Post Election Blues

Letter to the Editor
Sent: Thu, 9 Nov 2006 7:46 AM
Subject: No Reason to Gloat

For those people out there that look at the results of the recent election and feel the urge to gloat, that may not be warranted. Consider that the election results in almost all issues had razor thin margins. We live in a country that is still strongly divided and highly polarized. How did we get to this point? How did we get to the point where we not only have strong opinions about subjects, but feel that anyone that disagrees with us is out of their mind and trying to hurt the country? How did we get to a point where it's normal to seek information sources that only agree with us and to reject any news or data that does not support our beliefs? When did we stop listening to our opponents?

If you fell into the large segment of the population (74% according to the latest Gallup poll) that voted "against Bush" because you feel the country is going in the wrong direction, what reason do you have to believe that Democrats can turn it around? What reason does anyone have to believe that the structure that puts people into office is functioning well and providing this country with the leadership it needs? We still have a system where special interests are throwing money at perpetually campaigning politicians, who return the favor by providing those interests with whatever legislation and oversight (or lack thereof) they need to have an advantage and to gain profit. Who's looking out for our future? Who is thinking about the shape this country will be in 20 or 50 years from now? The system rewards those who only care about immediate issues. If you need examples of this phenomenon besides politicians, look at wall street, the oil industry, labor unions, executive compensation, political punditry and bloggers lack of fact checking, and people's failure to plan for retirement. No accountability for long term consequences is the common thread. In more stark examples, look at the obesity epidemic, drug addiction, or even athletic doping.

If you were a parent and your child wanted to gorge himself on cake and cookies all day, people would understand and approve of your restricting his diet to healthy choices. That child may not understand the long term consequences or be able to control their urges and desires for instant gratification. How is this any different than a government that spends out of control and does not collect enough revenue to cover those expenses? The problem with focusing on the now and ignoring the future is that the future will come, and when it does, the choices you make in the now govern the costs or benefits you'll see in that future. This is why we need to continue to look at how to fix the problem rather than sitting back and gloating at the latest election results.