04 December 2006

Bridge to Reality

It is said that voters vote their with their wallets. A variation of this is "It's the economy, stupid." Our version would be: "It's the economy, Stupid Rosselló."

If this is true--as it generally seems to be--then the next elections in Puerto Rico should be a lollapalooza whoop-ass smackdown of The Fools.

As My little boy says: Yeah, right.

Our voters screech, whine, emote, discuss, argue about, obsess with and practically think with their wallets, but when the time comes to enter a voting booth, the complex realities of day-to-day life are reduced to a tricolor washrag of options: red, blue or faded green, the local parties' representative colors.

For all Our talk and pseudo-pontification surrounding "the national sport" of politics that leads Us to believe We are political sohpisticates, We are nothing more than Skinnerian pigeons when We enter the voting box. With bird-brain reflexes, We slash an X or two under a party standard, drop Our vote in the ballot box and walk away feeling smug.

Ignorance is bliss.

As another phrase goes: If you're not upset, you aren't paying attention.

Our voters have a disconnect with reality that rivals The Fools' disconnect with integrity. Those two yawning chasms are going to swallow Our Future unless We bridge one to force a bridging of the other. Since We can't ever expect The Fools to regain what they never had, We must connect with reality and change the way things are.

That has to happen before the voting box takes over, so that the long-honed reflexes of a lifetime are replaced by the newly-found wisdom of connecting to reality. Will it change the masses? Of course not: Rationality is hard work and the masses love only what's easy. But given how close Our elections have been--and will be--a few thousand votes may launch an impact wave that could sweep away the detritus and pave the way for the new and brighter Future We deserve.

It's not the economy: it's Us.


The Jenius Has Spoken.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Upon reading this, particularly paragraphs 4 to 6, I immediately felt a pang of guilt. I feel ashamed that my fledging project has been on hold for so long...

I will do better in the coming days...

Anonymous said...

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Winston Churchill

Not that I'm a communist. I only aspire to be dictator of Puerto Rico and get this island back in the game.