Back on March 2, 2007, I wrote a Roland's Ramblings (my other blog) in which I stated: "we in the United States of America are in jeopardy of having our representative democracy form of government destroyed."
I was not making a reference to any threats from terrorists. I was not alluding to a rebellion, civil war, uprising, people's revolt, or anything like that. I was not speaking of an economic crisis bringing about the demise of our nation. I was not even making reference to the Tea Party Movement or extremists from either the left or the right of the political spectrum.
No, indeed; none of those.
That which I believe is the biggest threat to our American government, our representative democracy, is "We The People" or more specifically the fact that very few Americans actually vote in our elections along with the ignorance of the American electorate as a whole.
I realize many people will take offense to my remarks, However, to be honest, I really do not think many people will read my comments. Even if the whole American population were to read my views on the matter, it makes no difference to me if some one should take offense. I stand by my views on the matter as I have expressed them
Then, I suppose there are the people who may take exception to my perception and opinion that the vast majority of Americans, especially American voters, are ignorant. Well, golly gee, people! I am not alone in my thinking and there are, indeed, some scholarly writings that tend to affirm my own thinking on the matter. For instance, take a look and read:
Somin, Ilya, When Ignorance Isn't Bliss: How Political Ignorance Threatens Democracy, Policy Analysis, No. 525, September 22, 2004.
Cross reference: Cato Institute 'lead' article.
So, what I want to shout out is this:
Do your homework, people! Read up, study, and learn about the issues and candidates for the upcoming elections; then, go out and vote with an informed mind!
2 comments:
Great job, buddy! Too many people vote "flavor of the week", "the guy that promises to slip me a favor", or "the cuter guy" without ever bothering to figure out if said candidate or his/her promises are any good for the nation. That's how we got the guy we have at Pennsylvania ave. right now.
The threat has always been there Mi Amigo, but has seldom been more dangerous that most recently.
Strangely, I am coming to believe that one of the greatest issues is not the money involved in politics (that's always been there one way or the other). The problem instead is a mainstream news media so intent on maintaining its sagging relevance that they've abandoned their mission. No longer is there news & commentary. Now there is only news with an agenda.
What we're left with are Amigo Dave's 'Sheeple', who only seem to care when whipped into a frenzy by both the right and the left. The electorate, far too long fed on a junk food diet of instant gratification and self-esteem enhancement, are worse than ignorant. They are hopelessly mired in a combination of apathy and 'what's in it for me?'
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