Desensitized and Disillusioned

Thursday, July 26, 2012

In the past two years or so since I last posted on this blog, I have become so disillusioned with the political process that I've effectively become desensitized to the stupidity and downright tyranny committed by nearly every politician nearly every second of the day.  I used to get angry or sad when politicians committed these heinous acts, but now all I feel is numbness inside to the point it makes me feel sick.  Occasionally, upon hearing of the latest tyrannical act by a politician, I'll feel an initial shock, but it doesn't last long anymore.  I can feel a full range of emotions in my personal, social, and professional lives, but I've been nearly completely desensitized to politics and current events.

How much of a change is this for me?  Well, there were points in my life where I was listening to 8-12 hours of talk radio a day.  Now, I may go nearly a whole week without listening to more than a few minutes.  Why is this?  Because the hosts and callers are so quick to embrace a politician and praise him the second it looks like he's locked up a nomination.  If they're so quick to jump on the bandwagon now, there's less than a 0% chance they'll hold his feet to the fire, ever.  I'm not saying don't vote for the nominee, but don't make your support a cakewalk.  And then there's the insufferable barrage of politicians and other political hacks on talk radio and other news sources talking about gross encroachments into personal liberty as simple policy and budget issues.  ObamneyCare costs too much, it's bad for jobs, etc.  When I hear talk like that, the numbness starts.  For instance, when Bill Bolling issued his press release through his press secretary after the SCOTUS ruling, framing it it these terms, he solidified himself in this camp forever to me.   Meanwhile, when Ken Cuccinelli sends a "Cuccinelli Compass" from himself, not as a press release through a press secretary, titled, "Today is a dark day for Liberty" framing the issue solely in liberty terms, I'm inspired to quickly make a significant contribution to his campaign for Governor of Virginia because he at least gives me a glimmer of hope until the next idiot political hack shoots his or her mouth off again.

I used to be incredibly idealist and feel a wide range of emotions related to politics, but when nearly everything is a policy issue, not a liberty issue, nearly every politician is a tyrant.  The question is not if he or she will stab us in the back, but when.  Yes, there are a few exceptions: Ken Cuccinelli, Bob Marshall, Michelle Bachmann, and Eugene Delgaudio come to mind, but seriously not that many more current politicians.

I frankly don't see how anything will ever get better when the majority of voters can't think for themselves most of the time and when they can, they've been so indoctrinated by 150 years of systematic liberal re-education, that they'll vote for someone because they have good hair and tell a good lie.

And those who profess to fight for liberty, more often than not are liars who don't know what liberty really is, or worse yet, want to use the force of government to impose their version of "liberty" on the masses.

There are good people out there, but until the conversation really moves into a discussion of liberty restraining government, not false "liberty" or "equality" being forced upon individuals using the government's monopoly on coercive force, I don't see my faith in the political process returning anytime soon.