Political Déjà vu

The school system in Europe is a little bit different, they torture little innocent children  with Latin and old Greek and bore them senseless with stories of ancient Greece and the Roman empire. To the point that paying attention is an automatic self defense. You might as well go ahead and learn everything they tell you to, before you are hopelessly lost.

Politics interested me already when I was a child. National or international, I found it fascinating. I learned reading with help of our daily newspaper, way before I was thrown into a Kindergarten. The origin of democracy can be traced back to the classical days in Athens (Greece) back to the 6th century BC. A political system of decision making within an institution or a nation, in which all members have the equal share to power.

Doesn’t it sound wonderful? Of course now, in our modern world we are too many people, so it comes down to the right to vote. That’s the way we rule our democracy, we give up our right to speak (how did that ever happen to me?) and instead elect someone for years to come,  with the hope they will “speak up” meaning keep our interest in mind.

I had high hopes for all of us when I was younger. How simple, we all just vote for the right persons and there will be peace on Earth and a global understanding…and yes, pigs will fly again.

Needless to say it doesn’t work like that. My pigs landed and reality sunk in over time, but there were people in the past withe fresh ideas and they had ALL our best interest in mind. Yes, there were people in the past, they seem to have higher standards, higher morals and a believe in all of us. History books all over this world are full with them.

I am allowed to vote since 34 years and  saw people rise up, running for a public office and they got my vote, because they spoke to me. Only a few of of them who got me all excited.

There was a time, when I had the news channels running all throughout the day. I was interested, I wanted to know what was going on in our country and in the world.

Today I sat down and read the news online, as I always do. Goodness, there is Hillary R. Clinton, our former Secretary of State…she will run for President -again (who would have guessed?) and then there are other names, like another Bush on the other side.

As for me, I feel like I am going to a resale store. You know, one of these stores, where I know things will look familiar, because you I them before. Maybe not the exact  same thing, but very similar. Today I had a political déjà vu,

What happened? Are there only Clinton’s, Bush’s and Kennedy’s. And if that’s the case…how many more will there be?

I will not state what political party I belong to, because it doesn’t matter and because I don’t really belong anymore. I believed once and now I feel like I just have to decide, who will be the lesser evil. I feel terribly lost. You know, I belong to a middle class and we are standing on a cliff…many of us, or the most of us, are just a few paychecks or an illness away from going over this cliff. I don’t  have time for enthusiasm, I need all my energy to make sure we survive. I don’t see anybody up there on the horizon with ideals that might change that. I hear slogans and platitudes, used by either side, but I don’t see anything exciting. I remember 2008 when we all heard about the change. Regardless of what party we belonged to, we knew there would be a fresh wind in Washington and changes would be coming. The offence team was going to get it done, however, we underestimated the defense. They did their job and blogged everything coming their way…even stopped the ball for a while and kept the game from going on.

Something startles me since years. How can a nation, as large as we are,  only have two major parties to chose from in the first place? I mean look at other working democracies all over the world. Take Europe for example. There are small parties on the sidelines getting some attention. Environmental parties, human rights parties, green parties, even socialist and communist parties… often voted for out of frustration, just so voters make sure, that the big parties will be kept in line.

These little parties will never win and they don’t want to. Their goal is to be significant enough (mostly, with reaching the 5% goal line) to be considered for a coalition, because neither big party will be able to rule without them. There was Beppe  Grillo, the “Clown” in Italy (actually a comedian) who decided to start a “Five star movement” with just a blog (see blogs can make a difference). He wanted to reach 5 % in the next election and was later on, one of the 10 most read blogs in the world. He was chosen the “European Hero” in 2005. He drew attention to things, that were going wrong and succeeded. He was allowed to speak and he was heard…he made a difference.

I would like to see some smaller parties emerge out of nowhere. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a mouse between the elephant and the donkey?

Yes, I still see pigs fly don’t I? Reality is I am tired of political déjà vu’s. I would like to see a “Clown“, a real one spicing things up…until then, I most likely just don’t care anymore, What can I say, i am busy not falling of he cliff. Maybe I just need a break, like so many of us?

Is it age? Is that’s why I am not that excited anymore?