Political awareness and a country's fate

[TinyBubbles]

Does a country ignorant of the fundamentals of its economy and the forces which motivate politicians to say what they say deserve its fate (if its fate becomes ill through corrupt decision-making)?

In other words, would the ignorance of a nation JUSTIFY the corruption of its political leaders? Since it wouldn't be impossible for people to become aware and insist on improvement- if people CHOOSE (by not actively informing themselves) to stay ignorant then does that in some way give permission to elected officials to exploit their ignorance for personal gain?

I think it's safe to say most people don't care about the economy (unless they're directly invested: business owners or stock holders would be some such people), as long as it's not falling apart - likewise with politics, unless there is some scandal going on or some petty infighting. But economics (and with it, politics) are at the core of our entire society; the whole of humanity is affected in one way or another by the decisions that politicians make, which are to an enormous extent (perhaps solely??) driven by market forces - it trickles down to employers, to employees, to families, to children - it affects technological progress, the environment, infrastructure, it affects what people think and care about - the media, the internet -religious awareness, social awareness - everything is linked to what politicians do (not necessarily what they say!) because their actions impose limits on what others can do. It's a chain reaction, from the highest to the lowest in society, the lowest being those without connections, without education, without rights; without moderation, the lowest are at the mercy of those at the top and can be metaphorically enslaved by having their viable choices cut down to nil. And what motivates politicians to act in moderation? The awareness that the public is watching what they do! If everyone and not just a small handful are actively participating in the political process (not just elections, but what comes AFTER that) then there's more of an incentive for politicians to do the right thing, and not cut corners simply because they have the opportunity. So if the public doesn't enforce this by making itself actively aware of what's going on, does it deserve whatever ill-fate it gets?

hope that wasn't too weirdly explained! *falls over backwards*

 

[That Girl]

It is the responsibility of the government to take care of the people who can't take care of themselves, this includes the people who just aren't paying attention and have no idea what is going on. On the other hand, it is the responsibility of the people to make sure that their government is working. This means educating yourself on at least a basic understanding of how things are run (including the economy). It's almost a paradox. According to how governments should be run (according to Democracy anyway) then no, the public does not deserve it's fate because the government should have been looking out for them. On the other hand, they do deserve their fate because they weren't making sure their government was doing its job.

 

[Daeledin]

As a condition of living with people you can rest assured it is a certainty that participation is not an option.

I have to confess that in the last month I've been lax in keeping up with news. School has me on a wacko sleep schedule and I don't watch some of the news before I'm out the door anymore. I read online sometimes but for some reason I just prefer to hear about it first on the TV and read later. I'll be ignorant for a little bit but I'll come around again.

What I do on a daily basis affects the economy. I consume, we all do. Voting with your wallet is always the most dangerous thing for the rest of the world. Most of the time in the US we don't get to see how that product we just bought at the store got there. What kind of environmental or structural damage it did to someone else out there in other countries. We all get sold our 'image' in the stores and we're as happy as we can possibly be with it; unless of course that 'image' is sadness or you're depressed until you can buy something else. /digression

Politicians get lobbied. No secret there. They'll get lobbied by any organization that has enough man power and money to do so. I'm going to be grossly simple and categorize two groups of companies. The first creates a mess, the second cleans the mess. Most of the times the ones that create the mess have more resources at their disposal to get what they want. When the get what they want they get to live. Anything that is too small gets to die out and go unheard and nothing has changed.

The main reason I mention this is because I'm stuck on the ideas of our sustainability with our current level of consumption on the Earth's natural resources. Most of the things that get sold; food, clothing, cars, machines, cleaners, computers, and especially war (in terms of weapons) are not renewable. Food is the closest to being sustainable but in the interest of making more money some companies that sell seeds to farmers are chemically altering them to die after one cycle of harvest. It's a huge issue here in Kansas because we're experiencing really high levels of farmer suicide because of the unsurpassed debt this helps cause. Oh, and it ruins the soil.

Eventually we're going to run the planet out of any potential to support us. If the next generations could talk to us right now they'd ask us to do everything we can do save something for them. The main proponent of this destruction is our system for living. Our structural violence to the planet can be influenced greatly by politicians. I always hated the idea of throwing money around to fix a problem, but really it can in some areas. Government money spent on projects that would reduce the world's consumption of resources would help ensure the survival of our species.

I'll put this all in quick and easy chemistry terms (Science; it works bitches!)

1 mole of Earth's resources + 6.x moles of Industrialized People -----> 1 mole of Society

Quiz. Spot the limiting reagent (See what I did thar?) This equilibrium constant is non-existent. It is kinetically and thermally active, it can work within or outside of an excited state and it favors acidic (rain) conditions. Of course by definition it also has a high amount of entropy. Ah, science puns.

Now where education comes in is that we need people with knowledge that can change the way things are run in all sorts of fields. Mine (chemistry) is consequently the source of a lot of environmental damage and aid. I'm personally looking at going into Green chemistry to try to help find a way to harness new renewable sources of energy. But anyone can end up doing something to help in ways I'm too tired to imagine right now in detail. One might be redirecting a company to change how it operates its business and improve its sustainability.

In other words, would the ignorance of a nation JUSTIFY the corruption of its political leaders? Since it wouldn't be impossible for people to become aware and insist on improvement- if people CHOOSE (by not actively informing themselves) to stay ignorant then does that in some way give permission to elected officials to exploit their ignorance for personal gain?

To FINALLY get around to answering your question more directly. The way I see it is that ignorance is indeed a choice and a free ticket to let corruption continue. I attribute it mostly to how we bring up our kids (weird for me to say because I still am one and fall into this category). The public school system in the US is pretty good at getting the bodies of the kids in the building. Beyond that it is dependent on where the school is. I can't begin to say for every school but I never got the vibe that the school was trying to make me a citizen of the world. Just get them in and get them out. It is just too controversial for political issues to be discussed in school on a regular basis with clear evaluation of it. You'll get concerns from parents worried about their kids being indoctrinated into a certain ideology. This always pissed me off when I was a kid because I've felt that while I do pick up on the thoughts of those whom I admire; I still have and can create my own opinions.

To wrap up. Again, participation is not an option. Our ignorance does effect everything. It's just easy to lose sight of it if you're not in the thick of it like a businessman or in the lime light like a politician. The end product is what we all get left with: a dead planet.

Probably the saddest thing is the ignorance that is created by a feeling of being powerless to change anything. So why bother? The good news is that's where having a voice in the public is good. Fight for the attention of those that can make the change.