Procrastinating Prognostication
columnist: John Brooks

Topic: Social and Cultural Issues
Political Silence

---

Social culture in America is detrimental to political progress.. who knew?

---

by John Brooks
(Libertarian)
Sunday, January 27, 2008

So I've been on this Ron Paul trip for only about two months now and the constant introduction to new ways of thinking still doesn't cease to amaze me. I'm known to be a man of few words and traditionally I'd be polite enough to avoid political conversation. You know the saying, 'Religion and politics are the two things you don't talk about.' Recently I've discovered the part that got left out. What it originally said is 'religion and politics are the two things you don't talk about with douchebags.' But you shouldn't be talking to douchebags in the first place. For the sake of keeping this an article rather than a book I'll adhere to the don't talk about religion part.

These days I'm preaching my Ron Paul gospel to whoever will listen. I'm amazed to find that some people will talk back and they even have ideas and beliefs! In these conversations I'm almost polite enough to not toss a wrench in the gears of that person's current school of thought, it's fun for all. The most exciting folks are those who dare bring out their treasured personal beliefs and either show them off proud like or ask timidly whether or not something they believe is understandable. That's when we've got something to talk about. You'd be suprised how a relationship can be positively affected by discussing such touchy subjects. It sure beats the usual mindless banter and the elusive intelligent discussion does make it's occasional appearance.

It's damned suprising to find how similar some of the people I've talked with are in their beliefs. Seems alot of the folks I know are nearly on the same wavelength I was of late, 'better to fight the war there than here' and 'taxes should be cut, but I don't know about spending,' Nothing wrong with that for those not yet introduced to the revolution. The problem is when, and it happens, someone says something like, 'we should lower taxes and have universal healthcare,' that's when that person must be set straight, politely of course. But people are always suprised and interested in hearing facts and ideas they hadn't known about. The thing I've really been suprised with though applies all across the board, the question of trust in government. I guess I had forgotten that it is generally accepted that government officials aren't the best of people, so when the subject came up I was suprised to hear how strongly people feel about that.

My latest foray into the possibility that the higher ups could actually be lying about silver dollar and half dollar things, rather than nickle and dime things has given the term government mistrust a whole new meaning for me. The possibilities of what could be going on 'behind the curtain' are in a whole different world compared to the casual, 'eh yeah politicians lie but..' conversation. Of course I haven't become a full on conspiracy theorist but the possibilities are staggering.

But here's where all the casual government mistrust contradicts itself. It's really not fashionable to question the government, I'm not sure it ever was. But it's always been the coolest to be unhappy with it so long as specifics are absent. Grand generalizations are as popular as ever; war is bad, taxes are bad, the president is dumb. But let's not get into detail. Better to just say things are bad and go about the day than to actually have to think about why they are or what could fix them. With as many people as there are who give suspicion for our governing bodies lip service I still can't find a disparity between what has been put out as truth by the government and what the folks believe, that's the scary part. In other words if people generally don't trust the government than why do people keep trusting the government?

You may not have noticed but if someone can get away with something without being held accountable they will most likely continue to do it. Don't get me wrong here, our public servants certainly deserve respect for doing what they do, they are to be commended for their service. Yet they have much different demands on them than does the average citizen. Our demand for transparency for one, torturous as it may be, is a necessary test for an elected official to endure. It could even be called a right of the people, but too often our society, out of respect for an official or for whatever reason, will stand by as our right to transparency is ignored. This is one of the many places where not speaking up gets us into trouble.

This video (regarding the president and the 9/11 commission), while not proving any terrible wrongdoing, does show us how our right to have a magnifying glass up to our leaders at all times in our free society can be kicked about. I'd never heard anything about that whole deal from anyone else as it was going on but you can imagine what would have happened if there were a bigger buzz about it and people started to ask questions.

So what is one to do about all this? Read, learn, talk, educate. Start small and you may be suprised where you end up. Politics are not taboo. People out there are dying to discuss the issues. Everything starts with that seed of an idea in someone's head that eventually hatches into greatness, so start layin them eggs you seedy chicken you.

Thanks for reading. Bookmark http://www.nolanchart.com/author181.html to keep up with my column. Questions, concerns, comments? E-mail me at johnsarticle@gmail.com.

Did you like this article?
If you did, Thumb It!
10 thumbs so far

2008 John Brooks, all rights reserved.
Published: Sunday, January 27, 2008
Last modified: Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of John Brooks only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. John Brooks is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

Report violation by John Brooks of Nolan Chart LLC's terms of use policy.