Political Discourse has Tanked

Political discourse in this country has tanked ... participants, and the media, by and large miss what was once its honest object. Meaningful exchange and debate of ideas to advance the interests of the citizenry? It's not done much anymore. To our chagrin the cultural imperative of purposeful political dialog has been supplanted by the imperative of power and influence. Winning is now the political end in itself, the interests of the country be damned. Wisely and prudently informing the electorate of the relevant issues affecting them, and the options available to address those issues, and the logical consequences of one course vs. the other, and a fair representation of the historic evidence pertaining to the issues isn't what concerns our politicos today. Our loss.

Besides, having a meaningful political discourse requires the exchange of ideas and a thorough understanding of history. Which means that having ideas worthy of serious political debate is hard. It takes work and focus and intelligence and study. Who has time for that when you have to get reelected? It's much easier to just throw stones at the other guy. And shame on the public, for we seem to relish every bit of red meat they throw us. We respond to that crap, or so the polls tell us. We're lazy too in this respect. We don't demand that the politicos deliver something useful for our consideration. We're perfectly happy to consume whatever mindless, purposeless crap they spoon feed us, and then talk about it as though it were important. As a culture, we don't think for ourselves much anymore, and that's a big part of the problem.

Is What Has Been Made Law Legitimate?

Think of all the ridiculous laws we suffer under today. Many have no purpose but to advance the electoral interests of the legislators. They are not prudently evaluated before binding us; they are made to sanction what is unjust and make it appear sacred to those of a certain conscience. We put up with these bogus laws and regulations (so voluminous as to overwhelm) because they are the law, not because they are appropriate, needed, right, or just. We fear the consequences of violating or objecting to the law, rather than the consequences of an unjust law. Yet the consequences of an ill-conceived or unjust law are much graver than those of violating a law.

Consider the words of a wise French economist, statesman, and author: "No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree. The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality condradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult to choose between them. ...

There is in all of us a strong disposition to believe that anything
lawful is also legitimate. This belief is so widespread that many
persons have erroneously held that things are 'just' because the
law makes them so." —Frederic Bastiat - June 1850

A perilous human tendancy that serves only to encourage the thoughtless opportunists among our legislators.