Nobody likes to admit that they’re wrong. Not you. Not me. Nobody. Admitting you’re wrong is akin to defeat. Especially when you’ve argued you’re right about something. It takes a confident, logical and humble person to admit they’re wrong. We used to be taught the value of this character trait. We were told that losing was part of living, and that we stand to learn from all of our mistakes – so we should embrace each one. We were also taught that learning to lose helps make us better winners and more empathetic humans. Maybe they still do teach these kinds of things in small towns in Kansas – but the concept is not as prevalent in America as it once was. Today, it’s way more important to win. At any cost. Screw character. #winning
Here in the United States, we have a beautiful two-party system that was created by really smart guys a long time ago. Guys who understood the corruptive nature of absolute rule. And despite its flaws, the US represents the best democratic system on earth from which a republic operates. Sure, there might be little nations in the middle of the ocean that operate more efficient democracies, but we’re not them. We’re America – a nation of immigrants who pushed the indigenous to the brink of extinction by virtue of something politicians called manifest destiny. We’re 300 million high-strung badasses. And we are all wrong. We just won’t admit it.
I’m an unaffiliated voter and realize that there are bunch of us out there, but for the sake of argument let’s say that 50% of America is Republican and the other 50% is Democrat. Back when George W. Bush was President, things got really bad. Yes, bad things happened, but bad decisions were made during his presidency that caused us to go from a national budget surplus, to a deficit. A big deficit. A lot of us weren’t very happy, and so in November 2008, more people showed up at the polls on election day to hire a guy from a different political party. A guy who talked about shaking things up. Since he has taken over, this new guy has shaken some things up, but not a whole lot. And the main reason more hasn’t been done is because Congress – the other guys we vote into office to help POTUS make big decisions – can’t agree on what to let him do. Why? Because we don’t like to admit we’re wrong. Ever. That’s losing. And no one votes people into office to lose.
There are so many people upset right now, that it feels like 2008 (and 2010) all over again. As a result, next year a Republican may well get elected to serve as our President. But then, once again, because of partisanship, nothing good will happen and we’ll vote for new Congressmen in 2014 who will block anything the Republican President tries to do. This cycle will repeat itself over and over until a new enemy can be found so that we can focus our attention in that direction. Meanwhile, our roads, bridges, education system, welfare system, global trade, etc., etc., will continue to suffer. Eventually, this cycle of ineptitude will cause everything to come crashing down. All because of bickering. All because we never like to admit we’re wrong.
My family’s arrival in North America from Europe goes back a couple of centuries; I have voted in every Presidential election since Reagan’s second term (and voted Republican more times than Democrat); and I have proudly served in the US Armed Forces. I’m as American as anyone. But I’ve never felt as hopeless as I do now. This country is in the toilet and there’s no clear way out. Our forefathers handed us this amazing opportunity to compromise with each other for the good of us all – and all we can do now is take sides and point fingers. And at 47, I’m done with it. I just don’t have the energy to try to help fix what’s wrong here. Because it looks like it’s going to take a massive effort to get things right again. Frankly, I don’t see it becoming right in our lifetimes. Maybe I’m being selfish – I just want to live and be happy not have to worry about corporations deciding who is electable by dumping money and resources into the advertising campaigns of people who are sympathetic to their brands, so that when we’re in the voting booth and relying on brand recall instead of actual ideas – we vote for their guys (note: they’re all their guys). The reason this country can’t get anything done is because most of the population is being brainwashed by corporations. Even though corporations have no business in government. But they’re there. Deep. And they play on our fallibilities as humans who are dogmatic about politics because it takes too much brain power to actually consider and debate on ideas, and far easier to vote for a party because it’s the party of our parents. Damn the opposition, and all that.
There’s a misconception that America is too big to fail. Bullshit. America can fail the same way Rome did. And when it does, we’ll have only ourselves to blame. It’s ironic to me that in the United States, our borders are protected from most of the world’s evil because we have the biggest, most accurate guns on the planet – we just can’t protect ourselves from ourselves.
Something has happened here since when I was a child. The American dream seems to have shifted from opportunity for all, to merely trying to survive well enough to keep a roof over our heads. Like most parents, we want to give our children a better life than we had. But I no longer think that can happen in America. My hope is to get my family to a far simpler place – sooner than later. A place where a dollar sign on a carrot isn’t the incentive to chase dreams. A place where we can actually give our children a future filled with promise rather than the burden of having to fix a system as complex as America’s. A system overspilling with bitter people who only want to be on a winning team at any cost. Even if that means the entire system collapsing.
And so the research to escape begins. For this American, anyway.
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terryl
Nov 28, 2011
“a nation of immigrants who pushed the indigenous to the brink of extinction by virtue of something politicians called manifest destiny.”
