Angry at Whom?

In this political season anger seems omnipresent. I hear people complaining about a system that is rigged. I hear few ideas expressed on actual programs debated; just personalities. And when personalities are tossed around it is nothing but innuendo, unproven statements, and angry, nasty twists of words. And faces. Don’t forget the facial muscles twisting into tortured patterns!

Lots of fear mongering, too. “The budget deficit will soar under so and so,” or “Watch the decline of justice in this country,” or, and this is my favorite, “He/She is in it for the money, just watch what happens after the election!”

Money? Fear? Honesty? Character traits? Crookedness? Liar? Twisted?

These are school yard bully words. Childish epithets tossed among kids and meant for kids. When adults use them it gets ugly in a moment.

And dirties all who participate in these exchanges. Yes, even the audiences are dirtied by merely being there and whooping it up and cheering on this behavior. It cheapens them. And us if we watch it on the news. We won’t even mention the news media which crams this material down our throats at every turn.

Yes. I’m angry. For many reasons, I guess, but mainly at the people who truly don’t understand what they are doing or even why. They think they have been wronged? How? Who did what to them? And what did they do to avoid whatever it is they are angry about? Do they even understand the US Constitution or its history? Do they follow government activities and news events throughout the year to understand what is happening and why? Are they participating in voting as intelligent, informed voters?

Or are they looking at their bank balances and wondering why things are tough for them? Are they looking at what they don’t have but want anyway, regardless of the value of the stuff? And are they certain they understand who is responsible for all of these outcomes?

Angry, yes. But at whom and why? Outcomes derive from many causes and decisions, and missteps taken by many participants. Economic realities come from many actions and circumstances. Not all circumstances are controllable, either. If you appreciate chaos theory you will understand controllability and lack thereof.

Here are some things you should know as baselines to understanding American political realities:

• Money is powerful; it buys influence in decision making circles; it feeds personal greed which then morphs into influential arm twisting to acquire conformity among pals in decision making circles
• Power is another form of greed; a power hungry person seeks unending supply of power because it makes him/her feel omnipotent over other people; it is a huge ego game for them
• American elections are for sale to the highest bidder; have been for a very long time; mostly this involves powerful industries that make lots of money like military industrial manufacturers, bankers and investment bankers, and real estate moguls and developers. These people control vast funds and wealth development for others. They serve the few and the rich.
• Elections are open to everyone but intelligent, informed voters are a small part of the electorate. Most are uninformed and easily manipulated by fear and misinformation
• Governance involves complicated decisions to support program design, development and implementation. Funding is the power card moderating decision making. Think education, medical care, banking and insurance regulations and the like. Program designs are frustrated by financial decisions made by people who don’t want key outcomes; they are afraid such will reduce their wealth. 

But the really big elephant in the room is this: Big government or Small government?

The conservatives want small government. They think this is what the framers of the Constitution meant. They want to keep things simple. But mostly they want government to be cheap and not intrusive in their lives. This means hands off by the government. And keep taxes low.

Liberals want government large enough to accomplish needed tasks that protect human dignity and individual pursuit of happiness without endangering others. Liberals seek outcomes that focus on quality of life: education, healthcare access, police and criminal justice system, national defense, and commonsense regulations that protect the people from greed and power hungry predators.

Centrists desire the efficiency of the conservatives AND the protection of ‘life, liberty and pursuit of happiness’ of the liberals. Life is complex and compromises must be made to govern well and effectively. Regulations are a form of governance and are necessary tools.

These three ideological camps exist in competition with one another. While the discussions, arguments and deal making go on among decision makers, the electorate is mainly out of the picture. Their voices are not heard or considered. The complexity is the factor that allows this to happen. However, our government is transparent in the main and open to view for those who wish it. In the past media organizations and journalists did a lot of the heavy lifting in this arena. Today the media is weak and splintered by competitive chaos due to cable network expansion. Ratings control viewer behavior; ratings control ad budgets and revenue; journalism and fact finding is lessened; the public gets less news of quality reporting.

The result is an uninformed electorate that is targeted by ad campaigns during elections and bad decisions are made as a result. Gridlock in legislative bodies is an example of that election outcome. So too is leadership compromised by special interest funding of campaigns. And so it goes, spiraling down toward lowest common denominators among us.

Lowest common denominators.

You want something good? Reach for the stars! You want to achieve great things? Strive toward great things! You want to understand what’s happening? Read and study the facts and reliable reports!

Those are elements of the highest common denominator. Not much of that is on view these days, is it?

No. I didn’t think so either. And there’s your answer to why things are the way they are. And the anger? Yes, understandable. But the direction of that anger comes back to the people who caused it to be in the first place.

Look in the mirror. It is you and I. We are the ones responsible for the anger and frustration! What do you plan on doing about it?

Huh? The move is yours.

October 19, 2016