The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.In a climate of the rise of polarized European and American public affairs, it surprises me that the above quote would come from a man not at all affiliated with the Tea Party or UKIP. That Plato recorded this thought so long ago both frightens and enlightens me: the phenomenon of political apathy isn't new, but at least we know one of its outcomes.
I can't speak for the American public, but I will confess that I have been indifferent to politics. I have long considered myself above getting mired in the sludge of November campaigns. I have supported that image with my burlesque of Congressional 'ethics.' These are valid criticisms--don't get me wrong--but what's worse is that my disagreement with our 'democratic image' is the primary reason for my lack of political participation. Last election, I didn't vote.
What is the consequence of my not voting, of our indifference? The Tea Party has risen to enchant the American public with partial truths as regards the source of their discontent: immigrants, big government, and corporate limitations. Democrats have promised that same public a false hope of salvation from pressing concerns of unemployment and health care. And in a post-Sunday Europe, the rise of the extreme right may threaten efforts of integration and cooperation among the world's strongest democracies. The consequence of our indifference, indeed, is to be ruled by evil men.
Why in the world are they evil? And, more importantly, what causes our indifference?
I don't think that politicians are really evil (at least not the vast majority of them; certainly there are a few who are corrupt). I think it's systemic corruption that has slowly made government the servants of money and not servants of the people. Look at some of Lawrence Lessig's work:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rootstrikers.org/#!/
And his latest book (available for download as an e-book or purchase):
Republic Lost: http://republic.lessig.org/
I think for some political indifference rises out of the sense of futility to comes from actually caring. Nothing substantial ever seems to change. One of Lessig's points is that oddly enough the Tea Party and Occupy Wallstreet movements both have roots in the idea that Government is not properly serving the needs of the people, they merely disagree on who government is serving (special interests vs. wall street). Both are right to various degrees and the solution is to free government from the influence of money.
If I understand the argument correctly, the government's inaction keeps people from buying into the system. No results, no investment (votes). Definitely an interesting way to frame the problem.
DeleteI would press further and ask how do we change it? Let's say this is the only thing that is wrong. What's the solution?
I think the solution is reducing the influence of money on politics. I have no idea how to actually make that happen, but Lessig is certainly working the hardest to try and find a way. He's pursued a constitutional amendment via calling a Constitutional Congress and completely circumventing congress, but that had no real momentum, so now he's moved onto trying to use social media as well as a PAC funded by a mix of the wealthy and public to try and fight fire with fire. Essentially the PAC will fund candidates that will make campaign finance reform their top policy initiative.
ReplyDeleteThis TED talk, while a bit emotional covers all of the current initiatives he is leading:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lawrence_lessig_the_unstoppable_walk_to_political_reform
One of his statistics is exactly what your post was about... 96% believe politics are manipulated and influenced by money and 91% do not think it is possible for that to change... I'm not sure what the source of this statistic is, which has me a bit concerned that it is perhaps overblown (if you survey your supporters, obviously you will get a ludicrously biased result; this is the classic Fox News flaw). Even if that statistic is flawed in it's accuracy, I suspect it is correct in terms of well over 50% believe money has too much influence and over 50% believe nothing can be done.