While I was looking at the films coming out soon, I found a film called Bobby. I heard of the film before, one commercials and various shows. But while I read the reviews for the movie, a came across one of the reviews by Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Time. In the review, he said "Bobby does a solid job of telling one generation what the world was like in the summer of 1968, and reminding another generation of a time when they believed a politician could change the world." I don't know why but for some reason that made me think.
The world of 1968 was a lot different then now. I wasn't alive then, of course, but my parents were. But what was so different? Yes, there weren't any I-Pods or any other technologies.
But they had the same kind of problems. There was a war going on then, just like there is a war going on now. There was an ere of change then, with people just as passinate about their side just like now. And yet the times seem so different.
But were they really? If anything, the people of 1968 had it worse then the people of 2006. They had to deal with more diseases and lack of technology to treat it. They had to deal with more screwed up problems, like races not being able to intermingle. They had just had two of their great heroes assinated prior to Bobby Kennedy, his brother John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Martin Luther King, Jr. just two months earlier on April 4th. So is it really fair to call this a "simpler time", like I've heard people say in the past. I don't think so.
So the question can be asked again, what was so different? Politically, they had to deal with different issues that bring out the same emotions of the issues today. So what made us stop trusting politicians? Yes, there were scandals over the past thirty years, but thirty years prior to that they were coming out of the Great Depression and preparing to go in to World War II. Did they not trust politictians then? Was it just those three great people and the rest were just smucks?
Today, most people don't trust politicians. But what I find a little amusing is that most of the time when you ask someone why they hate Bill Clinton, you are bound to get the answer at least once of "he is an immoral pig." Yet, ask these people if they liked JFK, then they would say he is one of the best presidents that the US of A has ever seen, which I completely agree with. But JFK had affairs thoughout his presidency, including one with the famous Marrilyn Monroe.
So what changed in a few decades? Are we more cynical? Or are there just no more great politicians?
I think that part of it is the evolution in the media. We are able to convey they "indescretions" and "mistakes" of polititions alot more quikly now than back then.
I also think it's partly due to what the US wants to hear about. Even though they would never admit it, most Americans would rather hear about Clinton's "roll in the hay" than the healthcare reform he was trying to pass. The scandal sells more papers.
I agree, we had the same issues with politicians as yesteryear, yet today we have more disdain toward politicians.