A Tsunami Of Stupidity

Yesterday's elections confirmed what we all knew would happen months ago—the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives and the Democrats hung on to the Senate. Was this a new mandate for a resurrected GOP as a triumphant John Boehner proclaimed this morning? Of course not. These meaningless elections were just another exercise in American stupidity.

But before I turn to stupidity, I'd like to remind you that this week's Main Event is yet to come. We will know the extent of the Central Bank's new round of Quantitative Easing (QE2) later this afternoon. So perhaps my discussion of feeble-mindedness today is premature.

America has a "two party" system of government. Unlike multi-party parliamentary systems in which governments can be easily dissolved with a vote of "no confidence" and then reformed after a brief election, Americans elect representatives of one of these two parties for fixed terms every two years (for a 2-year term in the House of Representatives, 6 years in the Senate, 4 years for the president.)

New elections in a parliamentary system take a matter of weeks, but in America candidates spend at least two years out of every four running for office (in the House). Running for office is thus very expensive, and taking bribes (aka. campaign contributions) is necessarily an essential part of winning an election. When politicians are not "busy" negotiating with special interests working on legislation, they are raising money—it's a full-time job.

Because America's representatives in Congress, regardless of party affiliation, can not be elected without kowtowing to special interests, we Americans have, uniquely among the world's democracies, what I've called the Illusion of Political Choice. If Americans are unhappy with their government and whichever party is running it—and they always are, and why wouldn't they be?—they can vote in the other party. That's their only "choice."

And so Americans lurch from Republicans to Democrats, and then back to Republicans, and then back to Democrats, and so on. If one party or the other has a full mandate—they control Congress and the Presidency simultaneously—the party in power does as much damage as it can get away with until the next election, when The People will once again exercise their illusory political choice. And that election is never more than two years away.

As the Empire declines, and the country falls apart, this pointless, self-defeating bouncing between one corrupt political party and the other becomes more pronounced, for how could Americans who have not paid for and benefited from Congressional largess possibly be satisfied with the governance of a country that's going to pot?

And that is exactly what happened yesterday—voters switched from one set of corrupt incompetents to the other. Without the faintest clue about what she was actually saying, NPR's chief political correspondent Mara Liasson reported the "news" in Republicans' Rout Rides On Voters' Mood For Change. The phrase "mood for change" is code for the futile political exercise I've described here.

And so Americans switch from Tweedledum to Tweedledee and then back again, seemingly without end, never understanding that their problems stem from and transcend the two-party system they reaffirm every two years.  Now I ask you: how dumb is that?

America's political system is thus a Tsunami Of Stupidity. The political system will be completely stymied next year, and the year after that will be frittered away as Obama's Republican challengers run their overly long, expensive primary campaigns to determine who will reside in the White House in 2013.

In the meantime, the country's social and economic situation will continue to deteriorate, or we'll have another economic/financial crisis (or two, or three) before the next election, which means that voters will definitely be in a "mood for change" by November, 2012.  And then we'll start this futile cycle all over again.

Bonus Video — Nothing changes on ... Election Day. Just to cheer us up.

And so we're told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes
On New Year's Election Day

Comments

[jcg1969]

Dave
This election for some reason (maybe I read your blog daily) has been particularly depressing. You mentioned the other day that you feel depressed (but pull out of it) and I've thought about that. You don't mention having kids, but I have 2 (9 and 7) and they force me to live a public fantasy life ("their world will be like mine", "I'll continue to earn and save for them") and a more private realistic world (Being 42, "I wish for a sudden collapse so I can help them"). If you have kids and are aware of what is going on, it is difficult to live outside this duality. The burdens of living in a declining society force long hours at work so that they don't have to goto a shitty school or live in a shitty neighborhood. At the same time, we need to spend more time together so that they can learn to be more from my wife and I as they can. At times though I look at them and think I should be tougher, teach them more skills, etc. I have them studying foreign languages so that they have places to go, etc. I have to say it becomes harder to envision where my kids will be in 20-30 years with each passing election - Prozac will not help this I fear.