Afternoon, blog?

With my apologies for stealing the title. So it is 4:45 and I am in my office listening to WMNF, some funky political music show. The whole station is constantly political. And I have had been wondering about this lately – is there a separation between the political and the personal? There is still a part of me that wants to hold on to the idea that they are separate (a remnant, societal pressure, or real point?) but this other part of me (eric? Just kidding!) says that perhaps the two cannot be distinct.

My students used to say politics is boring. And that may be why so many people do not participate. They may feel it isn’t worth their time. But maybe it’s just that it is so critical, it affects everything in our lives really from women’s reproduction to where we live and what is allowed in our food, that the powers that be don’t want us to be involved. Remember “freedom is participation in power” (Cicero). Perhaps (as Michael Moore suggests) the fact that people vote is not indicative of their lack of interest but in their belief that it doesn’t matter.

Forgetting the theft of the election, let’s look at 2000. I had to agree with the “Millionaires for Bush and Gore” – the Democrats and Republicans looked quite similar. What did they agree on in that second debate? 37 issues!!! You cannot wrap up a status-quo-loving-corporate-welfare-giving-moderate-so-called-environmentalist politician in a “liberal” suit and call him progressive.

Seems to me that people used to run for office because they wanted to actually change things and thought people might agree with their ideas. Now it seems that people want to be politicians so they say what they think people want them to hear.

Look at Clinton. He convinced us he was the anti-Repub when in fact he was the first President in decades not to improve fuel efficiency standards, or regulations for arsenic (yes, arsenic!!!) in water (just to name a few). So how different is he from Bush Sr.?

There isn’t a two party system – there is one party, the Demopublicans or the Repubocrats. Whatever you prefer. OK, I lost sight of my point. I guess the thing is, is my car political? If government officials could improve it and don’t then it is pretty damn political. Is it personal? If it is killing me, that is about as personal as it gets.

Again soon!
Cary
5.2.02

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