The End of Politics

 

This is what comes after politics. First the revolution, then the regime. I can't quite get over the blatant disrespect of our country in this photo. At the very least, look at the careless treatment of our flag. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

For quite some time it's been considered fashionable among people from across the ideological spectrum to hold politicians in derision.  One thing we all agree on, left or right, is that we hate politicians.  We are tired of "politics as usual."  Politicians:  They lie.  They live large on the public dime making a career of so-called "public service."  Politicians: In the pocket of big business. Politicians: Not to be trusted.  We often long for some one who is not a "career politician" who will save our country; someone from outside the system who can gut the system and remake it.  Some of us have become so desperate to be rid of politicians and their politics that we've found ourselves willing to go along with anyone from outside the system regardless of whether the evidence indicates he's fit for the job.

But today I want to point out there is something worse than politics.  There are people worse than politicians. Rather than rejoice at the end of politics, we should fear what comes after politics. Because as problematic as politics is, what comes next is far worse.

You see politics can only really exist in a democratic Republic. You don't have politicians in Communist dictatorships. You don't have politicians in totalitarian regimes.  You will have government bureaucrats. You will have party stalwarts, a cadre of loyalists, but not true politics or true politicians. In the land beyond politics, there is no debate over ideas. There is no agree to disagree. There is no legal opposition. In the world after politics, opposition is treason. In a world after politics, only one side ever wins. Every election is a "landslide victory."  It is simply impossible, unthinkable that the party or the person in power could ever lose. In this world, money still rules and the powerful still abuse the weak, but doors to power are now based on fealty to the Party, to the Person, to the Ideology. In a world without politics the other side is not merely wrong. The other side is evil, bent on cartoonish destruction of everything we hold dear.

Here's the thing about politicians. Their job is to give us what we want. That is literally what we elect them to do, and therein is the Achilles heel of politics, what makes it so distasteful. The problem isn't ultimately with the politicians. The problem is us--the much vaunted American people. Politicians lie because they know the electorate will punish them if they tell the truth. What politician in the United States could reasonably be expected to get elected on the campaign statement: "Look, I may have to raise taxes" or "I may have to cut some prized social services." We don't want to hear the truth when it hurts (unless it's the "truth" about our ideological opponents; then we are all for it).What was it Jack Nicholson said in A Few Good Men:

And what about career politicians?    How can we gripe about career politicians when we keep rehiring them?   It is known that incumbents have a huge advantage. Why is that, if not because we want it so? (While I support term limits in theory, to me it's a cop-out.  We are too lazy to vote them out, so lets just make a law that says we aren't allowed to vote for them anymore). 

And lets talk about the cozy relationship between Big Business and politicians. That's on us too.  Especially, here in the United States, we are entirely too trusting of the private sector.  We are more than happy to give massive corporations untrammeled freedom to do whatever they want. We are double minded when it comes to big business--addicted to the convenience and low prices that they offer, quick to defend their obscene wealth as their just due for hard work and entrepreneurship, reluctant to place any regulations on them, and yet enraged when our elected officials stoop to do their bidding--just like we do. We worship at the altar of business, unaware that unchecked power is as dangerous in the private sector as in the public.

So yes, politics is messy, but it's a mess of our own making.  If we want to improve politics, we have to do better ourselves.  And it is imperative that we do so, because the political monster we've created has learned how to manipulate us. It has figured out how to get us to keep choosing them, by using our own deepest fears, inchoate anger, and entrenched selfishness against us. The road to the end of politics begins with the poisoning of politics.  Who benefits from the message that the "Other Side" is evil? Politicians benefit, because if they can convince their constituents that they are not only the best choice, but the only safe one, they will win over and over again.  And media benefits, because "Good Guys" and "Bad Guys" make for far more compelling viewing than boring disquisitions on the pros and cons of this policy or that. 

I would encourage my fellow citizens to stop parroting the talking points of political figures and media types that demonize people you disagree with. You gain nothing but bad feelings about your neighbors and Facebook friends, and are unwittingly doing the bidding of those who would manipulate and use you for their own gain. 

If today has shown us anything, it's that the toxic sludge we've been contributing to will ironically bring about the destruction of the very system it's been intended to propagate. We've just about reached the end of politics as usual. And that's not a good thing.