Tuesday, August 18, 2015

On Political Identity

How does one respond to the neverending vilification of persons of one political stripe over the other? Here is my heartfelt take on the usefulness of labels we assign to professional politicians as I presented my thoughts on a friend's comment string:



The author's first point of clarification is, for me, his best [The author of a biting critique of a particular political persuasion begins his article with a scathing evaluation of politicians of every stripe]. The differences espoused by both parties publicly are surface differences, protecting hardened, deeply held core values that favor certain types of people over others. I am an independent because I  have grown to have an equal suspicion of professional politicians of all flavors. Humans crave power and tend to protect power at all costs once it is gained. Bones are thrown on occasion to "calm the natives" but I  am not naive enough to believe that politicians seek political influence to serve anyone other than themselves and those like them. All sides present those who agree with them as champions of the cause and voices of reason, but the reward is seldom beneficial for those who suffer and are oppressed on the whole. Divide and conquer remains the political weapon of choice. I lament to consider that our national political refrain will perpetually be best represented by that classic last refrain from the Who's classic "Won't Be Fooled Again": "Meet the new boss...same as the old boss!"

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