Chucky notes that the Chinese government seems more capable of taking the long view than does ours. There is probably something to be said for that. Plato thought that the people were incapable of ruling themselves, so he proposed rule by "philosopher kings." Alas, he was never clear about how the philosophers were to be selected, and I'm not sure Xi qualifies. However, he is certainly looking farther ahead than American voters who elected a demented lunatic because he said he would immediately bring down the price of groceries -- or something, I'm not sure why they did that.
Because most voters are very short-sighted, most of the time, politicians respond accordingly, not only to voters but also to donors. And most rich people are no wiser or more far-sighted than the average voter, perhaps less so, although they do have different priorities. The people's short-sightedness makes them easy to fool, so politicians who depend on wealthy donors, or who are in fact part of the same club, can respond to non-wealthy voters with empty rhetoric and promises, and to wealthy donors with actual (short-sighted) policies.
What surprises me somewhat is that the plutocrats who are behind this catastrophe don't seem to be seeing that the temple is going to fall down on their own heads, or rather I think they must but they feel trapped. If they repudiate the madman in chief, they will soon find themselves powerless to eliminate the taxes, and the environmental, consumer protection, and worker protections they despise. But if they don't, much of their wealth will evaporate and some of them may even wind up bankrupt. Either way, they don't give a shit about anybody else. If they did, the way out would be clear. Note that the British plutocrats basically screwed themselves in the same way, fooling the people to retain power and shooting themselves in the privates in the process.
I expect Xi is looking at all this with amusement and contempt.
2 comments:
Excellent description of the conundrum of the donors. I think we simply can't sustain our current level of ignorance. Of course, the problem of the racism upon which the country is built has been "kicked down the road" throughout our history, save for the period from 1861 through the federal government's withdrawal of troops to enforce Reconstruction in 1877.
I recall being informed that ancient Athenians viewed politics as sort of a spectator sport; sort of a blend of pro football and Jersey Shore. When I listen to sports commentators and comedians it seems they assume that most of us absorb an astonishing amount of detail about teams, athletes, actors, and other celebrities, especially when compared to responses given by ordinary citizens to questions about politics and politicians. Swing voters in particular.
'Twould greatly to be desired should they be persuaded that politics could be just as interesting - and it might even have far greater consequences for them and their progeny than Shohei Ohtani's ERA against the Dodgers. This might actually happened if politicians stopped giving evasive answers crafted to offend as few people as possible. People see that, and they stop listening. Donald Trump demonstrated that being direct and deliberately offensive appealed so greatly to many that they were willing to ignore all the ignorance, lies, and venality that were baked into that same package.
Put Pleasure back into Politics!
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