The Cannibalism of Care and Feeding

"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. Sell not liberty to purchase power."

- Ben Franklin

We as Americans should, of course, be concerned with the immediacy of specific, current events. But, to avoid becoming mere spectators addicted to awaiting, witnessing, and merely enumerating the passage of such events, one must be willing to disengage, step back and observe objectively to get the big picture.

The pendulum swings left, something goes horribly wrong, so then it swings right, and something goes horribly wrong again. And with each change in direction, the pendulum swings further in the opposite direction, and executive power increases - regardless of which party is running the show - as though reality tv culture was ushered in to set the mood for completely passive captivity. Like a connoisseur of atrocities, we are so hooked on the negative attention and over-stimulation of shock and disbelief that we have developed an appetite for disaster in spite of ourselves. The disconnect between seeing red flags from miles away and taking preventative measures is so far separated that we are better off planning trials and funerals at the moment of awareness than to think we can do anything but write our representatives (who would only send a form letter dismissing our concern as a federal issue anyway).

Our society will shriek like a baby snatched from its mother's teet when the time comes to shut off the political drama and go outside to play. And on that day, the day we have no choice but to participate rather than spectate, the play will be very rough. Polarization has induced an addiction anxiety disorder. If the programmers of our political saga can achieve a point where we, the consumers are willing to fight over changing the channel - that inevitable swing of the pendulum from from further left to further right - they can most certainly keep everyone on the couch and off the playing field. Don't turn off the set and go out to play; just sit back, relax, and pick a channel. Plenty of snacks and a remote control, and regardless of Tivo, the content itself IS commercial. And the White House is now, literally, buying up lots of air time. By the people, for the people, right? The partisan plots are predictable and both the casting and acting is either unapologetically neglectful or mercilessly predatory on ignorance and ego. But the cinematography is consistently decadent - to die for.

So, partisan people, just because someone doesn't subscribe to your show...or starts to get up off of that miserable couch...or doesn't sit on the couch at all...don't automatically assume that disengagement indicates a subscription to that OTHER show that you love so much to hate. Maybe the viewer saw enough, and just got fed up with the reruns and recurring characters portrayed by overpaid actors, season after season. Change, you say? Sure, we experience exponentially proportionate polar opposite change every eight years, each administration undoing whatever was set forth by the previous. Like a dog chasing it's tail, spinning in circles.

Anyone remember 'Dynasty' ('81-'89)? Maybe it was ahead of it's time. The Clinton Dynasty...the Bush Dynasty...huge government...huge corporations...tick...tock...

The Audacity of...Jeb. Guessing the obvious, 2012, maybe he has just let out his first giggle:

Jeb Bush: Obama trying to 'attack capitalism'

From the article: "I think President Obama has used the bully pulpit as a way to attack capitalism," he said, according to LegalNewsline.com.

Bush paused a moment, then acknowledged: "That'll make the news."

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Clearly, our culture has become divided and our government ineffective as a result of a perverse preoccupation with media and marketing for partisan dominance. Broad strokes and accessible, emotional associations are employed to engage and rally the support of the masses. Politics are now reduced to explicit and literal symbols - palatable and packageable - fashionable, social accessories to be adorned and exchanged in the form of memes. But, like most fashions, only time tells on the abuses and profiteering which emerges long after the credits have rolled. Our leadership thinks as far as the next term, whereas Chinese singularity, for example, plans its future over hundreds of years and looks back on thousands. And, we bicker in a trance of oblivion amongst ourselves, spinning in circles and biting our own tail raw.

Our willingness and even insistence upon touting our symbolic labels can get dicey depending on context. Particularly in a bankrupt economy, belief can serve as a currency for outcome, and it can therefore be planted, cultivated, and harvested. The farmers encourage public labeling of seeds so that they can predict their yield; those seeds being our hopes and fears.

When questioned publicly about his religious views, Thomas Jefferson once said, "To their interested absurdities, I leave them to grope in the dark."

Jefferson culled his beliefs from a variety of sources, including but not limited to the Bible. Aren't we all truly a composite of our experiences and influences, both conscious and unconscious? If someone states themselves to be something explicitly, can we then reliably predict and count on their behavior? Uncertainty is a major driver of change, and so the world is very accepting and even demanding of symbolic representation. While some people are very cautious about labeling themselves, others will race to declare and relegate themselves to an explicit, especially in a social context. The new stereotypes are not born into; they are chosen and screamed from mountain tops in droves. I remember when voting used to be a private matter. Then there was MTV Rock the Vote. The average voter is now just that - average - at best, if even.

Maybe we are approaching the right time for our independent voices to mitigate the polarity and alleviate our identity crisis. Pick a channel? Most people only know the two big channels because the assumption is that anything else is a 'throw away'. Fine, pick your poison, couch potatoes, but there are independent candidates who run on ideology.

For the time being, let's be good to each other, regardless of whatever ineffectual accessory you encounter repeatedly in traffic or on facebook or other public trough, for these troughs feed the polarized zombies as the fabric of their framework begins to slowly unravel, whichever pole they claim. This may not be a recession after all. Perhaps it is the fall of the Republic, and a return to the State of Nature will recall many long forgotten codes of humility and respect.