Claim: Corruption is Why So Many Americans Are Turned Off

[neoblues]

"This Week" (with George Stephanopoulos) on ABC is on my TV in the background at the moment... A roundtable discussion with several know-it-alls, including Cokie Roberts and George Will (and I was wondering why I was feeling nauseous :puke:, not to worry, when the program continued with Mister Will doing an interview, I changed the channel) brought up the following notion: that the culture of corruption in government, such as the questionable relationships of lobbyists with members of Congress is the reason so many Americans are turned off to politics. Really, is that it?

George Will argued that even trying to reform the system to remove the "corruption" would make the situation much worse. This after he just tried to pooh pooh the 2 billion dollars spent by lobbyists in their efforts by attempting to make the two billion sound trivial when compared to the trillions of dollars the Congress spends every year. Obviously, a clever(?) but meaningless (perhaps absurd) comparison--at least for purposes of making the two billion seem unimportant--because it should be obvious that the amount spent by Congress not only doesn't make the billions spent by lobbyists seeking to manipulate Congress less important, it makes it all the more important! If for a puny two billion, they can manipulate even a small amount of the trillions spent by the object of their lobbying efforts it's significant (the more they spend, the more significant). As for his other point, that attempting to remove the corruption would cause greater problems--what, should we just accept the corrupting influence on our government? He may not care, or he may be afwaid of the twubble it might cause (yeah, sure), or he may in some way be benefitting from his support of lobbyists, but I would be willing to guess that most Americans care (they may feel helpless--which depends on how willing or able they are to find leadership and take action, but they care).

Anyway, the notion that people aren't politically involved is because our government and leaders are, by and large, corrupt just doesn't seem reasonable to me. Indeed, it should be all the more reason people would finally get involved. Aside from simply disagreeing with their conclusions, considering the source, I'd no doubt have an apriori expectation that any idea espoused by those two (and their ilk) is probably a load of cr_p. I have to wonder why the networks not only let these people speak on air, but actually pay them well to do so. Oh nevermind, I keep forgetting that close to half the people who vote suffer from the same thought disease. So, do you think this idea floated by the Will & Cokie has any merit?

Also, if you don't think much of their notions, then what are the real reasons so many people are so apathetic (uninteresed, passive/impassive) :boring:? Why is it that 50% of the eligible voters didn't even vote in an election as critically important as the 2004 General Election? Why are so many people so completely uninformed, uninterested and uninvolved? A surprisingly large number of people don't even realize that politics has an enormous effect on their lives... How could they not realize this? What is it that occupies their thoughts to the exclusion of such things? Lack of education? Is it they have no contact with politically motivated people? Have they somehow never thought about the issues? Do they assume someone else will take care of it? Do they think they are so powerless there's no point in even trying?

If we can understand the reasons, it might help in finding a way to reach them and stimulate their involvement. Hopefully that's a good idea... If we reach them first with a clear explanation of the real issues... I guess I continue to hope that overall, most Americans really are more reasonable than the unfortunate example we see set by contemporary Republicans (which is just wrong in so many ways it would take a book to begin to fully describe). I hope I'm not being overly-optimistic.

[acmavm]

1. I know that it's made a lot of people, especially the poor who don't

think that they have a voice in anything in this country, think that the situation is hopeless.

Think about it for a minute. Look what happened to New Orleans. A corrupt administration stole the money to maintain the levees for an unjust war. Then they waited days while poor people were dying in the waters that inundated that city. Then they watched while corrupt and inept 'officials' came down to the city and basically did nothing. Now they find that they will never be allowed to go back to their homes because the wealthy and the powerful have found a nifty way to deny them back in, make sure that the city never goes democratic, and shut out those disgusting 'poor' people who they feel are useless and make the city an eyesore. And hell, the rich get their land/property for pennies on the dollar to boot.

Think about it for a mintute. Al Gore won the election in 2000. A bunch of criminal thugs prevented a fair recount. The bush** administration comandeered the White House, the SCOTUS refused to hear Gore's case, and then decided to hear bush**s case and give him the pResidency.

Think about it for a minute. During 2004 so much fraud and cheating went on before/during/after the actual election that you can hardly keep up with the stories. The intimidation of old people, blacks, hispanics. The 'fake' registration sites and people who threw away any registrations for dems, the lies (really stupid lies) about how/where to vote. The the stories about the machine malfunctions and the lack of voting machines. And how many times were people not allowed to vote because there was 'no record' of them being registered? And then watching the results that night when Kerry was winning then a power blip and presto, bush** miraculously was the winner.

Some people get angry and decide to fight. A majority give up and figure it's a lost cause. Especially if they don't personally feel the pain. Wait until the bird flu hits, or they start up the draft. They'll understand then. But it might be too late.

[EST]

2. Most peoples' lives are already so complex that adding

much more concern drives them straight into overload and they just blow the whole thing off. My SO is like that. She's commonly religious, meaning she does not read the instruction manual for her faith and fears and resents any attention toward pointing out the logical fallacies, therein. She is growing a little in that regard, but will, far more willingly, watch old movies and read romantic novels than dig any deeper.

The same applies to the world around. For some, eg. the denizens of this forum, it is easier and more natural to absorb a bit of the mechanics of the present and attempt to input some influence toward the future. For others, it just makes their minds go foggy and they will react the way they do.

As a general rule, I am not disturbed by the fact that the pool of voters, though not representing the entire spectra of voters, is representative of those who take it upon themselves to be educated and to make a difference.

Poorly informed opinion is potentially more damaging than no opinion at all.
There are many other powerful reasons, as well.