When we look to our representatives politically, what is it they are actually representing? It’s not us anymore that’s for sure. We look for leaders to head our glorious nation to rain prosperity down upon us from on high. We don’t even want representatives anymore outside of the local council or what have you. When it comes to heads of state, be they presidential or parliamentary, the main thing we the masses look for from both the left and the right is whether or not they’re a leader. Do they have what it takes to have their fingers on the button the last bastion of human hope in the fate of nuclear Armageddon?Can they crack down on the enemies of our society whether they’re terrorists, foreign nationals, refugees, drug addicts, organised crime, activists, immigrants, or lone wolf shooters? Can they pull us out of this recession? What will their policies do to the economy? Can they adequately represent our nation on the world stage? These questions are fair and valid and fairly tantamount in the mind of the average voter, but along the way our western ideal of democracy has gotten distorted. An “informed voter” is little more than someone who reads, listens and watches the news made by people who have fairly similar ideas to them and knows when elections take place. Sure some might read all the sources, cut through the bullshit on their own. Good for them, but one thing is still missing from this ordered chaos of a representative democracy. The representation. We vote for politicians selected and put forward by parties that have become partially charitable investment pools by rich people (of the corporate and biological variety) allowing a nice little tax deductible grease to the cogs of our great political machine. We vote for candidates that “make sense” and have “clear visions of the future”, those who will do whatever it takes to put the country first. When did we stop caring about voting for people who had our interests? Who would lobby and represent on behalf of the people who voted for them. We prioritised the rhetoric and polices of good politicians over the statements and representation of good people. In a way we replaced one aristocracy with another. We people who have no backgrounds in foreign affairs, tax policy, national defence, health, the environment, or the economy vote for people who are usually lawyers so they can make laws about things that they also barely have a grasp on so they can keep getting money from whoever is donating to them so they can use this money to win more elections by making advertisements and passing out leaflets about how they’re great leaders and are cutting or raising taxes or spending money on nice things that we can use and need to survive as the cycle goes round and round again. We have created a political elite that doesn’t know what it’s doing most of the time, but the worst part is is they are not us. They rarely speak for us as much as they say they do. They read public opinion polls and focus group results and learn to say things that people like to hear but they are not of the people, or by the people for that matter. They represent who chose them not who elected them.To change this people need to rethink what makes a good politician and find that the fair and just representation of good people needs to be led by good people.
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Past, Present, Future
A thoroughly well written piece on New York City and it’s past and future struggles. The monstrous machinations with sleepless applications with influence and power greater than several nations. The dark past, the needy, the quick paced, the speedy, the romantic, narcoleptic, neurotic, wide spread narcotics, corruption, and riots, the famous, the fad diets. Whether bred from the waters of Babylon or a modern day Tower of Babel, you can love it or hate it, but New York City is a major influence on our past and will continue to be well into future. Found this quite interesting and I think you will too. (For my blog followers I intend on writing some new content and have it up for you lot shortly. Cheers!)
When you think of New York, what do you think of? The tall buildings, reaching out above the crowded sidewalks? The stars strutting around and the movies shot in one or the most famous cities in the world? Or is it the hustle and bustle that gives “the city that never sleeps” its title?
There’s a scene from the trailer of the soon-to-be-released movie, Lucy. The audience sees, from Lucy’s point of view, the reversal of time in the middle of (ironically) Times Square; she uncreates all the buildings, rips up the pavement, and changes cars back to the classic rounded style that we seem to romanticize so much. If any readers have seen Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, you know exactly what old-timey New York looks like. If we go even further back in time, according to a website dedicated to…
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Too-intense essay written to explain to my dad what socialism is and why I’m a socialist
Here is a really great article summarising Socialism and class issues in a very accurate, thorough manner. It also makes some great arguments in the defence of Socialism, if you ever have to defend your views from family and friends like I have o so many times.
Courtesy of: http://hannamariamoy.wordpress.com/
Here’s a Langston Hughes poem about socialism:
…Together,
We can take everything:
Factories, arsenals, houses, ships,
Railroads, forests, fields, orchards…
And turn ’em over to the people who work.
Rule ’em and run ’em for us people who work.
The general idea behind socialism is that capitalism is undemocratic, that the vote doesn’t ensure democracy, and that all people should together decide as a community how resources are best used. The fact that the majority of people seem to prioritize safety, equality, education, and a good and healthy life for everyone (even Republicans) means that the current system is not working in the way that the majority would prefer. A lot of people think that the fact that some starve while others have unimaginable luxury is completely immoral. The fact that the wealthy minority have the power to make sure and maintain this unequal system, and to organize…
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A Well Organised Asylum 