I am jaded (tired, worn out) due to all of the things that have made me cynical (I saw through the charade in my mid to late teens and am now 43, so I have a LOT of cynicism built up) over the years.
I have never voted and don't plan on voting, at least not while the current system is in place.
More wisdom from Carlin:
Or as Lisa Simpson says:
It is blatantly obvious that we need a new system entirely, but how to bring that about?
“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”
Albert Einstein
So it is plain that the current thinking cannot be used to create a solution to the problem in which we find ourselves.
Another person who was extremely perceptive is the late, great Frank Herbert:
“Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible.”
― Frank Herbert
This is a bit more subtle than the traditional axiom of "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely" and shows something that many people seem not to see. Those who seek to be placed in positions of power are those most susceptible to being corrupted due to the desire for that power and open themselves to further corruption by seeking to keep that power.
“Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class -- whether that class be hereditary royalty, oligarchs of financial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy.”
― Frank Herbert, Children of Dune
And here we find ourselves with a government that has endured and grown toward a decidedly aristocratic form which has combined hereditary royalty (rich powerful people keep their riches and power within their families, though they may not have titles, this does qualify), oligarchs of financial empires (these are often the same people as the "royals"), and entrenched bureaucracies (the advisers a previous poster mentioned)
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“Bureaucracy destroys initiative. There is little that bureaucrats hate more than innovation, especially innovation that produces better results than the old routines. Improvements always make those at the top of the heap look inept. Who enjoys appearing inept?”
― Frank Herbert, Heretics of Dune
And here is why we will never see any real solutions come from our current crop of "leaders" in government or in business. How many times have you come up with a better business process that got shot down because it didn't come from your boss or higher up? On the other hand, how often have you had an idea stolen only to find that someone further up the food chain got credit and recognition for the idea?
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“I don’t think it’s quite that simple. Some people never observe anything, Life just happens to them. They get by on little more than a kind of dumb persistence, and they resist with anger and resentment anything that might lift them out of that false serenity.”
― Frank Herbert, Heretics of Dune
Can you say, "sheople?" I knew you could...
“Every civilization depends on the quality of the individuals it produces. If you over-organize humans, over-legalize them, suppress their urge to greatness-- they cannot work and their civilization collapses”
― Frank Herbert
I think we are quickly approaching (if we aren't already there) the state where we have too many laws weighing us down.
One thing many people forget is that politics was never meant to be a full time occupation; congress was originally only meant to gather when great issues needed to be discussed and decisions had to be made. Sometime along the line, it became an ongoing, never ending slog through miles of red tape.
Something needs to change, most people will agree with that.
I say everything needs to change, but I fear that it will take something along the lines of an ELE to bring about that change and the part that sucks about this is that it's the same bastards who are in charge now that are most likely to survive and start the exact same crap all over again.
jadedANDcynical
