General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsdo we get the candidates we deserve?
considering the kind of time commitment I'll be making with the upcoming election -- the work that needs to be done to offset the interests of the capitalist class, and I wonder: is america worth it? do we get the candidates we deserve?
one of the field organizers I worked with was convinced that americans will vote for the guy they want to have a beer with.
well, I thought somewhat optimistically, that would rule out dick cheney.
but it didn't rule out ronald reagan or bush jr.
what I am NOT looking forward to this year is knocking on doors to get such responses as,
"voting is too much work"
"people forced to live on welfare are lazy and I'm going to make you listen to an vitriolic diatribe abt my problems with them which are really to do with my employer being a cheap bastard and not the fact that some people are sick or disabled and still need to eat"
or, the highly original doorslam
that said, the political fervor I find here, as well as the general commitment to leftist causes is quite inspiring. how do you guys avoid burnout? I wish I knew more irl activists, all the local politicos are careerists.
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
H. L. Mencken
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/hlmencke490503.html#UfuDGegMKwGA9d2X.99
G.W. Bush, the war criminal, got in...
reddread
(6,896 posts)Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)sensitive subject
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)An individual who was and is so obviously a fucking moron never should have been able to make it close enough to steal. And it was close enough to steal, TWICE. Tens of millions of imbeciles voted for an even bigger imbecile. That is on the voters and no one else.
reddread
(6,896 posts)one of the worst people on the planet, quite possibly. just like dear old dad.
having any discussion about GWB while pretending GHWB and his lot were not the
ruling power is a silly waste of time. which came first?
the silly fools who bothered to vote in a stolen election, or the propaganda and PR that
made the sillier fools willing to vote in a rigged system without asking or demanding real results.
the sad charade
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)democracy. He was an elitist who did not think the average person had the capacity to self govern and thus should be ruled by an elite. He was a racist with rhetoric against African Americans which would make your skin twitch and anti Jewish materials so vile that even Mencken wanted them excised from his post WW2 editions.
That Mencken like is not Mencken joking. He's just speaking his mind. I do not understand why he is cited on DU at all.
reddread
(6,896 posts)thanks for that!
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)"I admit freely enough that, by careful breeding, supervision of environment and education, extending over many generations, it might be possible to make an appreciable improvement in the stock of the American negro, for example, but I must maintain that this enterprise would be a ridiculous waste of energy, for there is a high-caste white stock ready at hand, and it is inconceivable that the negro stock, however carefully it might be nurtured, could ever even remotely approach it. The educated negro of today is a failure, not because he meets insuperable difficulties in life, but because he is a negro. He is, in brief, a low-caste man, to the manner born, and he will remain inert and inefficient until fifty generations of him have lived in civilization. And even then, the superior white race will be fifty generations ahead of him."
Men versus the Man: A Correspondence between Robert Rives La Monte, Socialist, and H.L. Mencken, Individualist (1910), pg. 116
Do you also see wisdom in that? Because that's Mencken.
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)I am a racist you are mistaken.
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)It is up to each voter to decide which candidate of those who apply or the job is the best qualified.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)back in his day it was his good movies which were the big hits.
bernie is getting such a good response; I wonder if the wild card is that people just haven't heard of him yet.
someone famous once said that treating people as we want them to be can be an impetus for change. that seems wildly optimistic, but maybe even a little bit wise if we're to give it some thought.
reddread
(6,896 posts)troika of modern American "Democracy"
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)"Don't Vote"
It was an attempt to shame people into voting. We all know the more people that vote, the better chance we have that Democrats will be elected.
I am not in favor of door knocking to get out the vote. YMMV. So I look to make sure people do vote. Standing at their door doesn't cut it, for me. There are better ways to influence them.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)personally, I'm not a fan of coldcalling ppl to get out the vote. especially when the party likes to take the "let's harrass you til you snap" approach.
PATRICK
(12,227 posts)Because wisdom has no place in a typical civilization meltdown apocalypse.
We get the the candidates big money thinks we deserve- or who care anyway, there is money to be made. Once voting gets to a desperate death spiral, trying to find ANYONE who simply won't get millions killed after genuflecting to Wall Street, GOTV gets to be what is termed militarily as a "forlorn hope" whose likely result will either be final discouragement or some token temporary verbal giveaways to the masses.
Far more is required of the public than GOTV. Getting out the guns seems simpler and with even less hope for "what we deserve". How many people think rich people deserve to hoard their wealth against all comers? That in principle will tell you if we get what the majority wants.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)otherwise, we are simply opening the door for whoever is willing to buy.
if the extent of your involvement is maybe voting in the general election maybe, you don't have much room to complain abt the candidates.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Which is not to say we could not a better job as citizens.
merrily
(45,251 posts)Growing old sucks....Consider the alternative.
Allegedly representative democracy sucks.....Consider the alternatives. (Caveat: with the internet, the Athenian democracy model is a possibility, both scary and reassuring.)
Not giving up on politics sucks....Consider the alternative.
Also, some of us recklessly had children and/or grandchildren and want to see them grow up with breathable air, potable water and nutritious food.
In answer to your other question, we get the best candidates money can buy. Sometimes, I blame voters. Sometimes, I blame everything but, including the dumbing down of Americans.
It also helps to be be ready for call and response.
Call: "Voting is too much work."
Response: "Can I help you request an absentee ballot?"
Call: "people forced to live on welfare are lazy and I'm going to make you listen to an vitriolic diatribe abt my problems with them which are really to do with my employer being a cheap bastard and not the fact that some people are sick or disabled and still need to eat"
Response: I agree with you that poverty among working people is a huge problem. With Medicaid, food stamps, we are subsidizing companies that don't pay their employees enough. As Sanders says, no one who works full time should have to live below the poverty line. I also agree with you that wealth and income are not distributed fairly. Let me tell you how Sanders proposes to make America more fair for you and the rest of the 99% of Americans.
Call: Doorslam
Response: slide a leaflt under the door.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)I needed that.
merrily
(45,251 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)vote. Voting here is a breeze and no one can claim otherwise, it could not be easier.