Voting on a president is like voting on you favorite fictional character.
@knoodleknight18 (917)
United States
December 28, 2011 6:57pm CST
So I'm reading through threads and I realize I don't know much about the candidates. Not a huge deal since I was last registered as a D I can't vote in the primaries. But to educate myself I figured I'd do a little research on them just in case whoever gets the R nomination looks better than 4 more years of Obama.
Then it struck me that voting for a candidate is really like voting for a mythical creature for president. You can learn little about a candidate that isn't skewed by one party or the other. Even looking at voting records can be time consuming and you never know the entire context in which they voted. Bills are rarely even written in a manner in which you can't look at all the other bills and laws to see if they were actually good, not to mention they often have other legislation piggy backing them. Other than all we have is what a politician says he believes, which is rarely any better than a high school candidate promising longer lunch breaks.
Most candidates have no idea what the life 90% of Americans live is like. Few if any at the presidential level have ever done anything like fill out a job application so they can pay rent. They lack the social skills required to have a roommate. They can relate to us about as much as we can relate to having to fly out to play golf in Hawaii for a meeting on Thursday. They've never had to order off the 99 cent menu or probably even been a place that had one. They lack the basic skills we all take for granted. Basic skills like actually living on a budget. And then we expect them to balance one for the country.
The country first and foremost isn't a for profit organization, and we need to get over that mindset first. It's more like a social club. It's members are the working class who pay (dues) taxes to buy things collectively. Sure, we can raise or lower dues and have fund raisers, but there's still a finite budget. So in the end we need to be able to decide what activities are worth keeping and which to do away with. It needs to be looked at like we all pay dues and expect benefits in return. We want our membership cards, our meeting place, our cookouts, and acceptance at other chapters around the country, we might vote to buy a pool table with extra funds, but we won't buy a pool table and a new tv if we don't have the money for both unless everyone is willing to pitch in extra to get them.
Our country is basically the same thing. We pay taxes vote on how to spend it and send our representatives to national meetings to make important decisions that effect all groups when they interact with each other or benefit the majority of groups on a larger scale. Just replace pool tables and tvs, with infrastructure and public services.
Now it's a bunch of out of rich kids who will never work and pay dues. Rather they'll just have the benefits of representing the group and their parents money. They're legacies like when the 2nd Bush became president. They can no more relate to a hard days work and crappy hour long lunch break, than we can relate to making $50,000 to go to Hawaii and playing a leisurely game of golf for a company meeting.
So, how are we going to choose someone to represent us when the only thing we have in common with them is that we share the same continent?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@sirnose (2436)
• United States
29 Dec 11
I can agree with you whole heartily knoodleknight18, these "jerks
" who run for public office has no idea how the 99% work and live. They all were born with a spoon in their mouths Pres.Obama and the Republican Candidates have had the good life handed to them on a silver platter.
We the People don't decide anything, we just listen to the establishment, and vote for whomever they chooses. Our politicians do not work for the American People, they work for "Corporate America"
" who run for public office has no idea how the 99% work and live. They all were born with a spoon in their mouths Pres.Obama and the Republican Candidates have had the good life handed to them on a silver platter.
We the People don't decide anything, we just listen to the establishment, and vote for whomever they chooses. Our politicians do not work for the American People, they work for "Corporate America"3 people like this
@knoodleknight18 (917)
• United States
30 Dec 11
Glad you agree, didn't want to think it was just me. Though it seems a lot more people are changing their minds about how things are.
@AidaLily (1450)
• United States
29 Dec 11
I agree with you as well. I have long since believed that voting for a presidential candidate is like believing everything that happens on reality TV is real. Sadly, there are still people who believe that reality TV is real so they are more likely to believe anything a presidential candidate is willing to say.
Most of these politicians, I don't care if they are democrat, republican, or another party have no idea of how the rest of us live as you have stated. Which means they, just like the voters, watch mainstream media to figure out what happens in pieces of the country. The American people are stupid and yes I live in America and can say this.
60% of Americans probably would not buy something off a shady dealer knowing it could possibly be stolen.
57% of Americans probably would not have a long lasting relationship with someone who just told them anything to get them and then changed later.
75% of Americans will vote for one of these candidates that just tells them what they want to hear and shows a small montage of them in some poor place saying they care.
85% of Americans want instant satisfaction and would just vote in the other party if things aren't 'fixed' right away.
And those are just random percentages and yet probably scarily close to true.
Even if a candidate had humble beginnings, the fact that they got a lot of money and let it go to their heads is a big thing as well. The only thing we have in common with them is the fact that we are all people and we are all going to die. I would say share the same continent, but for the most part they live in places with large estates and some of them have high gates. So its more like they feel its their continent and we are nothing more than animals that are littering the place.
I have no faith in this government whether its Obama for the next four years or a republican regardless of me being registered democrat. I was losing faith and then really lost it when congress and the senate couldn't figure out a budget but they all wanted raises on a $174,000 a year salary saying it wasn't enough for the year for all the work. They get a lot of perks: healthcare, pensions, low cost if not free gas, low to free costing hotel stays and so on. Not to mention every time you truly hear about them is when they are on vacation or when they finally got back to work. So no... there is no faith in this government.
