Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
The government of a democracy is only as good as the voting public makes it. The government isn't broken, the people are. Not enough people vote and not nearly enough people are well-informed. This is our fault.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derwood
I don't entirely buy that. A politician can lie through his teeth to get elected, and then we're stuck with them for 2-6 years with no way to stop them. If you do your due diligence, vote with your brain, but then your candidate does the exact opposite of what you've elected them to do, you can't do a damn thing until the next election cycle.
Voting doesn't fix the massively corrupt core of Washington politics
|
You are both right. So how can it be fixed?
Maybe the only way to fix federal politics is for people to focus on local politics.
I don't know about you guys but as someone who grew up in a big city: local politics was rarely discussed in my social circles. I don't think I've ever known who my local councilman was. One reason for this is the anti-social-keep-to-yourself big city mindset. The other culprit is the media who are often national in scope and only cover local stories when there is blood involved.
The more I think about it the more I believe that federal representation can never work. It's too far removed from voters. Americans are capable of making intelligent and educated choices about their elected officials. The real problem is that they are being forced to make a choice on a subject that only those with many years of education can fully understand. Yet the media keeps trying to push a bigger picture. Thanks to networks like CNN there is even global politics to consider. There is nothing wrong with knowing what's going on in Libya but if you are like me and know more about a country on the other side of the world than what's going on in your own back yard something has gone terribly wrong. This is where the foundation of democracy falls apart.
Local politics isn't clean. It's as petty and corrupt as any other institution but at least you can shake hands with the person you elected into office. You can ask your neighbor about credibility of a candidate. Local politicians are tied to their neighborhoods. It's harder to steal someone's tax dollars when your kids go to school together.
We can't fix the White House. It's too far removed from our influence but local politics is within a voter's reach and maybe this is where education and information needs to be aimed.