Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.

"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
  -- Daniel Webster



Thursday, October 25, 2007 :::
 

I read with amusement from time to time a news item that queries the average person about the names of the holders of various political offices. There is always a lot of consternation, masquerading as pity and disgust, about how ill-informed the average person is. The word sheeple gets tossed around. I have news for you lovers of the political: Normal people shouldn't have much interest in the government. East Germans needed to know all about the government. Free, autonomous people do not. To persons that view politics as a sort of all-encompassing bloodsport, you don't just know the names of various political personages. No, you always have a handy cut-and-paste trove of information archived about them, savaging them or defending them against savagery in any forum you can find that allows dyspeptic diatribes after the information bell is rung. I'd rather live in a country where 99% of the populace couldn't name the third guy from the left in a picture of the Supreme Court, than one filled with a sizable minority that keeps a folder on their virtual desktop filled with nasty tabloid-grade factoids about them.
A month or two back, I spoke to an old friend for the first time in a while. She asked if I was considering any kind of career change into politics and I immediately said, "no, people who spend their lives in politics are fundamentally broken, and I'm broken enough without being one of them."

So, I side with Maggie. I'm one of the people she's talking about, but, yes, it is a form of mental illness. þDerb


::: posted by Steven at 12:26 AM


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Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.


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