Don’t ask me if I’m registered to vote. Don’t ask me who I’m voting for. Don’t ask me where I stand on health care.
No one cares. What passes for interest in the political process these days is far from what the supposedly fanatical, religious, bigoted, old white men had in mind when they illegally started this country.
I know who my congressman is. I know what positions are being voted on in November. And I know why I’m dissatisfied with the current presidency. That alone makes me, by most people’s standards, “politically active,” which illustrates the farce that is modern political science.
Recently, my friend told me she was registered to vote.
I asked her who she was voting for, to which she replied it wasn’t a presidential election, so what would she vote on?
I should have been disgusted. I should have been consumed with righteous indignation. But I wasn’t. I can’t blame her. It’s not like the candidates we have for any position are at all inspiring.
After all, our system is efficient at weeding out true ideologues. Politicians’ forced compromises and concessions turn our leaders into bland TV personalities who propagate on their own cable channel. Like QVC, our politicians are so flat and boring they’ve been relegated to their own channel because they can’t garner interest in their monotonous salesmanship, reminiscent of catatonic used-car dealers.
Our politicians sell us something we probably won’t like in a few years for a price that could easily be considered extortion.
Even more ridiculous than real politics is the microcosm that is Student Government elections.
I haven’t spoken to anyone who believes in SG’s purpose or capabilities. That’s not to say these people don’t exist, I’m sure there’s a contingent out there that appreciates the difference SG makes at UF, and hopefully this contingent includes the SG candidates. These people, however, are probably too dumb or naive to realize the inanity of the popularity contest that we call an election. The Greek community, for whatever reason, is the most involved and, therefore, should be represented the most.
What this means, though, is Greek allegiance runs stronger than community obligation and, ultimately, national duty.
The greatest argument against democracy, according to Winston Churchill, is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Conservatives complain the average American knows more about who gets voted off “Dancing with the Stars” (Hasselhoff, I pine for thee) than who Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi is.
I see late-night entertainers illustrating the public’s greater interest in “The Real World” than elections.
Who can blame them? It’s a sad predicament we’re in when the faux drama of reality TV is more convincing than the sincerity of our political leaders.
So, the next time you start feeling superior because you know what the House Ways and Means Committee votes on, stop. Until we have some real statesmen and women to vote for, there’s no point.
Nate Rushing is a sophomore political science student.
