When Did Politics Become a Commodity?

I have always found it interesting how little we Americans actually talk about politics. We grumble and complain about the state of things. We growl at politicians we don't like. We even, occasionally, make comical suggestions on how things SHOULD be done. How many times have you heard things like "I say we get all the leaders of the world, put them in a room, and have them fight their own battles! Then we'll see how fast they'll jump to go to war." Or even "Hey, man. I say we get everyone together....I mean all the big hot shots, and we give em' weed. We'd never fight another war. The worst thing that could happen is that our leaders get a case of the munchies." But beyond this, beyond the boo hoos and the late night comedy spoofs, we don't really TALK about politics. Family members prohibit it during holidays. Friendly chats are always limited to discussions of the latest episode of "Family Guy" or the newest and best music single to hit the charts. Even classrooms across America remain silent in this regard. Teachers who attempt to discuss political matters with their students will often describe the experience as akin to pulling teeth. Current affairs, it seems, has become so last season.

There are some exceptions to this rule. Some people LOVE to talk about politics. Unfortunately, these are often the same people who quickly latch on to broad ideologies only to, then, reject all others. They register as democrats, green party members, libertarians, independents or republicans. Once having selected their party of choice, they stick to their guns and die by their dogmas. Rather than talking to one another, these people talk over and around each other. Thus, those that practice the art of political discussion, often do so the same way they shop at their local Costco store. They shop through the mass array of packages, and pick the one that resembles their particular preference closest. Just as shoppers are willing to buy that huge box of poptarts (even if it does include that icky cinnamon flavor) so, too, are political junkies willing to select their politics by the package ( even if it does come with that icky deficit spending policy). If you want proof of this, you need merely to look at the vast array of news stations. Are you a conservative? We have a channel for you. Please tune in to...that's right...FOX NEWS. Are you a liberal? Watch MSNBC or PBS. Are you a moderate? (whatever that means) Well we have CNN just for you!

Politics, then, has become a commodity. We can choose not to buy into it (this is almost like saying "maybe if I just ignore what's happening, it will go away") or we can choose to participate. Once having taken the second option, we are given a menu of choices. You place your order (privately....we don't want to infringe upon other's unwillingness to dive into the topic) and you continue on with your life.

Why is this a problem? Because unlike what people might want to think, politics does not go away if we ignore it, nor will problems get solved if people refuse to hear others with DIFFERENT viewpoints. Take the Iraq war. Several days prior to the start of the war, news anchors polled Americans on their opinion of it. Of those polled, 85% said they were for it. Just to give you some perspective....the approval rating for WWII in Nazi germany (where dissenting was not even an option) was around 75%. Let me say that again. In the land of the free, where we have freedom of speech and expression, there were fewer people willing to dissent the war on Iraq than there were those in NAZI GERMANY willing to dissent theirs. Ouch. (My source for these facts came directly from a lecture in a politics seminar at a local community college. I have not been able to locate the original source, and you should feel free to check my facts).

How is this relevant to today? Just look at the debates. They are the same ones that have been taking place since...I want to say since the beginning of our nation's founding. On one hand, you have the free market. McCain wants to privatize health care and make it more "efficient." On the other hand you have government. Obama wants to allow people to have access to the same government sponsored health care that federal employees have. This debate isn't new. Hoover, during the Great Depression argued that we should leave the market alone, and, in the long run, everything would work itself out. Meanwhile, Roosevelt argued "people don't eat in the long run. They eat every day." What does it tell you when the same debates that we had over seventy years ago are the same ones we are having today? It should tell you that we have landed ourselves in a stalemate. We have picked our repsective sides, and we are not going to budge. We are supposed to be the most innovative country in the world, and yet, where politics are concerned, we haven't come up with anything new. Perhaps, if we were willing to lift the strict ban on political discussion in our social networks we could begin to forge new solutions to the escalating problems of today. Beyond that, if we were willing to allow other ideas from other ideologies to fall into our political shopping cart, we might even be able to evolve into a new hybrid of political thinkers. The kind that works together as a community rather than as a mass of individual consumers.