Looking Forward to the End of Politics as We Know It
By Henry Schulte
We probably all know an American or two living in another country who no longer has any real interest in American politics. Some have completely cut the cord and don’t even have TVs. I have friends who spent two months in Portugal and who had become disconnected from the political debate… and loved it.
What is politics? It’s men and women who claim they want to do public service and help govern. Truth: it’s mostly to gain power. There are a few who sincerely care but they’re outnumbered.
Why has politics become so all-consuming in America? It’s entered nearly every facet of our lives. It impacts who we can be friends with, what we can buy, what we can say or not say for fear of ticking someone off. It even impacts the kind of car we want to be seen in.
If we could toss politics out the window, what would we have left?
Well, we could focus more on friendships, gardens, enjoy movies without hidden messages, speak to anyone about nearly anything without fear of making them angry. Strangely, by doing away with politics, we could wipe out most of what causes people to hate and to stress out.
Half, if not most of the depressing news would vanish. It could be replaced with more feel-good stories. Anxiety for so many people would drop dramatically. When meeting someone for the first time you wouldn’t have to dance around trying to determine what their political views were. You could strengthen friendships by washing away discord. Spouses wouldn’t need to fight over who they support.
Removing the greatest divider among people we have, sounds a bit Utopian, doesn’t it? Would it matter thereafter if you were on the left or the right? Would that divide even exist? We all enjoy different interests and hobbies, such as caring for animals, helping the homeless, working with the elderly, protecting the environment, myriad things that are not political. Yet we have allowed so many things to be subsumed with political drama.
A microscopic virus became an enormous divider among Americans. And the virus didn’t even know it. Covid turned into a political weapon; it created hostile behavior, and we were at each other’s jugulars half the time. In retrospect, if anything, it should have been a unifier. It should have been a time when people joined together to help each other. It should not have become a battle over who was wearing a mask or who got the shots. Sadly, we were played, and everyone suffered, from kids who missed out on birthday parties and graduation ceremonies, to the elderly who died alone in empty rooms.
Hopefully that lesson has been learned.
Imagine if Hollywood returned to focusing on its job. Old time actors like Paul Newman, Jimmy Stewart, even local Santa Barbara celebs such as Kirk Douglas, never spoke of politics. They did their job; entertained us and went home. If there were no political battles to fight about or use their fame for attention, Hollywood could go about its business and just make movies.
The same holds true for musicians and sports athletes. There wouldn’t be a need to step outside their theater of influence and antagonize millions of people. It would be more enjoyable not having attitude with a musician or athlete based upon what or who they were for, or because they were opposed to something you cared about.
We Don’t Care What You Think; Just Play
There is an annual music series in Santa Ynez I used to attend. I loved it. However, at one point every musician seemed impelled to throw in their political two cents. I asked the sponsors if they could ask the musicians to keep their opinions to themselves. I didn’t care where they stood, I just didn’t need it to be part of the entertainment. I only wanted to hear the music and not get preached to. They never stopped and I quit going. I wasn’t the only one.
I asked a famous local musician and good friend if he had ever talked politics at any of his gigs. He quickly replied, “And make half my audience mad?”
Without politics, judges could and would be able to make legal rulings without their personal political feelings entering their decisions. They could abide by the law. And speaking of law, criminals would and could stay in jail or be released based on the crime, not because of what they look like or where they came from or because their situation fit a political narrative.
It truly is a vicious cycle, like the dog chasing his tail.
Politics is the foundation of our country; it will never go away. It runs deeper than politicians. It has entered the blood stream of way too many who want to see America die. Politics is the tool they use to try and make that happen. And then the other side tries to prevent it.
I just wonder what it would be like to go to a social event, or meet people on vacation, or simply strike up a conversation with a stranger and not have to worry about their political opinions.
And now I am getting political; there are many who write me and say they agree with this or that but please don’t say anything. And those of us who travel in conservative circles remind each other, we didn’t care for Biden as a president, and we didn’t agree with him, but we didn’t go off the charts losing our minds because of that. The vitriolic hatred for Trump is inexplicable and not normal. Biden and Trump, like all presidents, run their course and when they’re out of office, America is still standing.
And as much as I’d like to see the end of politics as we now know it, I’m afraid it’s here to stay.
At least for a while longer.
Take a look at COLAB’s latest video, “The Great Fee Heist”
Amen! Thank you Henry. I plead guilty. I toggle between sad, angry, fearful and back to sad. There are days when events kidnap my psyche. It’s not healthy and I work hard to stay balanced and open. I remember a time when politics was the least interesting thing to talk about. Stay informed. Vote. Live a good life and try to do some good. I long for an environment that has a focus on what we have in common. The world is a more interesting and gentle place. Your thoughts on this are very much appreciated. Thank you.
Henry, Oh Henry how can TDS create one so blind in the eye and deaf in the ear? Trump will vacate office after pocketing billions of dollars because of the position he holds. This is intentional on his part and wrong on every level. I thought the Clintons were bad but this guy is far worse. When he leaves office I want a thorough and full audit investigation of the abuses and criminal activities under his watch. What is most galling to me is the Republican party aquiesence to his conduct. I always believed in the party, that it stood for standards in conduct and behaviour: Old fashioned things like honesty, truth, principle and integrity. With this man all is quietly accepted as "oh thats just donald, get over it".
The sad thing is his big broad brush policy ideas are spot on. Debt, NATO, Immigration. Its just how he goes about it is totaly wrong. One day this will be a Havard Business Study of how not to manage an organbisation.
The graft/get family rich quick schemes.
Hotel and golf resort projects in nineteen countries many with local governement support.
Meme coins
dinners at whitehouse for top meme coin holders
TV shows of Melania for $
Shall we touch on deportations
Numbers are not running dramatically higher than in previous years. Maybe 15-20% higher.
In Trump 1 that number peaked at 95,000 in fiscal year 2018. The record for is 238,000 in fiscal year 2009, Obama's first term. They know that they cannot actually get a million deportations a year. Internally, everyone involved operationally knows that's impossible.
Dodgy Doggy
$2tn to be saved, now it may be $160bn and that is over ten years. The severence package for fired federal employees will likely eat into most of this figure too.
Then there is his view of trade, I choose Canada because they are our best friend ever!
The Donald is heading so deep into a rabbit hole of trade policy madness that there is no telling where we will come out. But it will surely not be a golden age of prosperity.
Take trade with Canada. When it comes to exchange of goods and services across the 5,500 mile US/Canadian border total trade amounted to a hefty $911 billion or more than 3% of the combined GDP of the two countries. Yet the net balance was just $33 billion in favor of Canada or a mere 3.6% of total commerce.
Needless to say, that marginal imbalance had nothing to do with cheating by Canada. After all, owing to the Donald’s own pride and joy—the NAFTA redo he christened as the USMCA—there were zero tariffs on all of the $911 billion of two-way trade.
At the end of the day, the US/Canada trade in goods and services represents a free trade environment functioning at an extremely high level of efficiency on nearly $1 trillion of two-way commerce. When it comes to the vast, intricate facts and economics of global trade, the Donald is a complete ignoramus.
A few more weeks of this nonsense and both Main street and Wall Street will begin to buckle under the sheer uncertainty and madness the Donald is unleashing. But that will bring about its own cure—an economic crisis, a mid-term GOP wipe-out in 2026 and a Trump presidency that might become a lame duck one.