The Good Old Days

I'm not a big fan of people who go on and on about the good old days. I don't like hearing about how music today is horrible, or how the internet is ruining everything, or how today's kids just don't get it. I don't like living in the past.
That said, I have been interested in politics for at least 35 years. That used to mean reading newspapers and magazines, and watching a few dry and boring TV shows broadcast on off hours of the weekend. You had to work at it a little. You had to find journalists and columnists who knew what they were talking about, on both sides of the aisle and spectrum. You had to spend time in libraries sometimes.
I was fine with that. One of the things I liked most about it was how much I did a lot of that stuff on my own. I had a few friends who were interested too, and that was enough. No one else really cared that much, which wasn't great for democracy, but it was nice for me.
Cable news came along, and at first I was elated, but I soon realized how much time they had to fill and that it was becoming more focused on the entertainment value of news rather than actual news. Then talk radio got big, and I quickly realized that it was all con men and hucksters and hacks.
Unfortunately, I started finding myself in political “discussions” with people who thought they understood politics. They got their information from one source, and not a good one at that. They didn't realize that journalism is supposed to be impartial, and stories and opinions need to be researched. They were just getting false information and propaganda from people putting on a show. Worse yet, they were condescending to me about it, like I was the idiot.
It's no secret I'm a raging liberal. I have a definite bias towards it. I can be, I'm not a journalist. Thing is, I used to have to read daily columns by right wing thinkers who I completely disagreed with, but I respected nonetheless. I would get angered by their viewpoints, but I respected the people espousing them because they were well thought out, and backed up their work. I still considered their arguments and positions, even if I didn't agree.
Then the internet and social media happened, and I don't have to tell you how that's working out. A century or so ago, politics was a raucous and buffoonish sideshow. The louder and incendiary, the better. The more you could work your side up, and pit people against each other, the better. Politics will always be a dog and pony show, but it was much more so back then.
Politics was getting more civilized towards the middle of the 20th century. . Candidates were on TV and radio, and were recorded, so they had to watch what they said. They were on a national stage, literally, and newspapers held them accountable. Still, even back three or four decades ago, the Republicans approached politics like circus barkers. They figured out how to use the media and marketing to rile people up in the same manner as a hundred years ago. They even used the same targets to do it. Immigrants and minorities. Communists, who have now been replaced with terrorists. Crime and godless sinners, corrupting your children.
So people, being people, after all, still bought it. The message hadn't changed, they just needed a way to repackage it for the modern era, slip it past the watchdogs, then use it to rile people up and get them to forget about the real issues. Republicans learned how to control the narrative, by bullying, through fear and intimidation, and mostly by just repeating lies and propaganda until people accepted it as truth.
Republicans also realize that most people do not have the time or interest to delve into all the complexities that make up this country’s problems. They want a target, something or someone to blame, and the Republicans are happy to oblige. It makes their message much more concise, and easy to digest. It’s no matter that message appeals to people’s worse instincts. Hatred, fear, prejudice, misogyny, intolerance, the list goes on. The more you have people controlled by their emotions, the less logic and reason will be applied. Democrats have never been able to figure out a way to deliver their message without a “yeah, but …” That is the problem with being inclusive, or having depth. You can’t always come out with blanket statements, a simple message with a solid target. Groups of people don’t do well with the abstract.
So you end up focusing on goals, which seems fine, but then you have to explain all the steps to reach them, and how it will effect all the people involved, and soon you inevitably end up mentioning sacrifices, and by that time you’ve lost any momentum you’ve had. You’re probably even zoning out as you read that sentence. We have become accustomed to receiving our information in soundbites and memes, in 140 characters or less, and that plays right into the Republicans wheelhouse. What’s easier for people to grasp: a long winded and boring explanation of socioeconomic reasons and global change that lead to the death of manufacturing jobs, or to simply say “immigrants are taking our jobs”, or “unions and regulations are killing business”? The Republicans message skips over all the work and differing factors involved, and does all the thinking for you, and after all, isn’t that what most people want? They see the government as something that is supposed to do all the work for them. They shouldn’t have to micromanage it, yet that’s exactly what a democracy demands. Vigilant, engaged citizens, being a part of the process.
Republicans know that people are lazy. They know that people view government as a necessary evil, not something that they actively want to work at. They know people want to be entertained, not given homework. They realize that they don’t have to even argue the issues, it’s easier and more appealing to our baser natures to just attack character, and find buzzwords and hurl insults. They know that nothing stimulates the mob mentality like the illusion of fighting back, even if there is nothing substantial that you’re actually fighting against. Reacting makes you feel like you are doing something, it makes you feel like you have some control or power, so it makes sense that politicians frame issues in ways that are reactionary.
The sad thing is, people are perfectly capable of delving into issues. TV shows with intricate plotlines and arcs, music and its many forms, sports, with their stats and history and minutiae, lurid real-life murder stories where poring over and analysing every detail is part of the fun. For most people, there is nothing fun or interesting about the very policies that govern them. They know that they should care, but they just can’t force themselves to do it. Critical thinking isn’t sexy to most people, and I don’t think that will ever change.
As a result, we have arrived in the place we are now. A whole nation full of agitated and misled citizens, arguing over things that aren't even real. Distracted by noise, engaging in battles over minor issues, and trafficking in tabloid level journalism. Political discourse has devolved to yelling at each other and repeating misinformation until it becomes reality. Politics has become entertainment, but the very worst form of it, like something you would see on Jerry Springer. These are very dangerous times.
But back to my original point. I miss the days when no one was talking about politics on a daily basis. I miss when family dinners and casual get togethers weren’t dominated by talk of fascism and xenophobia. I miss the times when horrible behavior and statements got you run out of office, rather than made you a hero. I long for the days when people demanded character and class from their leaders, or at least the illusion of it.
