The journal of a humanoid adrift, searching for a place to fit and a moment's peace. As much as there's a lot of WoW stuff on here, I mostly play FFXIV: I currently play Dalantia Silverwing on Mateus, and Pyridae Starpiercer on Balmung.
Warning: After the break is political venting. If you are deeply invested in one (United States, I should mention - Iâve little knowledge of other countries, I apologize for this) candidate, political party, et cetera.. it may be wise to move on. I dislike politics but itâs been so much everywhere and I have wound up with thoughts. This is likely to be the only time it will be mentioned by me - fear not, I am writing again. I like my escapism, damnit.
Weâre getting what we deserve, here - the slow downward slide can easily continue, but itâs hitting a new speed and low.
Itâs a three-pronged sort of contempt that Iâve developed, and I feel an urge to write down what itâs congealed into, shove it into a bottle, and set it free onto the waves. BE FREE OF ME, THOUGHTS.
First, the status of political discourse in the old US. At this point in time, everyone seems to favor a specific tactic - label the other side with a nasty pejorative, and then use that to discard everything they say. Socialist, bigot (and its derivatives), terrorist sympathizer, old white guy... We slap that label upon them, and suddenly every single one of their thoughts is invalid and worthless. We donât have to consider their actual thoughts, we just have to examine the caricature and use what we say that says in order to completely discredit them. I shouldnât have to say this out loud, but goddamnit this is not an acceptable method of debate. It is lazy - itâs the same sort of thought that causes us to prejudge. Weâve decided the veracity of the claim already, we just want a reason to discard it; we donât want to actually think, we want to be right. We donât have our own thoughts, and weâre content with that.Â
This is exactly what both parties want - as long as we arenât actually considering our own way, we canât change. We adopt the thoughts that weâve been offered - we mimic what others do, we adopt the party lines. If we arenât interested in a different way, if we always say âMight as well go for the lesser evilâ, we will be stuck with the lesser evil instead of actually making an attempt at something better. Change wonât come from the top, it wonât come from those already entrenched with power - itâll come from new generations, the ones that actually have the ability to change.
Speaking of those already entrenched...
Our choice of candidates is often dictated to us by the media, like it or no. The media is part of the system, honestly - by its very nature, it embraces the power, placing the spotlight where it feels its best interests are. Its best interests lay not in exposing the flaws in the system, but in cooperating with the system, ensuring it remains intact, as that allows them further access instead of being viewed as.. dangerous. After all, if the press is going to be viewed with suspicion, they wonât be nearly as welcome, they wonât have nearly as many stories to show off. They align themselves with the system they desire, the candidates they desire, and they -push-. Sanders receives little coverage (mostly footnotes), Hilary receives lots. Trumpâs coverage in the media has been overwhelmingly negative despite his popular support. Everyone has an agenda. We become so accustomed to bias in the press that anything that doesnât match othersâ spin is suspect, accused of bias itself.
(I believe itâs impossible to be free of bias, however - thereâs a reason Iâve described the Original Position discussed in certain areas of political philosophy as essentially being Nirvana in certain religions - but honesty of bias is vastly preferable to trying to act as though one is lacking in it. Deception is an enemy of wisdom.)
That brings us to the current election.
Our options, as presented by the media (and in one case, despite its best efforts), are a loudmouth with little understanding of the function and balance of government (granted, using our last few presidents as an example would leave anyone a bit confused on that score, zing.) and The Politician.
(Upon rereading this, I realize that there may be some terminology muddling. When I say The Party, I mean the party theyâre nominally beholden to, and the Other Side is the one theyâre nominally against.)
Breaking this down... Trumpâs appeal is that heâs (at least verbally) not beholden to The Party, but heâs still part of this false dichotomy, this spectacle, panem et circenses. Because he is not beholden to the message of The Party, heâs allowed to say whatever he likes - and heâs chosen to tap into the resentment of people who have been told âyou are lesser and need to sacrifice yourselves for everyone elseâ. What bothers a lot of people? It is working. Someone who tells people âyour opinion matters and I want to do something about itâ to a group of people who have spent years being told âyour opinion is meaninglessâ is going to rally them. Who would have thought that using the exact same tactics as the Other Side would work in his favor?
(This is an observation, not support. I hate very, very much that these tactics are not only popular, but effective - mostly because in order to continue to work, they need to perpetuate, not eliminate. That rant is for another time, though.)
Hilary is a Politician, an exemplar of the person who has made working the political system their occupation. Nothing exits her mouth that has not been filtered through her advisers and calculated to appeal to the groups that will hear it. She has been anointed as The Partyâs successor to the presidential mantle, and groomed for it for the past four years. The media as a unit was ready to declare her president the instant the race began without all that election and caucus and primary bullshit. And, well. No one wants to say anything against her except for her opponent who the Other Side literally has no control over. She is the system. She benefits from the system.
(I find the catch-22 over the classified information fascinating. If she is indicted, the nomination will likely cease. If she is not indicted, corruption will be sincerely suspected, as people have been found guilty for less, and if she is given a pardon, corruption will be basically confirmed in the eyes of many. The question is, are those eyes going to be relevant ones?)
These two seem to be opposite extremes.
They are not.
They are both part of the system. Nothing will change - the system will chug on as it always has. We say Trump is some kind of loose cannon, but heâs placed himself under the Party umbrella, and aligned himself with them - how long does anyone believe that heâll remain such once heâs stationed in the Oval Office and is forced to actually work within the system? Big talk is absolutely meaningless. Clinton is being poised as a savior, a champion of equality - but sheâs buried firmly in the upper 1-2%, and her distance between herself as the people she claims to support has only widened since she and her husband have been in office. Token gestures, speech.. all calculated to get peopleâs attention and focus it on all these ideas that... never quite come about.
Nothing will change as long as weâre still drawing from within the current political system, this false dichotomy in which nothing truly changes. We will never be equal - we will never be free.
âIt seems you are right, little one.â
âI love being right.â The elf brushed his hair back. âSo do we know who to point at?â
âI am going through his contacts. It seems the gentleman was quite the troublemaker.. Many contacts on the darker side of life. Any one of them may have wanted...
âIt seems you are right, little one.â
âI love being right.â The elf brushed his hair back. âSo do we know who to point at?â
âI am going through his contacts. It seems the gentleman was quite the troublemaker.. Many contacts on the darker side of life. Any one of them may have wanted him ended for many reasons, it seems - apparently after his service, he was not a particularly pleasant person.â
âHow do you want to do this?â
Mel raised an eyebrow. âOh, now you ask my opinion?â
âI didnât want you to brush off the secondary explanation, that night..â The detective leaned forward. âThat neighborhood, if we started acting like we werenât trying, Iâm willing to bet weâd have more riots, and more gangs.â
âNeither of us want that.â
âIndeed. Whatâs our next step?â
âI plan to roust his known associates, actually. I want you to see what information you can get, detective! Many of them will likely not speak to you... but I would like you to be present. I dare say you may well be a good judge of character and truth.â
The elf nodded, and picked up his phone.
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