Angry Yet?

I both love and hate this time of year in America.

I love it because Americans, unlike people in many other places, are passionate about their right to vote. Even folks who haven't voted in decades will, if asked, explain to you why they refuse to participate in the system. Usually it's either because the system is broken beyond repair or that things are going so well as to not require their participation.

I hate it because especially now, in the final few weeks before the election, politicians try their best to get you angry about something. The dirty little secret in politics is that by now most folks who haven't decided either have decided and don't want to talk about it, or they are incapable of deciding anything. So you're not going to win votes telling people about how good and noble you are. Right now the only game in town is to get your supporters angry enough to turn out at the polls. If you're lucky, in the process you can depress the other team's turnout. So if you find out that your opponent abuses farm animals -- even if the charge is untrue -- now is a good time to unload it on the public. The airwaves are full of accusations, fear-mongering, hate, bile, falsehoods, and angry people either yelling at or making fun of each other.

And so we have what we call an American Election.

It's tempting to go on how in the "good old days" it wasn't like this, but it was. Jefferson was accused of being a unfaithful father of a bastard child. Adams was called a hermaphrodite. For a great short read on how things haven't changed, check out this interview with Joseph Cummins.

My love/hate feelings are further exasperated by watching myself and my friends get sucked into the maelstrom. About a year ago, people were pretty much feeling the same way about things as they normally feel, but they were a lot more amicable about it. But, slowly, over the months, the political parties continue to push their buttons and the tension rises. Sadly enough after years of detailed polling the politicians definitely know where your buttons are. So, slowly but surely, the things that tick you off or make you upset increase, gaining in tempo until these last couple of weeks. The tension rises.

I'm not going to get into this year's politics. It really doesn't matter. It's the same thing every election year.

As I've gotten older I find that I watch less TV, listen to less radio, and consume less news, mainly because of this narrative/self-reinforcing nature of American politics. After the last election I didn't watch any news for almost a year -- I wanted the new president to get a good chance of making a difference without my forming an attitude about him. Or course I still read political commentary -- I love hearing passionate people make a reasonable argument about how to solve tough problems. But I find that at 45 I am much more detached about it all than I was at 25. At 25 everything was terribly important. At 45 I realize that everything is always terribly important. That's how the game is played. That's how you are played.

I think the saddest part of all of this is the purposeful manipulation of folks. Sadly it's usually the intelligent and sensitive voters who care the most that get the most ensnared. Yes there are folks, let's face it, that thrive on political drama and intrigue. Several friends talk ominously about this or that political cause from time to time. Even for them, though, the tempo (and the outlandish nature of some of the concerns) increases as election day nears.

And so it becomes difficult in certain circles to have polite discourse. Subjects or key phrases which might not elicit anger at any other time during the year incite anger now. Why? Because folks are getting primed for anger. The temperature is rising. Usually such gaffes don't result in outright arguments -- although I think it would be much better if they did. Back in the 1800s election day usually meant dressing up, going to town, getting drunk, and yelling (or fighting) about politics. Today, with the internet and cable TV you aren't forced to talk about politics except to people who feel just like you.

And so folks bite their tongue and take their feelings back to their "home" group of friends where they can self-reinforce their worldviews. I think, perhaps, the kegger and fistfight method of problem dispute was better for the fabric of society. But I could be wrong. We'll see.

After watching several of these election cycles -- each one about the same as the other, the names and issues and parties in power just rotating around in various configurations -- I'm left with a feeling of both deep sadness and odd hope. I'm sad because the system itself seems to be fundamentally broken: as an expert and observer of how organizations work, I can see that the country I love slowly spinning out of control. It's like watching bathtub water spin down the drain, starting slowly, slowly building up momentum. It's not a matter of what my opinions are or what you want to the law to be. No matter what you want the country to do, it's reaching the point where it can't do it. And that just makes people's anger even worse. Not good.

Hope because where there are people who care, there is always a chance. No, I don't think electing some magic leader is going to solve anything, and I don't think either party is interested in solving most of our problems as much as they are gaining and keeping power, but constitutional amendments might change things. A third party might change things. People getting together and realizing they have more in common with each other than their political causes indicate might change things. These are outside shots, sure, but with as many people on all sides of the issues caring as much as they do, with so much anger, it's worth having a bit of hope.

Anger is both a really good and a really bad thing.