The day,
is trying to decide,
blue,
or,
gray,
anybody’s guess,
as to the outcome,
Will the south rise again?
<wink>
I’ve been reading,
Civil Disobedience,
by Henry David Thoreau,
it’s very good,
clear,
conscise,
strong,
and very opinionated,
as to the role,
of government.
You have to wonder,
what Homeland security,
would think of it,
today,
might be considered,
seditious,
no-
it would be,
considered,
seditious.
Easy to understand,
how this work,
had a such,
an influence,
on both Gandhi,
and,
Martin Luther King.
I was raised to believe,
in democracy,
the rule of the majority,
the rule of law.
I still believe,
that the majority,
by this, I don’t mean the forty percent of the sixty percent who vote and most times elect our governments, I mean a real majority.
will,
most times,
make the right decision,
what can I say I’m an optimist:-)
it may not have been,
my decision,
but,
it will be for the greater good.
But,
as things stand,
in our current ‘democracies’
people don’t vote,
and I’ve gotten,
to the point,
where I wonder,
if,
maybe they aren’t,
right,
in doing so,
or rather not,
doing so.
We vote,
our choices are,
to be brutally honest,
pathetic,
and we do this,
why?
In order to say,
we do our part,
but, do we?
Isn’t voting for people,
and parties for whom,
we have so little respect,
just another form,
of,
apathy.
All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right, and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right, but, I am not vitally concerned that that right shall prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority. It’s obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency. Civil Disobedience-Henry David Thoreau
Maybe,
anarchy,
is the answer.
Not looting and destruction,
Anarchy.
Food for thought.
Let me chew some more.
Later girls,
BB
I’ve always thought that voting should be a requirement. We should HAVE to vote. Democracy is a responsibility and we all have to play our part. Maybe we could have an option on the ballet that says ‘these all suck’ and that disqualifies all members in that riding if it wins and new members get chosen to run in a re-election 😉 heh.
Good Idea about the all suck option, but, I think Thoreau may be right:-)
Hmmm. Mandatory voting as a requirement of … citizenship? The things is who really takes time to understand the issues these days?
Have you read The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb? (Nothing like the film with Natalie Portman)
I am all for true anarchy (not the black hooded violent kind) the kind that imagines a day of no need for government, of an enlightened and civil society. If we can do true civil disobedience, in the way of Egypt…? I’m there.
I haven’t read that book, I’ll look into it. I don’t think mandatory voting solves anything, we need better choices, people who care and are smart to be engaged in and involved in the process.
But, who really wants to spend most of their time campaigning for re-election sucking up to money people and spending every weekend at benefit spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts after working a seventy hour week. It’s a tough job, being a politician, everybody thinks they can do better but, they don’t put their name on a ballot. Maybe, the answer is no government, maybe not. I don’t know, but, it sure is frustrating, watching who governs us.
I an nodding vigourously in agreement with you. Smart, effective people left politics a generation ago. They say the people deserve the government that they elect: perhaps part of the problem with the Western world is that we are no longer “the people” we are groups of different people and we want it all. Fiscal and monetary policies work for two minutes these days, and the stock market is a more powerful influence than any government. So yes: No government is a caring and enlightened society would be great. Let’s see that in our lifetime. 😉
However, when I think things are bad on that front, all I have to do is look at US politics, and I thank the goddess: things can always be worse. We are in far better shape than many other countries. Wasn’t it in the 90s that Canada lost its AAA credit rating…? And the Liberal government (majority) took action? And we got it back?
…I do..hope for the best. And enjoy the book. It’s eye-opening.
Have you ever considered running for office?