RAW DOGMA written by Nkrumah Steward
|
|
| Democracy: The Greeks knew it was A Joke But it took Clinton and Dubya to make me see it. |
What kind of world would this be if all it took to
be a medical physician was a vote? I am not talking about someone
electing you president of the AMA, I mean voting to make you an actual
doctor licensed to practice medicine.
What if that was decided by a vote?
"Want to be a doctor? Fine. No education
required, just an outgoing personality and a winning smile will do!"
What if that was all that it took, a valid social security number
and a birth certificate to prove you were over the age of 35?
How would you like to go under the knife of a surgeon that was standing
over you because "he looked really
good on television and well --- he is a Christian, a father with two
daughters and people just seem to trust him".
See that wouldn't be acceptable to qualify him to open you up with
a scalpel but we think it's more than enough to be placed to the most
powerful office on the planet earth and the commander-n-chief of the
most powerful military machine since man learned how to fasten sharp
rocks to sticks.
Democracy is a popularity contest.
Why should we really give a damn where the candidate stands on an
issue? So he has an opinion on the death penalty, big fucking deal,
so dose everyone else out there.
The question we should be asking ourselves is "why should his
opinion carry more weight than anyone else?" If we don't ask
that question before they take office, it is too late once they get
in office because then his is opinion will carry more weight than
everyone else.
It is assuming an awful lot to say that the process of campaigning
for office naturally weeds out individuals that aren't qualified.
That kinda presupposes that we are qualified and competent enough
to select candidates that are competent and qualified. Bill Clinton
walked out on the Arsenio Hall show in front of millions of viewers.
He was wearing a pair of sunglasses and an Elvis smirk on his face
and proceeded to lead the studio band on a saxophone through a rendition
of Elvis's "Heartbreak Hotel".
Although the election wasn't until a few weeks away, that night Billy
Clint became too cool to put into words in the eyes of a lot of Americans.
Say what you want about Clinton, but when he left office, he had an
approval rating second only to FDR the most popular president in US
history.
10 years after that now famous appearance on the Arsenio Hall show,
some television critics still rank that evening as one of the most
memorable moments in American television history.
Never had a presidential hopeful connected with so many young people
at one time, by doing so little.
The question is what does playing saxophones have to do with being
qualified to hold the office of the president of the United States?
Not a God damn thing. In America, people hold it against you because
you don't "look presidential".
What the fuck does that mean?
And what does that say about me and everyone else that saw Clinton
that night and voted for him not just because of his politics but
because he was coolest sonofvabitch in politics? What does that say
about someone that votes for Dubs because he's "a
Christian man and a father of two girls".
What makes people that vote like this qualified to decide who should
run this country?
Qualifications seem to be about as relevant to becoming president
as the ability to tap dance in a beauty pageant. Sure, we'll take
them under consideration but basically we are going to select a champion
on the size of your tits. Whether or not she can play the flute is
optional.
I am not trying to act like I read Plato everyday, but it just so
happens that I was picking up around my office and I came across an
old copy of the Republic that I had laying around. The first page
I opened to was the chapter on the Philosopher Kings and I read the
first few pages.
What I thought was interesting was that Plato believed that democracy
or the democratic man is inherently unjust because people get confused
by "freedom" and become
a slave to desires of every kind - ultimately, the democratic man
doesn't know what he wants.
Plato argued that a philosopher king should run society. A philosopher
King should be, above all else, wise. He deals in knowledge not merely
belief.
That is the difference with how we elect our leaders. We don't care
as much about how much knowledge they have we only care about what
they believe.
We care more about what they believe than how they arrive at their
opinion.
The way I see it, I think that the line of reasoning you use to arrive
at your opinions is just as important what you think.
Plato argued that a philosopher king isn't born he is trained. How
you train a philosopher king by first teaching them to master mathematics.
Doing this Plato reasoned teaches them to deal with realities not
just appearances. The next stage in the development of the philosopher
king is to teach them dialectic or the practice of arriving at the
truth by the exchange of logical arguments. They will study the dialectic
for the next 25 years until the age of 35.
Next, they must go out into the world and acquire practical experience
in the world, for example going out and holding a down a job or becoming
an officer the military.
Then at the age of 50 those who have passed all of the physical and
intellectual tests are the pool that we can draw upon for our philosopher
king.
It is something to think about.
What could you possibly experience as the governor of Texas that can
prepare you to develop foreign policy?
And don't give me that shit about a President can be a dumb as a ex-cokehead
Jesus freak, he just needs to surround himself around competent people.
Ultimately, it is still his decision. The people that are surrounding
him are his cabinet.
He picked them. He's the boss. They work for him. It has been scientifically
proven that the skills it takes to be competent are the skills it
takes to recognize competence.
Gore Vidal once said "Half of the American
people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President.
One hopes it is the same half." So do I. |
