Tuesday, June 25, 2024

It does not, at this point, seem like you can really affect anything by voting, anymore than you can keep a beloved item on the market by continuing to buy it. Not that you're given much choice in voting anyway. Nations that are officially democracies are unofficially becoming "Here's what you're getting" propositions. For most of us politics is something that is done to us.

That's another reason why pursuing something creative―writing, painting, picking up a guitar and making a song―is a good thing. It's something that you actually can affect. And it might give you a chance to resist the onslaught.

2 comments:

susan said...

Of course you're right about favorite items at the supemarket as well as having any choice about who is elected. To serve, eh? I think we have a clue or three about who's been getting served over the course of a long period of time. It appears to be universally true that politics is something done to us.

“The government you elect is the government you deserve.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
…Except we didn’t elect them and possibly haven't done in 100 years.

Still, you're right too that having creative outlets is a good thing. Anything that can be freely shared benefits everyone.

As soon as I read your post this morning I remembered a favorite Bonzo Dog Band song - No Matter Who You Vote For The Government Always Gets In There's a better version of the song on youtube but I liked the images in this one.

Ben said...

Who's been getting served? The ones with the servants, of course. The unusual thing is that those servants often have more of a public profile than their masters.

Jefferson's (older) contemporary Ben Franklin said that with the Constitution they'd created "a republic, if you can keep it." He might have said, "A republic for as long as you can keep it." Maybe that was always going to be a limited time.

Yes, that's very true. You may be able to find kindred spirits through your creative life as well.

That's a great Bonzos song, and I'm not sure I've heard it before. Always fun to hear Neil and Viv trade lines, since they had such different affects.