I personally would LOVE a job when I worked maybe 32 weeks a year for that much.
2 people like this
@AidaLily (1450)
• United States
31 Dec 11
I fully agree with you on this. There are people dying in this country everyday from losing their jobs and not being able to get a place to stay. Everyone is so wrapped up in what other people are doing and making huge issues about things that shouldn't be an issue from what I've seen this election race so far and its sure to get worse. They really need to look at the problems and not just say what will appease people with no intention of fixing it.
You have democratic citizens who believe that all democrats want to do is work for the people, when honestly while sometimes they do, they still say what gets them into office and then you have republicans who say that the only reason everyone doesn't have a lot of money is because they haven't worked hard enough to have as much as they have. There isn't much the average american can do with limited finances not to mention all the big corporations take up a decent amount of resources and ship lots of jobs overseas for tax breaks.
The reason they wanted paid more is to have more money to fund their lifestyles. I mean it is terrible the way they want more and more saying they have to live paycheck to paycheck off of that money. Not all are rich but the vast majority of them are. I wish the people could vote to stop paying them until they do something. I understand taking time to figure things out but really you wait until the end of the year to do something about taxes and such for next year because why? Oh I know, its election year so they have to make themselves look good. I am not voting for anyone who worked for like a week in order to get my vote again but hasn't done anything for years they were in office before the election.
I honestly think a lot of them would either A.) quit, B.) actually work, or C.) be willing to make changes and truly know more about the american people if their money was threatened to the point they wouldn't get paid unless things got done.
1 person likes this
@knoodleknight18 (917)
• United States
3 Jan 12
That's a pretty good point. They are supposed to be working for us. We can't really fire them. But if they did our jobs like they do theirs they couldn't even hold a minimum wage job. So, maybe that's what they should get. Minimum wage for the amount of time congress is in session. Wouldn't that be an eye opener. If they get re-elected they get a raise. If not, they got fired like every other bad employee. I bet that would fix just about everything within 10 years.
@AidaLily (1450)
• United States
3 Jan 12
I would probably laugh at their shocked faces if they were told they make $6.50/hr for every hour they are in congress. Technically, we can fire them but to do so means to put another politician in office unless someone starts their own state campaign. Firing them is really hard though and while we can't fire the president, we are able to write huge petitions for officials to get out of office. Now I think people have only done it on a smaller scale like govenors and state reps but I do believe its possible.
The people should make a stand and not vote all together. I bet that would be an eye opener too if no one voted for either party. Maybe then they could say, 'Hey if we want them to vote us into office or something... we need to actually do some work.'
What I found upsetting when I started losing faith in the government is that there were republicans that actually said they would oppose Obama on everything to make him look bad with no care for the people. Any educated American knows we have to go through a huge mess of idiots before anything either gets a yes or no from the president. If not then full scale American re-education is in order.
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
4 Jan 12
Interesting way to look at things. Personally I think in a lot of respects you are definately head on, and many of these who run have never been where most of us are today. If they have, they have forgotten what it was like and closed their eyes to reality. It would be nice if they were more like us, and really cared about the people out there and if they would be able to have Food, Shelter, and Medical care, but most times it is about themselves and what they need and want.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
29 Dec 11
This is an interesting discussion, especially since I was just thinking last night, as I often have, about how nice it would be if some of the fictional Presidents and other political characters were actually REAL people. I mean people like the characters on the TV series "The West Wing" and like Senator Robert McAllister, Rob Lowe's character on "Brothers & Sisters". A few years ago I was telling people I wished I could vote for a Republican in the primary; they didn't believe me until I told them I meant McAllister! These fictional politicians are far from perfect but they're willing to admit their mistakes and flaws and work to improve. I guess in this case, fiction is really stranger than truth, right...lol?
I think we SO need to get the money out of politics or we'll never EVER get anyone to run for President who isn't either extremely wealthy or literally owned by others who are. Corporations are NOT people and money is NOT speech, at least it shouldn't be. The U.S. Government isn't a business and we Americans aren't employees, shareholders or customers, we're citizens and HUMAN BEINGS with real needs. I think the GOP Presidential candidates, like most of their party, find it too easy to simply ignore the less fortunate Americans by convincing themselves as they try to convince others it's the people's own fault if they aren't rich or successful. They're not worthy of any of the same advantages of the wealthy because they haven't earned it. That's all well and good, but should basic needs like health care be handed out only to those who can afford it? Is a good education a perk only deserved by the children of a chosen few?
Annie
1 person likes this
@knoodleknight18 (917)
• United States
30 Dec 11
Maybe you're right. It might be better to have an actor as president. A lot of them actually run charities and are involved in humanitarian causes, which is more than I can say for any politicians. Heck politics these days seem to be more about putting on a show than anything else. An actor would be great at it. John Stewart and Stephen Colbert even did better in some of the 2008 primaries than some of the actual candidates. They already run political satire shows, so we know they'd keep us better up to date than most presidents and they have great presentation. Not sure how it might look to other countries, but it'd probably be in our best interest. We already have the govennator of california. And while he's way to far from center to win a lot of peoples votes. I'd vote for Colbert or Stewart over any of the other candidates I've ever voted for. They might not have the traditional skills but what have those achieved in recent years?
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