As I was flipping channels the other day I came across an episode of "All in the Family." I stopped to watch for a few minutes. I ended up watching the whole show. The next day I watched a "The Jefferson's" episode. This morning as I lay sick on my couch, I watched Robert Redford in "The Candidate." All of three were filmed in the 1970's. And what I got from watching these were: change the clothes, change the hairstyles, update the decor and autos and all three could have been made yesterday. Forty years of politics and we are still talking about the same issues. Saving trees, over population, unemployment, race relations, oil, and big money.(just to name a few)
I would recommend watching "The Candidate." There is a lot of symbolism in the movie. Mostly in what a candidate wants to do and what he is allowed to do. A lot of what he says gets lost in background noise and TV cameras looking for exciting things to record. When there was a major issue to be dealt with, money was thrown at it and everyone was happy, even if it was just hush money.
I have lived under eight presidents. I guess Reagan was my favorite. He was likable and everybody seem to have a job during that time. But forty years have gone by and here we are spinning our wheels on the same worn out issues. Every election we are told of how changes are coming and after every term we here how they failed. It's no wonder why Americans don't take time to vote. The ole adage of "my vote doesn't matter" seems to be true in many eyes. It's not the vote that doesn't matter it's the candidates. 311 million people live in this country. We elect roughly 600 people to represent us at the federal level. Who really gets represented? I bet I have a better chance of talking to George Jefferson than I do talking to President Barack Obama. They only time someone ask my opinion on issues is during a phone survey. But asking me a handful of questions doesn't get to the heart of what I believe. I can sit here and write my little blog, record a webcast and reach about 50 people, maybe. With that 50 does anyone care about what I say or do they read to see what the idiot says this week? Either way is fine, as I said before I enjoy doing this and I will continue. However, it's so frustrating trying to get issues brought forward.
Let's look at crime. "The crime rate is up." Okay we will hire more law enforcement to help lower it. That's reacting to effects. What about looking at what's causing those rates rates to rise? Looks like we are back to the right vs. the left.
40 years and the issues are the same. The parties are the same. There are some groundbreaking ideas out there such as a national sales tax. We rid ourselves of income tax and all of it's loopholes and pay tax on what you buy. But they will never get a chance. We keep our status quo. And in 40 more years, I can watch the aformentioned shows and they will just as viable as they were 80 years before.
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