Politics in the 2nd Person

The United States government has problems.

Perhaps you know this. Perhaps you know that the governing institutions in the U.S. are failing to effectively govern, that Congress has not passed a federal budget in three and a half years, that the government closed in October due to a fight over healthcare, and that since the beginning of the decade, the U.S. government has nearly defaulted on its debt twice. Perhaps you’ve heard that meanwhile, Americans are dealing with a somewhat unimpressive economic recovery, voter apathy, and lack of optimism about the future. Perhaps you are aware that according to recent Gallup® polls, “dysfunctional government” has replaced issues like “economy” and “healthcare” at the top of Americans’ list of concerns.

But, perhaps you don’t care. You don’t pay attention to politics. It makes you depressed. Everyone is always yelling at each other, and nothing ever gets done, and no one ever changes their minds. It’s all so pointless.

And of course, you have opinions, but who doesn’t? You don’t talk about it much though, perhaps because you are aware that politics is not typically considered “polite” conversation. Merely mentioning the Affordable Care Act around Uncle Steve sets him off on a tirade that ruins Thanksgiving dinner. And everyone grumbles at whoever brought it up.

Perhaps you know that talking politics is somewhat taboo. And perhaps, you’re okay with that. You don’t like it when people make waves. You swear they only do it to draw attention to themselves. You can’t stand it when your friend’s dad proclaims about his right to own an assault weapon, or when that female secretary goes on and on about equal pay for women. And, those problems with the United States government, perhaps it’s the politician’s fault, or maybe the voters, or maybe the corporations, anyone but you, right?

You know about the challenges facing the U.S. You know that it’s falling behind in education and technology. You know that China’s GDP is going to surpass the U.S. around 2016, that the U.S. debt has inflated rapidly, and that no one ever seems to be able to do anything about it, least of all you. In all honesty, you’ve lost hope at this point. Perhaps you worry about your children, or your grandchildren. Will they enjoy the same stability that you grew up with? You and your friends have joked about moving to Canada, but will that actually be necessary? You’re not sure...

 ...because, perhaps you don’t know.

Perhaps you don’t know that these problems are fixable, that the complications within the U.S. are not “people problems”, but are instead, at their roots, failures created by the system itself - that the shocking behavior of politicians, voters, and lobbyists can be attributed to incentives created by the rules they follow. You might not know that the dysfunction in the United States government is hidden beneath the surface, and that the American people need to act like detectives in order to uncover the roots of the issues.

You might not have heard that people are already talking. Perhaps you are unaware that social media provides a perfect place to discuss politics, or that dozens of interests groups and charity organizations have sprung up and are really trying to make a difference. Perhaps you don’t know that all the great changes in American history happened because people got together and talked, that especially in troubled times like these, intelligent, educated, and creative people need to be discussing solutions. Perhaps no one has told you that American politics is complex, but it’s worth understanding. You don’t learn politics so you can be caught up in it; instead you learn it so you can transcend it.

Hopefully, now you know that the dysfunctional government is not unfixable, that every facet of the modern American political system is a cog in a broken machine.  Now you know that the machine can be fixed by removing or replacing its bad parts. Being the mechanic of a government is not easy, but if enough people start to get involved, if enough people gain a higher understanding of the political machinery, those people may cause a shift. Movements can happen, and perhaps, you are destined to be part of an important one.