I'm starting to believe that American politics are inferior to that of many other nations. What good is politics if it doesn't solve problems?
I'm seeing a pattern here. In America, we would rather hide a problem, leaving it unresolved, than accept responsibility or blame for problems. Most of our problems are not accidentally hidden, but instead, purposely buried in layers of BS and planned ambiguity.
When we do find a problem, we are more concerned with "who screwed up" than how best to fix the problem or reducing the likelihood of reoccurrence. Here it's better for the individual to be a skilled blame-shifter than a skilled problem-solver or a responsible member. Even if we are not at fault, attempting to find the problem puts us at risk of punishment for embarrassing a powerful person or becoming a suspect merely because we knew too much about the problem. In American politics, shooting the messenger is our favorite sport.
In Asian cultures, it appears that allowing people to "save face" has helped them to overcome fears of finding the problems or taking responsibility for problems.
In America, our methods of finding problems are made more important than weather or not we find or fix the problem. Is it just our culture, or is there some philosophical flaw with American politics?
Full Version: What's Wrong With American Politics?
Have to admit that the Parliamentary system has held some allure the last few years...
opposition party that is heard ... forcing a new election when confidence is lost in the ruling coalition...
opposition party that is heard ... forcing a new election when confidence is lost in the ruling coalition...
QUOTE(billfmsd @ Feb 12 2006, 05:10 PM)
In America, our methods of finding problems are made more important than weather or not we find or fix the problem. Is it just our culture, or is there some philosophical flaw with American politics?
A Letter to the American Left Bernard-Henri Lévy Translated from the original French by Charlotte Mandell -The Nation
QUOTE
Nothing made a more lasting impression during my journey through America than the semi-comatose state in which I found the American left.
I know, of course, that the term "left" does not have the same meaning and ramifications here that it does in France.
And I cannot count how many times I was told there has never been an authentic "left" in the United States, in the European sense.
But at the end of the day, my progressive friends, you may coin ideas in whichever way you like. The fact is: You do have a right. This right, in large part thanks to its neoconservative battalion, has brought about an ideological transformation that is both substantial and striking.
I know, of course, that the term "left" does not have the same meaning and ramifications here that it does in France.
And I cannot count how many times I was told there has never been an authentic "left" in the United States, in the European sense.
But at the end of the day, my progressive friends, you may coin ideas in whichever way you like. The fact is: You do have a right. This right, in large part thanks to its neoconservative battalion, has brought about an ideological transformation that is both substantial and striking.
QUOTE
the supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton who, when I questioned them on how exactly they planned to wage the battle of ideas, casually replied they had to win the battle of money first, and who, when I persisted in asking what the money was meant for, what projects it would fuel, responded like fundraising automatons gone mad: "to raise more money"; and then, perhaps more than anything else, when it comes to the lifeblood of the left, the writers and artists, the men and women who fashion public opinion, the intellectuals--I found a curious lifelessness, a peculiar streak of timidity or irritability, when confronted with so many seething issues that in principle ought to keep them as firmly mobilized as the Iraq War or the so-called "American Empire" (the denunciation of which is, sadly, all that remains when they have nothing left to say).
Lévy sees clearly that "progressives" have been defeated by a right committed to their beliefs. This will go on as long as we let the Democrats get away with having no commitment to the progressive cause.
The Democrats will never stand for anything unless we are ready to walk away. No more excuses, no more wait-till-next year, its time to hunker down for the long haul task of dismantling the Democratic leadership and replacing them with a party as committed to progress as the Republican are now committed to regress.
QUOTE(real_democrat @ Feb 12 2006, 04:43 PM)
A Letter to the American Left Bernard-Henri Lévy Translated from the original French by Charlotte Mandell -The Nation
Lévy sees clearly that "progressives" have been defeated by a right committed to their beliefs. This will go on as long as we let the Democrats get away with having no commitment to the progressive cause.
The Democrats will never stand for anything unless we are ready to walk away. No more excuses, no more wait-till-next year, its time to hunker down for the long haul task of dismantling the Democratic leadership and replacing them with a party as committed to progress as the Republican are now committed to regress.
Thanks for your response. Lévy sees clearly that "progressives" have been defeated by a right committed to their beliefs. This will go on as long as we let the Democrats get away with having no commitment to the progressive cause.
The Democrats will never stand for anything unless we are ready to walk away. No more excuses, no more wait-till-next year, its time to hunker down for the long haul task of dismantling the Democratic leadership and replacing them with a party as committed to progress as the Republican are now committed to regress.
This is a good answer for what is wrong with the American Left, and more specifically the Democratic Party. It may be the subject of another thread.
What I was looking for was a common problem with both the Left and the Right including both major political parties. Most people on this forum believe that there is problems on the Right. Are you saying that the whole of the problem is a lack of a counter balance on the Left?
QUOTE(billfmsd @ Feb 12 2006, 04:10 PM)
I'm starting to believe that American politics are inferior to that of many other nations. What good is politics if it doesn't solve problems?
I'm seeing a pattern here. In America, we would rather hide a problem, leaving it unresolved, than accept responsibility or blame for problems. Most of our problems are not accidentally hidden, but instead, purposely buried in layers of BS and planned ambiguity.
When we do find a problem, we are more concerned with "who screwed up" than how best to fix the problem or reducing the likelihood of reoccurrence. Here it's better for the individual to be a skilled blame-shifter than a skilled problem-solver or a responsible member. Even if we are not at fault, attempting to find the problem puts us at risk of punishment for embarrassing a powerful person or becoming a suspect merely because we knew too much about the problem. In American politics, shooting the messenger is our favorite sport.
In Asian cultures, it appears that allowing people to "save face" has helped them to overcome fears of finding the problems or taking responsibility for problems.
In America, our methods of finding problems are made more important than weather or not we find or fix the problem. Is it just our culture, or is there some philosophical flaw with American politics?
I'm seeing a pattern here. In America, we would rather hide a problem, leaving it unresolved, than accept responsibility or blame for problems. Most of our problems are not accidentally hidden, but instead, purposely buried in layers of BS and planned ambiguity.
When we do find a problem, we are more concerned with "who screwed up" than how best to fix the problem or reducing the likelihood of reoccurrence. Here it's better for the individual to be a skilled blame-shifter than a skilled problem-solver or a responsible member. Even if we are not at fault, attempting to find the problem puts us at risk of punishment for embarrassing a powerful person or becoming a suspect merely because we knew too much about the problem. In American politics, shooting the messenger is our favorite sport.
In Asian cultures, it appears that allowing people to "save face" has helped them to overcome fears of finding the problems or taking responsibility for problems.
In America, our methods of finding problems are made more important than weather or not we find or fix the problem. Is it just our culture, or is there some philosophical flaw with American politics?
I say it's a combination of our coin-operated election system, laws that have been enacted over the past 100+ years to make it difficult for 3rd parties to gain real clout, and a media that no longer does its job.
Also, we can't rule out that too many Americans just don't participate at all. We forget that Democracy, if you want to keep it, requires responsibility on the part of the voters. The responsibility to be engaged and to vote. Far too many Americans are more interested in American Idol and infotainment.
how about having the political correctness putting the emphasis on HAVING to 'recognize' everything as a problem and being bullied into stressing the emphasis of that action while leaving problem-solving behind?
ie: 'we all have to recognize this(whatever da issue happens to be at the moment) is a major concern' and leaving it at that
half way
ie: 'we all have to recognize this(whatever da issue happens to be at the moment) is a major concern' and leaving it at that
half way
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.