Politics of the Absurd

I think I read too much. I think my friends read too much. They definitely read too much and keep sending me more things to read, especially about current political events. My friend from Chicago sends me countless articles from the Financial Times because we both like the British viewpoint--incisive, witty, slightly snarky. Plus, who better to point out the foibles of the American political system than the country we revolted against because we thought we could do it better?

Well, the latest FT articles don't paint a pretty picture of how we're doing. One article pointed out all the myriad ways in which all the current presidential candidates have resorted to name-calling and insults for the simple reason that it is the only way they can differentiate themselves (otherwise, everyone would realize that none of them really stand for anything). My overall impression after finishing the article is that we're doomed because the maturity level of the next president running our country will not have progressed much beyond junior year in high school (I'm guessing even student council elections exhibit more sophistication.)

The next article pretty much questioned why the US is so intent on exporting democracy to other countries when we pretty much should be ashamed of how badly it works in our country. For one thing, we have political candidates who cater to the folks who can pay $2000 a shot for a breakfast with, say, Hilary (who is pleased as punch to be among "friends") or who have decided that meeting with minorities just doesn't give them the same bang for the buck. Then let's get on the subject of the electoral college where we all get to have our the final roster of candidates decided by a bunch of guys in Iowa (who are they and do I have anything in common with them??) and our popular vote is meaningless. Wonder why no one bothers to vote anymore?

After all this, I have come to the conclusion that it really does not pay to keep up with all this unless you really enjoy getting outraged on a regular basis. Plus, you have to learn to enjoy living with the frustration that the system is so screwed up, there is probably nothing you can do about it. And it leads you to being even more PO'd as you start to think that if we tallied all the money that these candidates are frittering away on campaigns, we could probably plug a few holes in the deficit. Maybe even fund a national health care plan so we wouldn't all be working our asses off to save money in order to make sure we die well (rather than penniless because we had the misfortune of getting ill).

I wonder if the solution is to limit my reading to copies of People and US Weekly? I mean, how upset can I really get about Paris and Britney, right? The only problem is my friend...he really loves his FT...