In light of the recent USA Today/Gallup poll, reposting...
We get the government we deserve. Of course, that is the collective "we" of the citizens of the U.S. On election day every U.S. citizen makes a choice, even if that choice is to not vote. And I truly believe evey choice is valid - as long as it is an informed, reasoned choice. There lies the rub. Do we, as a citizenship, make informed political decisions anymore? Can we be expected to, given the state of our media?
From democraticunderground:
Some quotes from one source...
http://earlyamerica.com/...
Jefferson, Education and the Franchise
by Professor Thomas Jewett
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 89)
". . . whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right." (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 88)
The above quotes were the cornerstones of Jefferson's interest in education and the franchise. He placed education as the foundation of democracy and a prerequisite to vote.
Ignorance and sound self-government could not exist together: the one destroyed the other. A despotic government could restrain its citizens and deprive the people of their liberties only while they were ignorant.>
The readers of this blog, are, by definition, better informed than the average citizen. The fact that we get some input from other than traditional media is proof of that. And I believe more people are getting information from non-traditional sources than ever before, if only due to the availability of such. But it is painfully obvious that the majority of the public is still woefully (and I would add willfully) uninformed and/or misinformed.
Maybe I'm rationalizing, but this is the only way I can accept the fact that recent polls show McCain and Obama so close. After all the crisis, tragedy, and pain inflicted by this administration, how could anyone who objectively looks at the preponderance of facts possibly think seriously about voting for a man who will continue these policies and extend the travesty we have been living for the past 7 years?
Have people truly become so devoted to worshiping at the alter of our consumerist society, that we have become deaf, dumb, and blind to the outrages of our government? That is the only way I can explain why there aren't daily protests in the streets of every major city in the nation. Instead, we have a legitimate possibility that the man who sang "bomb, bomb Iran" may be our next president. Really?
You history buffs, please put this in context. Isn't this how Rome fell?