“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
Plato - Courtesy of ThinkExist.com
Sometime between 428 and 348 BCE, Plato spoke these famous words. And though for thousands of years they fell upon deaf ears; these words now resonate so loudly the din grows completely unbearable. Politics in general now falls into the hands of the dastardly and incompetent. Greed is the new compassion. Hate is the new love. Deprivation is the new giving. Torture is the new kindness.
The powers that be insist on dividing people into groups and pitting them against each other is the new way to rule the wonderful melting pot that is America. Don’t believe me? What have been the big political movements in this decade? Is the push to crackdown on illegal immigration and the constitutional ban of same sex marriages really going to be our generations legacy? The 60’s had the Civil Rights Movement and we’re stuck with the “no gay marriage generation”? Pardon me if I vehemently oppose both of them with the entirety of my very being. Surprised? Surprised a Caucasian male, married to a woman would even ponder any of this as wrong? I sure hope not. I honestly can say I do not know a person who opposes it, at least not publicly. But this message rings loud and clear in D.C.
Here’s why.
While normally the proverbial cream rises to the top. In Washington D.C. we vote for, swear in, and stand by the bottom of the barrel over and over, without so much as batting an eyelash. With fewer and fewer people voting and communicating with their government representatives, the loudest voice gets the most attention. Without much competition, well funded groups have made advances on regressing the state of Civil and Equal Rights in America for many. And we still don’t vote. Don’t write our Senator. Don’t write Letters to the Editor. And most certainly don’t attend any sort of rally.
But why?
Many people choose not to participate in politics , because they simply feel their voice is not clearly heard by those who claim to represent them. While this could be somewhat true; what clearer message can you send than to rally your friends and family to vote the lazy, uncommunicative, uncaring, philandering, pandering moron right out of office. If more people more fully realized their potential for political change we could truly reshape the landscape of American politics back into the amber waves of grain and purple mountains majesty our forefathers spoke of, rather than the bombed out desert village it is today.