Political Paralysis

"In constant pursuit of money to finance campaigns, the political system is simply unable to function. Its deliberative powers are paralyzed." - John Rawls

I have no party. I am politically paralyzed. The hope which Obama instilled in me to vote for my first Democratic President has been squandered and undermined so wholly by my former party, the GOP, that I am increasingly politically isolated.


I was a member of the far religious right who voted a straight ticket for years, but the Bush Presidencies (both of them) obliterated any confidence I had in that party. The sheer greed and callous disregard for the middle class and the poor was the most significant reason. They allowed everything possible to be monetized.

"It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly." 

- Bertrand Russell, Principles of Social Reconstruction, 1917

"Don't you know that if people could bottle the air they would? Don't you know that there would be an American Air-bottling Association? And don't you know that they would allow thousands and millions to die for want of breath, if they could not pay for air? I am not blaming anybody. I am just telling how it is."  - Robert Ingersoll, A Lay Sermon

"As soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its natural produce." - Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations

I'd never been able to vote on the Democratic side, until the last federal election. I decided that, instead of voting for people I supported from the Republican Party who didn't win the nominations and weren't electable.as write-ins (I used to think this was a way to inform the party as to my interests), that I might choose people to support who said what they believed, and did their best to keep their promises, even if it went against party lines. The Democrats have so often earned the vote of those who need the government to act on their behalf, but then lacked the political courage or the objectivity to do what was needed for them.


Russ Feingold, a politician who I had once derided, became a hero, for example. He has shown real courage, even if I haven't agreed with him more than half of the time.


Since then, I have been elected (reluctantly) to a union leadership position at my local university. I've become active for Democratic campaigns, albeit half-heartedly.  It's a funny story as to how that happened. I was honest about my background as a Republican, and my former anti-union stance. "We need all types." was the response I got. That was refreshing.


I was ready to jump into the Democratic fray with two feet if Obama did what he said he would. He's done some of that, but he's backpedaled far too often, and his pragmatism leads him to compromise on interests which really ought to be shared by both parties.


I've never seen a President so undermined, but so well-intentioned. OK, Jimmy Carter was given a bad hand, but not with the vehemence and bitter rhetoric that we see today, particularly when it is coming from the mouths of "astroturf" movements that are paid for by folks like the Koch brothers.


I'm a fan of the book, "Getting to 'YES'", and I think that our political system is so wholly committed to divisiveness and position-based politics, that we never serve the interests that all people share. A quote from Ury in another book, "Getting to Peace."

"Getting along does not mean harmony, after all, but rather a great cooperative struggle to resolve our differences with a minimum of harmful strife.

Getting along is not the absence of conflict, but the strenuous processing of conflicting needs and interests."

I'm getting too old to continue hoping that this country will turn this around. I'm losing faith in America. I've heard it said, "I love this country, but I think it's time to begin seeing other people."