You know, for the most part I completely agree with you. I think where our views differ is in where we place the blame. I may be wrong, and correct me if I am because I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I get the feeling you place the blame for the state of our government squarely on the shoulders of the government itself. I, on the other hand, place the blame entirely on the American people. Bear with me here as I'd like to make an analogy that hopefully makes my point:
For the 2014 midterm election, voter turnout was just under 37%. Think about the number for a second. If the New York Yankees had only 37% of their market watching games and only sold 37% of their seats during the season, how loyal could you expect the Yankees to be to New York? Not very loyal, I'd wager. In fact, I'd bet a few years like that and they'd leave New York and find themselves a city that was interested.
Unfortunately, politicians can't just up and leave just because voter turnout is woefully low. Rather, they align themselves with whoever they see actually cares. When you have the vast majority of the country too lazy to bother to even vote versus a couple corporations/Koch brothers putting in everything they got, it seems like an easy choice. You place your loyalty in whoever seems to be loyal to you.
Sure, it would be awesome to have politicians that work their asses off to support the citizens of our country. But when 40something percent of the country is adopting a "why bother" attitude, you can bet your ass that's the attitude you'll also see coming from your politicians.
Something needs to be done in our country to turn things around. That much we can definitely agree on. But, personally, I think the onus rests on us to actively participate, rather than sit at home and complain.
BTW, I'm from Oregon. We have a pretty great voter turnout each election cycle and a fairly strong group of young voters and I can honestly say I think this state is one of the best in the country in terms of politicians that are for the people.
We had just over 93% voter turnout at the last election. Let me just say that voter turnout doesn't necessarily equal good choices. Or that the people who win keep their promises. (Yeah. I know. Who'd of thunk it...)
view the rest of the comments →
lincoln_loggers ago
You know, for the most part I completely agree with you. I think where our views differ is in where we place the blame. I may be wrong, and correct me if I am because I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I get the feeling you place the blame for the state of our government squarely on the shoulders of the government itself. I, on the other hand, place the blame entirely on the American people. Bear with me here as I'd like to make an analogy that hopefully makes my point:
For the 2014 midterm election, voter turnout was just under 37%. Think about the number for a second. If the New York Yankees had only 37% of their market watching games and only sold 37% of their seats during the season, how loyal could you expect the Yankees to be to New York? Not very loyal, I'd wager. In fact, I'd bet a few years like that and they'd leave New York and find themselves a city that was interested.
Unfortunately, politicians can't just up and leave just because voter turnout is woefully low. Rather, they align themselves with whoever they see actually cares. When you have the vast majority of the country too lazy to bother to even vote versus a couple corporations/Koch brothers putting in everything they got, it seems like an easy choice. You place your loyalty in whoever seems to be loyal to you.
Sure, it would be awesome to have politicians that work their asses off to support the citizens of our country. But when 40something percent of the country is adopting a "why bother" attitude, you can bet your ass that's the attitude you'll also see coming from your politicians.
Something needs to be done in our country to turn things around. That much we can definitely agree on. But, personally, I think the onus rests on us to actively participate, rather than sit at home and complain.
BTW, I'm from Oregon. We have a pretty great voter turnout each election cycle and a fairly strong group of young voters and I can honestly say I think this state is one of the best in the country in terms of politicians that are for the people.
Code_X ago
We had just over 93% voter turnout at the last election. Let me just say that voter turnout doesn't necessarily equal good choices. Or that the people who win keep their promises. (Yeah. I know. Who'd of thunk it...)