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Reasons To Watch A Political Speech
Sep. 28th, 2008 12:49 pmLast night, after ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
le_bebna_kamni said she couldn't go with me to the Obama speech due to sickness, it took a long time for me to decide whether to go. My plan had been to read stories to her and maybe play a pocket game, and I would be bored out of my mind without her.
That led to a good conversation about why I was going. I have no interest in what Barack Obama will say today. We are at that point in the political process where a candidate must make pre-processed soundbites to win the election.
If it was his speech on religion, that would be different. After this election, maybe he'll go back to giving speeches like that. Speeches of substance, the kind in which I feel I am hearing an actual human and not an electable political costume designed by committee to match what the population wants to hear. Honestly though, even the good speeches I can get on the internet, and being there in person adds no value to me.
The reason I wanted to attend was that I felt like it was something I could do to help save the world, in a small way. I consider it a demonstration, a rally. I want large crowds to turn out to his speeches so that he'll be perceived as more popular, which seems to be working in his favor so far. My contribution is equally insignifigant in voting or showing moral support at a rally. But I'm using the "if everyone did it, is that the world you want to live in" ethical strategy: I want something from the aggregate of people, and I'm part of that aggregate, so I ought to expect that of myself.
le_bebna_kamni was going to go because she wanted to hear Obama. She was extremely skeptical of the concept of attending a speech as a form of sacrifice with a very dubious benefit to anyone.
Eight to twelve hours of an otherwise productive day
getting sunburned,
tired on my feet,
scrutinized by security,
eating a crap sack lunch,
bored out of my skull,
listening to the bread-and-circuses platitudes that every politician has to say to get elected.
Out of duty to abstractions with only a vague connection to benefiting someone somewhere in some unmeasurable way. I stopped sacrificing my Sundays to that form of nebulous guilt long ago.
There is a serious problem with civics as we know it. I am going to write a much longer post on the topic, with my proposed solutions, when I blog about my plans for Superstruct.
le_bebna_kamni said she couldn't go with me to the Obama speech due to sickness, it took a long time for me to decide whether to go. My plan had been to read stories to her and maybe play a pocket game, and I would be bored out of my mind without her.That led to a good conversation about why I was going. I have no interest in what Barack Obama will say today. We are at that point in the political process where a candidate must make pre-processed soundbites to win the election.
If it was his speech on religion, that would be different. After this election, maybe he'll go back to giving speeches like that. Speeches of substance, the kind in which I feel I am hearing an actual human and not an electable political costume designed by committee to match what the population wants to hear. Honestly though, even the good speeches I can get on the internet, and being there in person adds no value to me.
The reason I wanted to attend was that I felt like it was something I could do to help save the world, in a small way. I consider it a demonstration, a rally. I want large crowds to turn out to his speeches so that he'll be perceived as more popular, which seems to be working in his favor so far. My contribution is equally insignifigant in voting or showing moral support at a rally. But I'm using the "if everyone did it, is that the world you want to live in" ethical strategy: I want something from the aggregate of people, and I'm part of that aggregate, so I ought to expect that of myself.
le_bebna_kamni was going to go because she wanted to hear Obama. She was extremely skeptical of the concept of attending a speech as a form of sacrifice with a very dubious benefit to anyone.Eight to twelve hours of an otherwise productive day
getting sunburned,
tired on my feet,
scrutinized by security,
eating a crap sack lunch,
bored out of my skull,
listening to the bread-and-circuses platitudes that every politician has to say to get elected.
Out of duty to abstractions with only a vague connection to benefiting someone somewhere in some unmeasurable way. I stopped sacrificing my Sundays to that form of nebulous guilt long ago.
There is a serious problem with civics as we know it. I am going to write a much longer post on the topic, with my proposed solutions, when I blog about my plans for Superstruct.
