement. Your vote is not your voice, you say. Granted: but when millions of people who have never opened their mouths at all suddenly start to sing together for the very first time, what's important isn't so much what words they're singing but the overwhelming impact of all that sound.
That, I think, is how change begins. Slowly and maybe ponderously, but oh, so noisily.
I have hope this election. And even if my vote changes nothing, I will be more confident that for the next 4 years I will not be alone in my fight to change, in my fight to be heard.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-30 10:47 am (UTC)And, y'know, I was never implying other people shouldn't work for change within or without-- it's just to enact my kind of change within my lifetime, some extreme things would have to happen... but then, I've always been too ambitious :))
no subject
Date: 2004-10-30 07:18 pm (UTC)Anyway, I hear the rest to and know how you feel.:-)
no subject
Date: 2004-10-31 12:30 am (UTC)Anyway, I want to know how to vote my truth, too! That's why I ranted :)) Ahhh, naive English/Theatre majors, hahah. *coughs*
no subject
Date: 2004-11-01 10:10 am (UTC)The other day I was out and saw a bumper sticker that said somthing like 'I'm voting for [X candidate] because he sucks less'. For me, that's about what it comes down to, which is a bit disheartening.
But at the same time, I really feel as though there's some sort of hope in this election because it seems like there's a bit of a turn around. More people are doing absentee voting or early voting than ever before, and hopefully the same can be said for the polls on Nov. 2. I can't speak for these people; I can't say what their opinions are, how informed they are, etc, obviously. But it just seems as though this sudden interest has been generated by the American population in terms of politics, and maybe this is the start of something. I hope it's the start of something. I hope it means one day I'll feel like my vote does count instead of just wondering.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-01 11:44 am (UTC)I don't agree with EITHER OF THEM on major points :/ Neither of them represents me. I mean... and the quibbles where "well, he is slightly more representative -here- but not -here- and what about -here-" just gives me a headache, besides the fact that I haven't actually watched the news/debates/etc so any info would be second-hand ^^;;; AHAHAHAH. Because by second-hand I really mean "from lj" -.-
Mostly I'm sick of people being like "BUT KERRY IS BETTER THAN BUSH WHO IS THE FIRST HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE" because that's so ridiculous-- Bush isn't the problem, the society and political system he's a product of is the problem. Eh. My head hurts again -.- I hate blaming the President for everything. It's such a cop-out. I don't think Bush is even SMART ENOUGH to be The Problem. I mean, he's a moron; clearly he's having his strings pulled by corporate/military interests and electing Kerry won't just fix that and, and and I'M SICK OF THE PROPAGANDA THAT SAYS IT WILL.
*rages at society, smashes guitar* :> :>