Reminds me of the old saying about God opening the door but only you can walk through it. Barbara Bush said something to the effect of what happens in your house is far more important than what happens at the White House. I happen to agree. I think we as a society put far too much faith in politicians to get things done rather than rolling our sleeves up and doing something ourselves. I mean, if Chris Gardner can go from sleeping in public restrooms with a toddler to a multibillionaire in 20 years (starting in the early eighties no less), then I have no excuse.
What get me about these (mostly senseless) letters you're publishing is that they're nothing new. Politics has ALWAYS been corrupt, and a large segment of society hates whoever is in office at any one particular time. Abraham Lincoln is held up as a great and beloved president but he was originally elected with only 32% of the vote then went on to cause a war in which roughly 3/4's of a million Americans died fighting each other. Yeah, I know, the war was because the South seceded but Old Abe, who never spent one minute in combat, decided to force them back at the point of a bayonet. The fact is that Americans knew very little about the people who were in the White House before the advent of mass communications. Even then, the media covered up things such as JFK being a cockhound with a preference for young women. The average American doesn't even know today what the actual role of a president is, or what the qualifications are. It's more a personality contest then an actual contest "on the issues" as the media likes to say. The Founders set up a system where electors from each state would choose the president from men who were actually known and not campaigners. For about the first 40 years of the country's existence. voters didn't even play a role in choosing the electors, they were selected by the legislature in nearly every state. Electors voted for two people for president and the runner-up became vice-president. Only men with property had the right to vote. The term "popular vote" did not exist. Then along came political parties and now we have the popularity contest that serves as a national election we have today. And, you know what, there's not a damn thing voters can do about it! ANY changes have to come from the state legislatures.
Each one needs to do their own work. Not a popular view. Ask what you can do or wait for the leaders to do it for you. Most wait for somebody else to do it, don't they?
Reminds me of the old saying about God opening the door but only you can walk through it. Barbara Bush said something to the effect of what happens in your house is far more important than what happens at the White House. I happen to agree. I think we as a society put far too much faith in politicians to get things done rather than rolling our sleeves up and doing something ourselves. I mean, if Chris Gardner can go from sleeping in public restrooms with a toddler to a multibillionaire in 20 years (starting in the early eighties no less), then I have no excuse.
What get me about these (mostly senseless) letters you're publishing is that they're nothing new. Politics has ALWAYS been corrupt, and a large segment of society hates whoever is in office at any one particular time. Abraham Lincoln is held up as a great and beloved president but he was originally elected with only 32% of the vote then went on to cause a war in which roughly 3/4's of a million Americans died fighting each other. Yeah, I know, the war was because the South seceded but Old Abe, who never spent one minute in combat, decided to force them back at the point of a bayonet. The fact is that Americans knew very little about the people who were in the White House before the advent of mass communications. Even then, the media covered up things such as JFK being a cockhound with a preference for young women. The average American doesn't even know today what the actual role of a president is, or what the qualifications are. It's more a personality contest then an actual contest "on the issues" as the media likes to say. The Founders set up a system where electors from each state would choose the president from men who were actually known and not campaigners. For about the first 40 years of the country's existence. voters didn't even play a role in choosing the electors, they were selected by the legislature in nearly every state. Electors voted for two people for president and the runner-up became vice-president. Only men with property had the right to vote. The term "popular vote" did not exist. Then along came political parties and now we have the popularity contest that serves as a national election we have today. And, you know what, there's not a damn thing voters can do about it! ANY changes have to come from the state legislatures.
Each one needs to do their own work. Not a popular view. Ask what you can do or wait for the leaders to do it for you. Most wait for somebody else to do it, don't they?
Yes! "We the people"
I can totally see this aspect of things, even though I haven't watched/read Harry Potter.