Archive for November 23rd, 2007

Politics as usual

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

Q. Masters, I am tired of putting up with all the B. S. that is being slung by our politicians. I dread each time when an election looms. In the end it seems that the person with the most money, who can have the most commercials out there, is the one who gets elected. Why do we have to put up with all this stupidity? Is there anything that we can do to change this never-ending pattern?

A. One of the great things about life on Earth is that each person gets to shape their own experience, and to do with it what they want within the boundaries of their own financial status, interests, and intelligence. A person has the ability to say anything they wish, but each listener has the right to interpret and to accept or reject what they hear. It does no good to fight and get angry at what people say; just tune them out, or question them, or let your opinions be heard.

The ability to put your message in front of the public in the traditional way is determined by power coming from political affiliations and power coming from having the money to buy anything that you want. In the run-up to the election in the United States of America, candidates are getting some questions from the public through the Internet. Money is worthless there and enthusiasm rules. Controversial statements are torn apart from all angles, and questions are being asked about contradictions and statements that are not founded on facts.

You refer to campaigning as stupidity, but as long as the people can be convinced that a monkey has the capability to rule a nation, and they don’t question it, then one may very well be elected. If enough of the voters in any election are interested and truly informed about the facts, money expended will not be the determining factor in who gets elected. In order for the facts to win out, the populace must become involved and take the time to investigate what is fact and what is window dressing.

You have two choices: you can sit back and just complain about the way things are being conducted as the candidates spoon-feed you their platform, or you can get on the Internet and research their records and their speeches at different events and to different interest groups, and make a decision yourself as to what feels right to you. Then you can let your friends know about the findings and help them make their informed decisions devoid of the glitz of the marketing aspect.

In the end, the only person you can truly affect is yourself. If you feel strongly enough about what you see happening, get involved.