They are representative

A number of folks seem to be asking these days if we truly live in a democracy.  With the selection of Mitt Romney as the Republican candidate Mark Shea wonders how in the world a candidate that no one wants is now the Republican hope for 2012.  Democrazy blames the two party system.  While there is some weight to that I fear the reason is far simpler and far more sinister.

Sadly to my mind I think we actually vote for people who represent us.  When I look at Congress I see us.  When I look at Obama I see the current American mind in play.  When I see the dysfunction, bickering, and self-absorption I see little more than if I was looking at America's reflection.

Take for example the national debt.  A growing problem that threatens to destabilize the future economy and credit rating of this country.  By the numbers alone we are in trouble.

Now one would think that such a crisis would focus us toward attempting a solution.  The future of our children is at stake.  Sanity should prevail, etc.

So why is it this only seems to be a peripheral concern to your average voter?  Oh sure, there is the Tea Party to some extent that is mobilizing around this issue.  But if public enthusiasm is any gauge, this seems to be a concern only in concept, not in reality.

I would propose that the reason why is that we ourselves are in so much debt in our daily lives that to accuse our government of excess is to point the finger right back at us.   This need for instant gratification is so pervasive that the average household debt is toxic.  So when we bleat about the national debt it rings hollow, and I suspect our leaders know this.

Our leaders are inept, way too powerful, and completely clueless.  The problem has gotten so big I suspect there isn't really an answer to the debt problem.  And so they use charged rhetoric to hold on to their seats in the hope that with all the verbal fireworks we don't realize that NO ONE has a real solution.

But isn't that our thought process nowadays?  The problems in our lives are to be ignored?  The suffering we experience to be done away with rather than confronted?  To live the good life before death, and to exploit ourselves and others for the sake of pleasure?

To criticize our leaders and demand change will only result in more of the same kind of people being elected to office.  To me the issue is not the government per se.  It would seem that the real issue is ourselves.  And those in power are merely the result of giving the modern American the power that comes with being a person in government.

So my question then is, what can we do about ourselves?