13/100

This evening I was dressed down by a 24 year old girl who, as she said, "works in politics" for not being informed enough. Actually, that's not true. I readily admitted to not being informed enough to have an opinion on Sacramento's mayoral candidates. She went on a rant about how there should be more information available for voters. Just to play devil's advocate, and because I believe that she was naive about the matter, I suggested that perhaps there was plenty of information available, but that maybe voters weren't interested enough to seek it out, and that even if the information was plastered to someone's forehead, if they don't care to llearn or understand it, or if they have a bias against it, all the information in the world isn't going to make a lick of difference. She didn't seem to understand that I was posturing to make a point, and ran with the idea that I was staunchly planted in my ignorance, and arrogant to boot.

I was irritated at first, but I couldn't be mad long because I saw myself some years ago. The thing is, I've thought about politics and the world and how it all fits together for long before I was of voting age. I'm well past thinking that there is a fix all for the world's problems. I can see that things are far more complicated than any one candidate could ever begin to approach with a solution. People are complicated. Emotions are irrational and play a far larger role than anyone would like to admit. Prejudices are very real and exists in everyone's mind whether or not they acknowledge it or even realize it.

I don't buy into conspiracy theories, or that the government is out to get us. I think that rather than being malevolent, the worst thing the government can threaten is ineptitude. But, government is the natural manner in which humans organize themselves. That's all I can assume given that every grouping of humans across the world has some sort of social order. Call it government or culture, we organize ourselves in such a way that we deem to be most efficient and fair. Because none of us is perfect, and in fact all of us are quite flawed, any hope for a perfect system is doomed from the start.

I don't claim to have any answers, but I will say to start, why don't we look to nations that seem to be doing it right, put away the ego*, and see what we can learn.

* and the hatred, bigotry, fear etc.

No, I'm not the most informed voter. But I intend to do my research, I know right from wrong, and I will be voting.