Ah, America.

[pyat]

Currently occupying two foreign nations, dealing with ongoing violence in both, with a worrisome economy, a major port city still crippled by natural disaster, more than 1 in 100 adults currently in prison, tax rolls supporting a defense budget larger than that all the other nations of the world combined, spending more per capita of state money on healthcare than any other nation yet no socialized healthcare and a declining life expectancy, serious questions about the conduct of the military and CIA, the perpetrator of 9/11 basically forgotten, and there's an election in a few months.

And of course, the most important topics in that election are gay marriage and abortion.

Comments

preaching to the choir

[paka.livejournal.com]

I'd once heard a story about a rancher being interviewed about killing coyotes. He said that ranchers deal with floods, droughts, disease, and a batch of other things they can't control - but the coyote is the only issue ranchers face that they can actually shoot or poison. I think American citizens work largely the same way; we've given up being able to take action on the big stuff, plus we're being led other directions.

Trust me on this one. I've protested and petitioned about issues from Bush's war in Iraq to Dirk Kempthorne's apparent private war on the environment, and yet it never feels like you're getting anywhere. Whereas if I say "everyone deserves the right to fall in love and marry as they choose," I know that there'll be at least five of my fellow citizens backing me up, and probably at least four of my fellow citizens vehemently opposed.

So the stuff we scream about is the only stuff we seem able to affect, as petty and pointless as it is. The politicians are all too happy to distract us with big-ticket emotionally laden social issues when they can't produce any actual real results on a real level that makes things better for our finances, our future health, our chance of getting sick or getting old or having kids. It's very easy to follow along.