Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Harmful Influence of Politics on Everyday Life

It may seem to many of you that I like writing about politics. When I think back on it, I find myself thinking that actually, I don't. I can think of so many better things to write about and I've shown this by my work as a novelist. I'd much rather be writing adventures and working with fiction than expressing my opinions on the political happenings in this nation and the world. The problem is, as I discovered long ago, politics doesn't want to leave me alone. It wants to seep into every aspect of my life. It wants to micromanage my personal decisions. It wants to tell me what I can eat, what I can and can't put into my body, what medications and medical procedures I can and can't use, what businesses I can and can't open, how I must operate a business when I open it, what I must accept as money from any given costumer, who I can and can't marry, how I can travel, etc. They keep their hands in my pockets and their eyes on all my activities. In short, politics wants to control my actions from cradle to grave and make sure they get a piece of everything I produce during my time here on earth.

I write about politics because I felt compelled to do so when I started in 2006. The world had changed greatly and our society was headed down a dark and dangerous path. I had to do something. I could no longer just go through life with my head hung, mumbling and complaining and pretending I had no real power, even though that's what I felt like. Since that time things have gotten worse if you go by what the federal government has become, but they've gotten better if you go by how the people have reacted and how they've realized that something is very wrong. There is a huge problem however, in my opinion, in the solutions that continue to be proffered by the establishment. It seems to me that their solutions treat symptoms and never cure the disease.

I took a trip to Florida not long ago to visit family. My 19 year old daughter came along with me. She hates when I talk about government, so whenever possible I try to avoid the subject when she's around. I try to avoid speaking about it in general because I don't like getting into arguments and I find I can write out my feelings better than I can vocalize them.

My brother in law, however, brought up the subject in a round about way. He owns a heating, ventilation and air conditioning business down in Florida. He was telling me about new laws that require him to put the thermostat at a lower level for handicapped people, even in units on upper floors where handicapped people are extremely unlikely to live, even though many handicapped people don't live alone, and even though such placement increases the likelihood that some older, non handicapped person can now harm themselves because they have to bend over to look at and/or adjust the thermostat. He brought the subject up not because he wanted to talk about politics or government, but because it directly impacted his life and showed just how arrogant government can be with their "one size fits all" solutions to problems that aren't really even that big of a deal.

The next day, my daughter expressed concern about my brother in law being uncaring and told me she liked the concern shown for handicapped people. She felt that if non handicapped people didn't like it than they could live elsewhere. I tried to explain to her that all new multi unit buildings were required to have the lower thermostats and that everyone would have to live with that because government had taken choice away. She got mad at me for bringing government into the conversation. I was stunned and told her that she had brought it up, not me. She didn't see it that way. She somehow failed to connect the fact that laws come from government, that politics are simply an argument over who to point government guns at. The discussion ended immediately and I tried to quickly think of a more innocuous subject to talk about.

Herein lies the problem. Government puts its tentacles into just about everybody's everyday life, yet niceties prevent us from talking about it. I've seen posts on social networks insulting Republicans and others insulting Democrats. These are usually posted by people who identify with the party that is not being insulted. How do you think that makes people feel? Don't you think people will get angry when they're insulted? Don't you think they'll react with vitriolic insults of their own? Don't you think this will simply turn off the reasoning aspect of the human mind and turn on the reactive emotional side? Certainly this is no way to go about trying to change people's points of view.

Anger stems from fear. Fear is the mind killer. These are the weapons the establishment uses to maintain its control. There seems to be an infinite number of ways they can implement these emotions. Mostly they seem to use the party system. They present good ideologies in certain aspects to attract a certain type of person and then tyrannical ideologies in other aspects to anger a different type. That's how they polarize people. That's how they remove reason and empathy from the debate.