I really miss politics being my own little thing, my nerdy sanctuary where I could just be left alone to read and ruminate on what went on in the corridors of power. I’d like you to know that these things I now post on Facebook are really nothing new to me. Even in my teens, I was writing my own stuff, and showing my friends. It kind of became my role in the group. If any of my friends had a question regarding politics or government, they would ask me for my take on it. I used to type these things up, and give copies out to the people I knew, and some of them liked it, just like now. More often than not, people could care less, also just like now. The difference is, I knew which of my friends cared about it as well, and didn’t bother the ones who didn’t.
Now all the stuff I post on here also shows up on people’s timelines who don’t care a thing about it. I kind of feel bad about that, and I also kind of get annoyed that they don’t care about what their government is doing, but what can you do? I get it. Life is hard, and there are a bunch of other things you have to deal with on a daily basis. I’m not going to get too preachy or judgemental about it, and hope you afford me the same luxury. Just scroll on by if it doesn’t interest you, and wait until I post something about a cat or my rabbit.
I also find myself trying to keep it lighter and more generic. In the old days I would have names and figures and examples, but no one wants that now. To be honest, there is so much information coming daily that you can’t ever get ahead of it. You comment on the general hum and tone of whatever is going on because you don’t have time to delve into specifics. That’s a problem too. Most of the in depth reporting comes before or after a story hits the news cycle. You don’t even find out about a lot of it until weeks, months, or even years later.
Where I really wander into the territory of that whole “good old days” mentality that makes me cringe though, is when I see how completely fucked up and broken things are nowadays. The thing that pushed me over the edge this time is that we have arrived at a point where a sitting president is arguing with a porn star on Twitter. A porn star that he paid off to keep quiet about having sex with years ago.
What reality is this? To me, this is way beyond any “rap and computers are killing music” or “kids are addicted to their phones” rhetoric. Again, a sitting president is publicly sparring with a porn star about semantics regarding their sex scandal, which most people apparently aren’t even viewing as a scandal.
How did we arrive here? When did our expectations get this low? The hypocrisy and willful ignorance is astounding. Eight years of conservatives searching for outrage and controversy in everything Barack Obama did, and now all the cognitive dissonance required to ignore the reprehensible actions of Donald Trump. The thing is, none of the outrage from the right, phony or not, changed the minds of anyone on the left, and none of our outrage is going to change most minds on the right. Outrage only really affects your worldview if it outrages you personally. You can put up with a lot of shit if you aren’t impacted too harshly yourself.
The things that are impacting a lot of Trump supporters are again complex and abstract. If you never had great healthcare, why would you get upset about losing it? If you never felt you had a shot at college, or a great job or career with good benefits and workers rights, why would you get outraged by people who are losing theirs? Why would you get all worked up about your medicare and social security in your 20’s and 30’s when it’s so far off in the future that it almost feels alien to you? Why are you concerned with the environment or civil rights when you are struggling everyday to feed your family or just survive?
All these things require abstract thought, and that isn’t a luxury most people possess. Meanwhile, you have one side pumping out misinformation designed to make it worse, and to appeal to the people who just want a quick answer and something to hit. They are further conditioning them to think that this is normal political discourse and activism. Worse yet, people on the left are picking up on that. They are getting their news from suspect sources. They are getting distracted by minor incidents, looking for outrage and finding it everywhere. They are taking their eyes off of the big picture, and getting splintered and losing their effectiveness. Just saying that is going to draw the ire of some on the left who will take it as a personal affront when it is just a general statement about a portion of the whole. That’s where we are, though.
Sure, all the horrible stuff on the right is exhausting, but we are spending all of our energy on short term things that ultimately don’t matter in the grand scheme. That’s by design as well. Divide and conquer, make the enemy fight on too many fronts. We are playing their game, a game that the internet and 24 hour news and social media makes possible.
Like most things we complain about when it comes to the newer generation and modern times, it is really more of the same old shit. Each generation’s music and attitudes and politics looked ridiculous to their parent’s generation; now our kid’s behavior looks ridiculous to us. Perhaps all this garbage right now is necessary. Maybe it’s growing pains. Maybe it all needs to be dragged out into the light to finally kill it. Maybe this is what the middle of a paradigm shift looks like.
This is the age of technology and computers, the internet and information. All the things that your kid’s phones and laptops, the things you hate so much, makes possible. It is a brave new world, and we don’t really understand it, and that frightens us. It is one of the main things that gives the Republicans message so much power. We fear the new, especially when we don’t understand it, and probably never will. The resistance to change is a huge driving force in conservative thinking, and on the left as well, loathe as we are to admit it. Cling to what makes sense to you, no matter how outdated and obsolete it may be.
The thing is, that’s not how visionaries think. Progress doesn’t come from standing still or going backwards. It comes by progressing. Mistakes will be made, failures will occur, that’s how progress works.
So rather than fear it, we should embrace it. For all my hypocritical pining for the old days of political interaction and discourse, the potential for so much more is there with what we have today. Already social media and the internet has had a huge impact on world events and government. Revolutions are being fought everyday, and there is the capability for everyone to be involved and have a voice. It is going to take some time to figure it all out; we are all still infants in this new era, don’t kid yourselves.
But when we do, I believe it will be better than it was, not worse. Unfortunately for now, we are stuck with a traitorous buffoon and a corrupt political party that is frantically doing its best to cling to power and make a cash grab for anything that they can. That is actually a very good sign. It means that they know they are losing, and won’t be around very much longer.
Here’s to the good new days and the future.