A quiet victory.
I’m working on Aristotle, Ethics.
I’m pretty shallowly into it right now, but having not read any other Aristotle–only Plato–I found something surprising. He defines politics as one of the fundamental “goods” in the world. It seems strange to me, living in a supposedly more modern world, that politics seems to have had a reversal of roles. I don’t really care to get involved in the reasons for this as I know that things are much different in our form of government than they were in ancient Greece. However, it has got me thinking about our political environment again. This is a topic that I’ve been trying to avoid for a while now as it tends to make me anxious and angry. I can’t help but think though, wouldn’t it be a pleasant surprise…
What if on Tuesday November 2nd, all of the people just went and voted as they believed they should. What if this sensationalist far-right-leaning trend completely failed in the polls. What if everyone voted and the majority actually won. Much like how Obama was elected, but more broadly and concise. Can you imagine the kind of message that would send to the political extremists out there? A clear message to the far right and Fox News that says, “that’s great that you feel passionate about your political opinions, but you are a really just a tiny minority with no legitimate potential to change the political climate.” Such an outcome would be very pleasant for me. Democracy in action, what a novel concept.
Perhaps I’m wrong, but the more likely outcome is that a very small group of politically impassioned people are going to decide what the outcome of this election will be. We, the marginalized and frustrated majority, will just become more marginalized and more frustrated. Which begs the question, why doesn’t this system work? Why don’t the representatives who preach the most popular views get elected? Judging by my personal experience, I feel that I can safely say that all of my conservative friends will vote, while less than 10% of my liberal friends will. Which brings me back to my point: wouldn’t it be nice, if the people filed into the polls on Tuesday and won a quiet victory for America.