For instance, Democrats or liberals are supposed to be for freedom in personal affairs, but they wish to demonize and regulate businesses. Republicans are supposed to be for freedom in business affairs, but they wish to regulate personal choice more and supposedly are war mongering and law enforcement oriented. All wish for more security in some form because they fear insecurity. This is approaching life from a fear based perspective. As a result, we are more concerned with differences rather than similarities. This ends up in Democrats tyrannizing the business aspect of our lives while Republicans tyrannize the personal aspects of our lives. Personal freedoms and choices shrink while government intrusion and tyranny grows. I want freedom and choices to grow while big government tyranny and intrusion shrinks.

Choosing between Democrat and Republican is like choosing a poison or a cancer. One kills quickly and is not so painful while the other is painful but allows you to live longer. Which do you choose? Neither is a good choice. Either way you get sick and die. I want to have the choice where I am healthy and live a long, happy life. I want to choose not taking the poison. I want to chose other than the two choices presented to us by the establishment. But people get so emotional invested in these parties, in the positive aspects of these ideologies, that they can't see the negative and argue vehemently when such things are pointed out.

The problem with government is that it is force. While I will admit that I believe there are situations that might arise where such a force is necessary to protect individuals, those situations are few and far between. They certainly don't arise when one is making a personal choice for his own life. They certainly don't arise when one is doing business on a voluntary basis with another. The only times such force might be necessary, in my humble opinion, is when such a force needs to be brought to bear against a corporation or government that can also command such force.

People get upset with others who express strong opinions on government because of this force. Let's face it, when someone points a gun at you, you're likely going to get upset. That's what government is, a gun, a threat of force, a coercive way to get people to behave in a manner in which they do not wish to behave or to prevent them from engaging in behaviors they wish to engage in. While many people might not realize it or don't think of it like this, when one has a debate about politics often times it's a debate about who to point the gun at. Democrats often times want to point the gun at people who simply want to run their own businesses. Republicans often want to point the gun at people who believe government is some kind of charity there to help the poor and downtrodden. Neither group deserves to have guns pointed at them. Both groups will go on the defensive when they feel threatened.

Many people don't think of government in such terms. They believe those who have been elected to office to be legitimate and have the attitude that the words they write as laws should be unquestionably obeyed. Those who are savvy and who have figured out that government is force can use this knowledge and the attitude of the many to manipulate the populace to their own benefit. I believe, in fact, that this is what has happened. It started long ago, when royalty ruled as feudal lords, and has progressed through time. It has become hidden and sophisticated to keep the general populace in the dark.

While it can be debated whether or not this has happened purposely by design or organically as a function of an elite trying to hold onto power while the common folk try to empower themselves, the effect is the same. People of good intentions attempt to use the guns of government to force others to act in certain ways while those on top of the heap become wealthier and more empowered. Until enough people realize that we are being played, the ploy will work, the elite will control the masses, and we can expect to be treated as obedient slaves rather than sovereign human beings.

As long as we approach politics from an angry, fearful perspective, we will continue to do harm to our society and our future. As long as we continue to propagate a forceful institution instead of a more voluntary and tolerant system people who get their hands on the handles of power will try to use it to their own benefit and to the detriment of others. If this is left unchecked long enough the system becomes corrupt to the core and atrocities can be committed. The founding fathers of our nation created laws meant to prevent this as set forth in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. These documents have been ignored for too long by those who seek power over this American nation. It is time to start enforcing the spirit of the laws that made this nation great.

Moreover, in an effort to help mankind grow and prosper as a species, I think that the more individuals who approach politics from a loving, caring perspective, the better. I'm not talking about a perspective where a sweet smile and a "please" is applied to the end of the gun, I'm talking about an empathetic perspective where the gun is taken out of the picture. The best way to keep people from becoming corrupt is to take away the vehicle that takes them there. The best way to keep anger and fear out of your life is to remove the threats that can be leveled against you. The founding documents need to be enforced against those who would disregard their sage advice. Power needs to be given back to the people. The rights of the individual need to be honored by government. In this way we can reclaim our morality, our respect, our prosperity, and our humanity. In this way we can begin to heal.

My archives can be found at my website szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to read more and support me by making a donation.

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