Working Man ISO Candidate

(2/17/04)

Early last week I was walking down the D corridor in Engleman Hall when I noticed a neon green flyer with a large picture of President Bush dominating the page. Upon closer inspection, I saw this anti-Bush flyer was produced by the International Socialists Organization. Socialists! I didn't know we had socialists on campus, so this seemed like a hot ticket. Besides, this is what college is supposed to be about: political diversity and freedom of speech.
Fast-forward a few days to Thursday, Feb. 5 in an upstairs room in the Student Center. After seeing that there was a robust crowd of about six people, I walked in and was immediately handed some propaganda by a lovely young woman. Several other members of this strange group introduced themselves, shook my hand, and basically made me feel like I had just won the Publisher's Clearinghouse prize.
When I looked around the room I noticed a giant poster proclaiming "NO BLOOD FOR OIL AND EMPIRE." This is definitely not a safe place, but I keep my composure. I must admit that these kids had done their homework and were informed, but it isn't their facts that I had a hard time accepting. It was the motive, or lack thereof, behind them.
The meeting began by general Bush-bashing, which is what I expected. OK, let's attack the war on Iraq and say how unjust it is and how the people are suffering and how the big, bad United States is looking out for its own interests. All of this wasn?t too shocking, but they said to vote for the Democratic nominee (they assumed Kerry), and then they proceed to bash Kerry.
They begin by attacking Kerry's voting record in the Senate, and then they blame the man for being wealthy (he is married to the princess of the Heinz ketchup empire). It is both Kerry's and Bush's fault that they are wealthy and aren't the grassroots college students and authentic workingmen that the socialists want them to be.
The basic point of this meeting was to cast blame around and whine about the political state of the world. I would respect these people more and not blame them for robbing me of an hour of my life, if they presented any sort of authentic message at all. These people had no clear message or plan of their own; they simply gave the statistics of past administrations. As I was taking notes, I recall hearing one gentleman, very well spoken and intelligent- sounding attempt to parallel Osama Bin Laden with Frederick Douglass. You find the connection.
These people pat themselves on the back for being so informed and being so in-touch with the happenings around the world, but they don't live in the real world. I could not share their enthusiasm because I see beyond that sadly idealistic world they are striving for. We can?t save the world and the quicker you realize this, the better you'll be. There is no money in morality, folks.
Perhaps I am jaded and materialistic, but I enjoy living in a superpower and I want my piece of the pie. At the end of the day I don't care what we do, as long as it means I don't have to pay three dollars for a gallon of gas. I sleep comfortably at night knowing that I live in the most powerful country in the world and there are people being exploited on a daily basis in order to ensure my luxuries. I also would like to believe the world can exist in peace and everyone will love one another, but this isn't Star Trek and that's not the world we live in so we have to adjust in order to survive.
These people can stand atop their soapboxes all they want in the safety of their university, but I'm sure they'd be singing a vastly different tune if they were actually in Iraq or Bangladesh or wherever the chic humanitarian cause country is this week. These kids don't realize that the interest of a government is to preserve itself and perpetuate power. These people have to realize that they don't represent the silent majority; they represent college kids who don't have a clue about life.
The silent majority doesn't want to think, they want to keep their job, they want to put their kids in school, and they never, ever, want to know the truth. Truth is unsettling and the truth causes a conflict of morality.
So when you vote for Kerry or when you vote for Bush, remember there is not much difference because you don't matter. The only thing that matters is the preservation of our national power and ensuring our status as the dominant economic and military force on the planet.
These people are looking for someone who can identify with the Working Man. They need a man who is morally incorruptible with the unflappable characteristics of the Philosopher King. This, just like every other part of their "message" is a dream.
Democrat or Republican, we all need to realize that no candidate is a common man. Politics would be much better served if the candidates truly cut through the layers of rhetoric and bull - and told the people what the world is really like. I believe this because I see how people react, both positively and negatively, to politics. Its problem is not in the message, but in the interpretation of messages. People just have to be intelligent enough to be able to separate that from the facts. This must be done with any political party or individual politician.
I am personally a Republican and I know that not everyone is going to agree with me and that isn't the point. People are allowed to have their own opinions, but only if they are intelligent enough to understand what their opinions are about in the real world.
I don't mean to write this as a slander piece because we are all entitled to our own opinions, but eventually we all grow up and see the world for what it is. Whether or not the world is how we like it isn't up to us. Unfortunately, the majority of us have to get jobs and support our families and eventually ourselves. These individuals have their hearts in the right place, it is just their sense of reality is a bit skewed. I am jealous of their blinders because the world isn't the most inviting place, but that's why you have to go out, be cutthroat, and stake your claim. If you're too busy trying to change the world you're going to wake up one day and be thirty years old and living in the same apartment (or dorm room) and realize that your fight meant nothing. And if it's not too late, you had better try to get your piece.