Quote:
|
Originally Posted by sspadowsky
I think we're too ignorant and self-absorbed, and too caught up in being consumer whores and sports fans, to pay attention to the truly important shit, because the truly important shit is boring. And over the next several years, if this country stays its course, things will get worse incrementally, until it's a true police state, and it'll be too late to do much about it. We don't need to worry about terrorism threatening this country- odds are that we'll end up destroying it ourselves, through our own ignorance.
|
I've had the same feeling about Western society in general, actually. I mean, in this age of supposed globalism and accessible information, the electorate in various Western democracies have blinders on their eyes, and are ignorant of what is going on not only internationally, but within their own borders. As long as they get to drive their SUVs and to sit comfortably in their leather chairs on 'Must See TV' night, people are content to leaving matters of state to scoundrels and incompetents. In explaining the workings of democracies, academics and pundits like to bring up the concept of checks and balances to describe how each of the three traditional branches of government is a watchdog of the other two. I think a fourth entity needs to be factored into this discussion, and that is the voting public at large. Democracy only works when the citizenry is informed and active in questioning the policies of the administration of the day.