Step right up, ladies and gentlemen… By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 13, 2023

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/04/2023 (901 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and be prepared to be amazed.”

That was the pitch of carnival barkers, back when there were things you could experience that actually could leave you amazed.

Back when there were things that seemed impossible. Things that were unbelievable.

Things were different then.

It was back when, for example, politicians were held to certain standards: if they were caught in a direct lie, their careers were essentially over.

Now, especially in the really big show that is American politics, it’s more like “step right up and prepare to be jaded.”

And every single day, it seems, something stranger occurs.

A super-majority of Republicans in Tennessee’s state legislature can vote to throw elected Democrats out of their seats for taking part in a protest rally, with no apparent concern that the Republicans will be seen as abusing democracy. A former president can be charged with criminal offences and see his fortunes rise, both in the polls and in his wallet, with millions of dollars of increased donations.

Politicians can now brazenly lie, even when audio and video evidence catches their falsehoods clearly. And, more and more, they can comfortably manufacture outrage about things that not only haven’t happened, but won’t ever happen.

The show has gotten so large and so outlandish that nothing is amazing anymore.

Nothing is even particularly surprising anymore.

Political statements, true or false or seemingly created out of whole cloth, are believed simply because a portion of the particular audience wants to believe them.

Problem is, being jaded has clear risks.

Especially in a democracy. Because a democracy depends on as many citizens as possible making their desires known at the polls: that’s the only way to keep small, dedicated special interests from generating the critical mass needed to gain control over entire governments.

Because a democracy depends on as many citizens as possible making their desires known at the polls: that’s the only way to keep small, dedicated special interests from generating the critical mass needed to gain control over entire governments.

As reasonable people stop paying attention and the number of informed voters circles slowly around the drain, so does the need for politicians to do anything beyond pandering to the solid core of their supporters who can be counted on to actually reach polling stations.

It’s easy to understand the apathy: watching the daily gamesmanship and the endless jockeying for position, however small, is both exhausting and discouraging. But there are very good reasons to fight that lack of interest.

We import a lot of things from the United States, from fresh fruit and vegetables to cars to entertainment and music. And sometimes, we import political methods, as well.

We import a lot of things from the United States, from fresh fruit and vegetables to cars to entertainment and music. And sometimes, we import political methods, as well.

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and prepare to be amazed: the United States used to boast of exporting democracy. Some might be astounded by that concept now, while witnessing political machinations that range from the partisan gerrymandering of electoral districts, to guarantee partisan results, to pandering to political fringe groups whose views verge on the abhorrent.

Let’s do our best not to match the outlandish and ever-growing political mess to the south of us.

And the very best way to do that is for more of us to do what citizens are supposed to do: vote carefully and thoughtfully and well, every time we can, and recognize that the role of citizens in a modern democracy is not really that onerous.

Don’t reward any politician who pragmatically chooses to pander to dangerous elements in our society in search of a few votes. Don’t get tired of the whole admittedly exhausting process and just throw your hands up in the air.

And don’t elect clowns, unless what you really want is to live in a circus.