forsyth | People are frustrating

The biggest problem with trying to be an optimist about human nature is people keep doing their damnedest to prove you wrong. Currently, I'm being frustrated at the "People are stupid" meme and the general American public is out to prove me wrong. Not just at work in retail, where people blithely ignore things like big signs saying "CLOSED" and tug on the door and act surprised when it's locked or one of the many other tiny frustrations of the day, but currently, and most especially, in politics. Thousands of people have died, many because our High Officials freely lied to us, our tax money is going to enrich contributors while we're at war, and they continually lie, threaten the public, and then accuse their opponents of "aiding and abetting terrorists" (I kid you not).

And the MOST frustrating part of it is it's WORKING. People are believing the lies, saying "Well, the other guy wouldn't keep us safe" (We're safe now? Really? How many ships into ports get inspected?) and "Bringing freedom and democracy is a good thing." Let's start with the last. Well, yes, freedom and democracy are good things. And there's a place for high lofty speeches about how great they are and how people should appreciate them. But they'd be a lot more credible coming from somebody who, oh, I don't know, wasn't busy buddying up to military dictatorships, nations in the process of turning back into dictatorships, one-party states, and similar, in the "War on Terror" (Which, wasn't the spreading freedom and democracy thing supposed to be part of?) Or, better yet, if he'd tried to ensure freedom and democracy at home? Things haven't gotten any better since Florida in 2000, they've gotten worse. Unverifiable electronic voting machines, voter intimidation, gerrymandered districts so 90% of Congressional races aren't competitive at all.. This is democracy?

All these things and people are fussing about what? CBS's memo fiasco? Thousands of outraged phone calls to reality shows because the voting might have been fixed? Which celebrity is boinking which? And the liars are doing BETTER in polls, faulty as polls may be. News organizations are being intimidated into spiking stories critical of the President, out of fear of being accused of forging part of it. Come on, people! I don't want to think you're stupid, prove me right for once. Yes, you're afraid, yes, the media sucks and doesn't show you what you need to know, yes, you can classify them as "all evil bastards", but you can get past that. There's plenty of sources for information, yes, it takes a little work. Yes, you have reasons to be afraid, but have they done things to make you more or less afraid? Have they done things to give you more or less reasons to BE afraid? And yes, there's plenty to dislike about most politicians, but there should be minimum standards of competence!

I know I'm just crying out in the wilderness, this won't reach anybody who's not already convinced. I know this won't affect the outcome of the election. Just like I knew Bush wanted his war and no matter how many thousands of people packed into DC, New York, or anywhere else to protest it, he'd do it. But I went anyway, because I had to. Because, maybe, just maybe, in the history of the future, people will look back at these years in the US and not wonder why we didn't speak up before. And, dead and gone as I'll likely be then, assuming we don't all end up living forever (or dying in some kind of disaster, or whatever), I can at least feel "Hey, I said something!" Which is the whole point of a blog, so you can get that out of the way without actually, y'know, DOING anything that'd require work.

Gah. I think I know how Spider Jerusalem feels ALL THE TIME now. Even though he's fictional.