Queen For A Day

In theory, we elect politicians to remove impediments that would keep us from living safe, happy and productive lives. In practice, however, politicians have found it is not in their best interests to solve problems – so much better to exploit these for all they’re worth and give them plenty of lip service; to then, on the strength of empty promises, be able to propel would-be kings to victory in the ever ubiquitous next election cycle. It is a clear conflict of interest that is inherent in the system that has now hit the wall, pitting the political class in direct opposition of the expectations of the electorate.

It has also become evident that the electorate has not been holding their elected representatives’ feet to the fire. At the same time, serious concerns have accrued to the point where there is no longer any margin to add additional grievances to the list of already well-established concerns. Especially, ever changing financial realities along with immigration and terrorism are routinely crowded out and left languishing. It is often said that anything done at this point will only make matters worse. Trust in our leadership has seriously eroded.

Elections are the mechanism designed to fix this. Unfortunately, the people from which we are asked to choose invariably come from within the political class which itself is hamstrung by the need to preserve itself.

In America there has been a huge awakening. This is not to say that we now fully understand exactly what and how much is at stake. Unlike the British parliamentary system in which a multitude of parties participate, we only have two. We’ve tried putting Republicans in charge; we’ve tried Democrats. Neither party has particularly impressed us. What now?

We have to get over the notion that the men and women we have been electing to represent us actually do. We have to face up to the fact that they have come primarily only to promote themselves. The most cynical among us understand this. What we don’t yet seem to grasp is that there’s a difference; that elections have consequences. We have to re-learn our civic lessons; we have to re-read our history books. We can do it. When we see a dog, we can easily agree it’s a dog. Yet, when we see a socialist, we’re somehow incapable of saying, “He’s a socialist.” Instead…

In the 50’s there was a TV show entitled, “Queen for a Day”. It followed a simple game format in which the winner was wined and dined and given pretty clothes to wear for 24 hours. That’s basically what we have been doing when electing our officials. We do it on the basis of their being capable of shining in the glare of the media hype. In our time, a man like Lincoln would be a complete washout. We look to poise, sex appeal, skin color and the like. We have become too lazy to examine complex issues.

Suddenly, we find that they have robbed us of our nest egg. Our security hangs by a thread. How could this have happened? Ironically, we may still not have learned our lesson as we seek out Adonis-like faces to match our Gucci accessories.