The honest answer is that I love this country for the freedom it provides me...to become a success or failure based on my own motivation, drive, innovation, and yes luck too. When I was younger, I rarely thought about the impact of government. I'm lucky I read the paper once a week in college. Couldn't have cared less. It wasn't until I saw how much in taxes was subtracted from my paycheck that I started to really care...how much it costs to live that I appreciated what my parents provided for me all those years...and how much rhetoric rarely matches deed in peoples' everyday lives, that I really started to give a shit about politics. Basically, I was your typical clueless young adult until I turned about 24 or so.
And since I have spent my entire career so far on Wall St and in NYC to boot, I have seen the worst in people, and some incredibly smart people act really poorly and unkind. So I am cynical Craig. Really, really cynical...about nearly everything. And when I see people in govt doing the spivvy things I see on Wall St, it only reinforces my view that I can't fully trust people, or my government to do the right thing. So no, I don't believe in hope and change, because that idealism died in me when I saw the world for how it really was. All life has done is reinforce how truly alone we are to sink and swim based on our own abilities. I won't take advantage of others to get ahead, but I will try to run as fast I can in my own lane. I would expect nothing less of you either.
/rant
Well, that's a good example of the danger and harm that corruption, bad government, creates with cynicism. (It also seems particularly strong in NYC).
One of the problems with it is that it traps you in bad government - partly because you don't know what 'good government' is. You only see 'more or less bad government'.
Sadly, I'm not just saying 'you're wrong'. While I better appreciate the good that can come from democracy and good government, I see how often democracy fails, the rise of the harmful movements and the corruption from top to bottom that often happens, and it raises real questions whether democracy is viable - but what's the alternative, and there is a moral basis for defending people's right to democracy even if they choose terribly (the harm they do to OTHERS who don't get to vote is another issue).
This is one reason why I encourage people to read more positive things - why my sig has long since given up the space for more fun quotes to push people to read good content.
Because democracy can be a wasteland without that and useless. It's my view that we have it a lot better than we appreciate, because of democracy - but since people don't appreciate that they are quick to throw it away, not appreciating the dangers that lurk nearby ready to replace it.
It's been noted that historically, the 'great societies' tend to represent political ideals that are better respected and practised by others than they are by the 'great nation'. It was true for Rome, it was true for England, it's true for us. Some countries have FAR higher voter turnout than we do, for example. Think of a Latin American nation with a corrupt plutocracy who own everything, and most very poor peasants - who face the violent repression from the government againt any organizing to improve things.
Those people appreciate the idea of democracy. They fight for it.
I suspect you do not have the same appreciation I do for the potential tyranny from the private side, not only from the government. So when you champion freedom for the people, you need to include freedom protected from concentrated private power - not just the government. And the government, when it works, provides that protection.
I'm concerned that the sort of cynicism you talk about could be a disease that threatens our society, our democracy, to the point that no one understands what 'good government' can be. I've ready how when the USSR fell, leaders went to learn the very basic ideas of capitalism because they had no idea how it worked; their debates took place in a vacuum or ignorance, and we run the same risk of ours taking place between only 'Bush' and 'gridlock', take your pick, with no 'good government' people know about.
This is where history can be very useful, learning how democracy has created more freedom for many people, when it's worked - with people shedding blood for progress.
You often hear certain quotes from people trying to explain this - the one about 'a few people can be a force to create great progress - indeed, nothing else ever has', or Robert quoting someone else, saying 'Some men see things as they are and ask, why? I dream of how things could be ans ask, why not?' This is the source of human progress from the time of our founding fathers saying 'why not' to the idea of the peasants getting a vote to the current time of people saying why not change public opinion on gay marriage equality?
I hesitate to pick one thing for you to read to try to help with this, not wanting to waste it if you are willing; but Ted Sorensen's history of the Kennedy presidency are useful, I'd suggest first "Kennedy" and then "Counsel" as a two-part project showing something of what government can be - and I say this aware of the bad of even Kennedy's administration, doing both good and bad. Another book might be Howard Zinn's "People's history of the united states", or his "Declarations of Independence".
It's scary to some of us to see that the lack of good leadership for decades has created the cynicism you describe - and seeing the Wall Street Bailouts would not help. It's understandable, your cynicism - in fact, the positive is that you are even aware that it is cynicism, rather than not understanding that, as I suspect is the case with many. You don't know you're a cynic if you aren't somewhat aware of other options.
Save234
Facebook
Twitter