SLAYIN’ IT.
I never thought I’d want to see “#winning” ever again, but your ironic mock was. perfect.
Cress
Nov 29, 2011
I’ll meet you guys there.
Steve K.
Nov 29, 2011
I share a lot of your sentiments and concerns, Jim. The reality you are describing is really one of excess. The thing we don’t want to admit — the thing we’re wrong to believe — is that the same greed and excess that caused Wall Street executives to bankrupt the nation while lining their own pockets is the same greed and excess that motivates us to buy every new tech gadget, have that new car to keep up with the Joneses, get into a home mortgage over our heads because we think it looks good/impressive or we think it’ll make us happy. It’s the same reason we went out in droves on Black Friday and online in droves on Cyber Monday. It’s why we’re drowning in credit card debt … and school loan debt … and home loan debt. Deep down (even if we don’t want to admit it to ourselves or anyone else), we want more and more and more, when what we really need is less and less and less.
But I’m not giving up just yet on politics as one avenue to possible social change. I’m a both/and kind of (postmodern) person that way. I know I need to make lots of small decisions in my day-to-day life to choose simplicity over complexity and less over more, but I’m also going to keep voting my conscience and supporting politicians who most align with my values. I don’t think it’s wise or prudent to completely check out of the political process. By choosing not to participate, you are participating by allowing the rest of us to decide the course of governmental action for you. Just something to think about …
Or maybe you’re just planning to move to Canada, in which case, Toronto is an awesome city! 😉
Jim Mitchem
Nov 29, 2011
Oh Steve, I must be warmer. Much warmer.
I don’t disagree with you, it’s just that I feel like I’m getting older and what’s left of my life stands to be sucked down into something really bad. My gut tells me that the current state of affairs in this country is only the beginning. That we stand to dump our children into a system of excess, as you aptly described, with no way out. I desperately want to give my children a different view of the world. Not as a dogmatic nation, but as part of a human race. I think our oceans have done more harm than good in that regard.
dj.knight
Nov 29, 2011
Thanks for writing this, Jim — you’ve summed up the frustrations of many in one neatly written nutshell. It was especially gratifying to see someone give much needed attention to the role that mega corporations play in our politics. If you have not yet done so, google the American Legsislation Exchange Council (ALEC) and then check out the ALEC exposed site. Apparently the good people at Coca Cola and other such corporations are writing laws, voting on them, and meeting with legislators to to tell them which they want written into law. And I thought that only happened in the movies.
Steve K.
Nov 29, 2011
There’s a whole simplicity movement that gives me a lot of hope, Jim. I can’t say that I’ve joined it fully yet myself, but it challenges me every day to think about my choices (in terms of social justice, especially). One of the leaders of that movement is Shane Claiborne from The Simple Way in Philadelphia. He’s written some good books that I think you might like, “Jesus for President” and “The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical.”
Shane is coming to Charlotte in a couple of weeks, and a bunch of us are going to hear him speak: http://www.meetup.com/emergentcharlotte/events/34787002/
(There might be a dinner gathering with Shane on Saturday night also. I’ll let you know if/when I have more details.)
TedNes
Nov 29, 2011
Jim;
I was going to second the invite to come north to Canada. The points you raise are extremely valid, and I think the sense of (almost) “hopelessness” many of us feel is growing daily.
Accountability in Governments at all levels is one thing we all deserve, and expect. Simply put, we aren’t seeing that. I saw better behavior from my kids when they were in Kindergarten that I see out of most politicians at the federal levels in both our countries.
In my opinion, one of the big things getting in the way of progress/fixing is partisan politics. One team gets the ball and runs with it in their direction. They make mistakes with it, the other team gets the ball, and they run with it in their direction. The problem is, they have forgotten that they are supposed to be running in OUR DIRECTION, the direction of the electorate that handed them the ball in the first place, while still keeping those that didn’t vote for them in mind at the same time. There’s an US (that’s “us”, not USA) and THEM mentality in Governments these days, when it should really just be an US thought process.
American forefathers and Canadian forefathers pulled and fought together to establish both countries. There have always been leaders, and leaders change from time to time, but there was a clear direction for the country, and parties worked together for the most part. I’m not exactly sure when this fell apart–60s, 70s?–it’s hard to nail down. All I know is that I don’t see those in charge telling others to grab the rope with them and pull our countries along….they’re doing the pulling in one direction, others are pulling in another, and we have a stalemate, with us being caught in the middle.
I share your frustrations. I share your feelings. I share your fears for my 2 teenagers that are trying to figure out what to take in school and how to establish their lives. Canada is in better shape in many ways than the USA right now, but we are both doomed to mediocrity if we don’t figure out how to fix our respective Governments.
And I still think you should consider Canada….;)
My novel – Minor King
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