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Sunday, March 13, 2005
Politics
, a subject I know very little about. Mind you, however little you dabble in beauraucracy, there is one part of politics which we all know something about: George Bush.
Why do we all know about him? Just type his name in google and fire it off for your answer. There is one thing that virtually all the sites you'll see agree with: he's an idiot. It seems Bush has messed up Iraq completely, he's giving tax cuts to the richest people in America, even his very rise to his position is drenched in fraud (this is a subject I can't comment on; I know nothing about how the polls worked or what actually happened). However it's put, it appears that the President is a tyrannical imbecile who is ruining the US, not to mention the world, while his re-election can only be accountable to Christian-Fundamentalist zealots who find level ground with his beliefs.
It certainly seems to be fashionable to look on Bush this way: all the top political satirists, heavy-depression-young-anarchists and others in the general 'humanity is a virus' category would bolster their careers/worldviews by pointing directly to the big man himself. Even Brins' friend, Rob, acknowledges Bush as an idiot (feel free to post about it in his debate column, it's rather dry for some reason).
Now, this may very well be (and probably is) attributable to my complete naivety combined with my total lack of understanding of politics, but it seems a bit odd that the American people, however naive or foolish, would back Bush for the re-election by a majority if he was really as bad as he's supposed to be. Surely, if he was driving the world into total chaos (as some anti-Bush advocates claim), wouldn't the senate, the board, or whatever other commitees share continent-running obligations consider rising against him?
I didn't have any views on the issue other than what I've heard from these people until I noticed this site. I stress once more my ignorance of the political regions, but it seems to me only realistic that, whether Bush is indeed messing up a whole bunch of stuff, he must be doing some things right. And what he has done wrong, he must have plans of correcting.
Bush is a controversial figure; and humans like controversy. A twisted side of humanity - a strange but undeniable side - relishes the concept of the most powerful person in the world being a complete, incompetent dunce. The same part that makes us watch horror films and gather at ghost stories seems to act here - the fright and fear of contemplating possibilties or events in a certain light is a pleasurable activity. This has been active among us since sentience. And it's healthy, too: if we couldn't perceive corruption in government or people in this way, it would have been 1984 centuries ago.
It seems to me that many people are jumping on the Bush-leering bandwagon. What I say is not to disrespect people who aren't in favour of Bush, or anyone of any political stance; there may be, and probably are, countless factually backed reasons not to like Bush. But some are probably exaggerated, and many impressionable people pick up urban strands, cling onto as walking sticks, and follow the next person: blind followers of the blind.
They're not going to fall into a pit, though. That is, unless their claims are actually true, in which case we all will.
NOTE OF BRINS: Hopefully I've not stretched the boundaries of civility with this essay. PLEASE don't despise me for my writings in this article; Brins has no desire to disrespect anyone on any side of the subject, and would be very happy to receive comments and criticisms - however harsh - on this essay's contents.
, a subject I know very little about. Mind you, however little you dabble in beauraucracy, there is one part of politics which we all know something about: George Bush.
Why do we all know about him? Just type his name in google and fire it off for your answer. There is one thing that virtually all the sites you'll see agree with: he's an idiot. It seems Bush has messed up Iraq completely, he's giving tax cuts to the richest people in America, even his very rise to his position is drenched in fraud (this is a subject I can't comment on; I know nothing about how the polls worked or what actually happened). However it's put, it appears that the President is a tyrannical imbecile who is ruining the US, not to mention the world, while his re-election can only be accountable to Christian-Fundamentalist zealots who find level ground with his beliefs.
It certainly seems to be fashionable to look on Bush this way: all the top political satirists, heavy-depression-young-anarchists and others in the general 'humanity is a virus' category would bolster their careers/worldviews by pointing directly to the big man himself. Even Brins' friend, Rob, acknowledges Bush as an idiot (feel free to post about it in his debate column, it's rather dry for some reason).
Now, this may very well be (and probably is) attributable to my complete naivety combined with my total lack of understanding of politics, but it seems a bit odd that the American people, however naive or foolish, would back Bush for the re-election by a majority if he was really as bad as he's supposed to be. Surely, if he was driving the world into total chaos (as some anti-Bush advocates claim), wouldn't the senate, the board, or whatever other commitees share continent-running obligations consider rising against him?
I didn't have any views on the issue other than what I've heard from these people until I noticed this site. I stress once more my ignorance of the political regions, but it seems to me only realistic that, whether Bush is indeed messing up a whole bunch of stuff, he must be doing some things right. And what he has done wrong, he must have plans of correcting.
Bush is a controversial figure; and humans like controversy. A twisted side of humanity - a strange but undeniable side - relishes the concept of the most powerful person in the world being a complete, incompetent dunce. The same part that makes us watch horror films and gather at ghost stories seems to act here - the fright and fear of contemplating possibilties or events in a certain light is a pleasurable activity. This has been active among us since sentience. And it's healthy, too: if we couldn't perceive corruption in government or people in this way, it would have been 1984 centuries ago.
It seems to me that many people are jumping on the Bush-leering bandwagon. What I say is not to disrespect people who aren't in favour of Bush, or anyone of any political stance; there may be, and probably are, countless factually backed reasons not to like Bush. But some are probably exaggerated, and many impressionable people pick up urban strands, cling onto as walking sticks, and follow the next person: blind followers of the blind.
They're not going to fall into a pit, though. That is, unless their claims are actually true, in which case we all will.
NOTE OF BRINS: Hopefully I've not stretched the boundaries of civility with this essay. PLEASE don't despise me for my writings in this article; Brins has no desire to disrespect anyone on any side of the subject, and would be very happy to receive comments and criticisms - however harsh - on this essay's contents.
Brins would appreciate it if you didn't swear in your comments
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