The Insight

Do you ever wonder how in most democracies there seems like we have a seemingly ceaseless choice of politicians; the typical corporate-sterile liberal/conservative, the populist, the sanctimonious centrist, libertarian, and on-and-on.

You can have your pick and often mix and match as if you were at your weekend grocery run. How about a ginger ale-esque liberal? A zesty social conservative, may I indulge you in? The loony communist and their harangues on ceasing the means of production. Do they not remind you of the space-light coca-cola? Absurdly verbose, larger-than-life promises that never actually materialize.

Out of my naivete, I would often think greatly of the choices that democratic republics offer.There was always something for someone, implying you had an actual stake in this exercise succeeding. If not for you, it must work for your children, right? So long you kept on voting the lesser of the two evils, the promised land never felt closer.

Where has the illusion of choices led us? We live in a present where the loudest motormouths reign supreme. An authentic politician is the one who is the most crass. That one who appeals to the fears, anxieties, and hate emanating from the deepest corners of society. You can almost see silhouettes materialize.

Beyond the illusion of choices, what they offer is rarely transformative.

The choices begin to thin when you realize that people in politics exist to deny and at the very best delay the will of the people.

They function to tire you, make you disillusioned, and wherever possible make you give up the desire of building a system that works for the many and not the few.