| rickholio |
09-12-2004 01:08 PM |
Regardless of whether Bush is-or-is-not running the country, or if his cadre of shadowy figures are running around behind the scenes pulling on his strings, or whatever... there's one thing that really stymies me:
Since when did the US, a nation ostensibly built on the idolation of individual effort and innovation, become disdainful of intelligence? At what point did education and experience of the world become a detriment worthy of public ridicule?
I recall in 2000 that part of the reason people wanted bush is because "He's someone that people would want to have a beer with." I dunno about you, but I've had beers with plenty of people that I wouldn't even trust to plunge out my toilet or fix my car, let alone run a country.
Anyone can 'make a decision and stick by it regardless'. That's nothing special or unique... it's just called being stubborn. Old people the world over come by this ability naturally. Shouldn't a political figure of importance have something more to his/her name than stubbornness?
Democracy only works when there's an informed population. When you have a population that's deliberately mis-informed (or willfully un-informed), can it truly be called a democracy? Seems to me that in such an environment it becomes a form of 'zombie warfare', where the elites on both sides of the fence try hard to build their armies of the intellectually undead in time to affect elections (or 'zombie roll call'), and whoever has the largest army, wins.
Is that the future of democracy? Mass media plying the little minds to do their bidding, perverting the original concepts of populist governance into a thin shell of dictatorship via mind control?
... or am I just being 'too smart' and should just sit down and drink a beer? :glugglug
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