We've had our chance, and muffed it

For 10+ years, I've done what I could to wake up the American people, and so have a huge number of other writers and activists. We've warned that government was becoming far too intrusive and controlling, and that all those values Americans have traditionally held in high esteem were being beaten into the ground. We've warned that Republican and Democratic politicians take no responsibility for the decline, because they're concerned only with getting elected and re-elected, and with grabbing personal wealth and power while they have the chance.

A great many Americans have come to realize that what we've said is indeed true. Ten years ago, when I said I was a Libertarian, I got a lot of blank stares in response. That almost never happens any longer, and those I speak to seem to have a decent idea what "libertarian" means. That is as far as it goes. Progress, but not enough to make a difference.

When I say we've muffed our chance, I'm not referring to those who have been sounding alarms for many years, but instead to our listeners and readers... the bulk of the American public.

I've come to think of the American voting public as having the same mentality as a woman emotionally caught up in the role of "the other woman"... and I've known many of them. Americans tenaciously grasp onto the idea that politicians really mean what they say, and will do whatever it takes to create a happy ending. Like the married man, politicians may even mean what they say, but when push comes to shove, they are not going to bust up or even diminish what they've spent years establishing. The married man is not likely to dump his family, even for love, and the politician is not likely to do anything to jeopardize his family... the party that got him elected and holds the key to his reelection.

Both cases are a matter of vague promises, heard with hope and believed because to disbelieve is painful. The political "affair" is complicated by changing the man making the promises, which makes breaking the trap even more difficult. It's easy to believe that this one may be different. The new guy hasn't lied to me yet, but he's hitting all the same hot buttons.

The American voters have muffed their chance. Libertarians have worked very hard to give the voters a choice for 35 years, and have largely been ignored at the polls. Truth can be a hard sell when lies are so readily believed.

I used to ask people that if they had an election choice between Stalin and Hitler and some other candidate, would they still choose between the two powerful candidates. That often gets a chuckle, but the fact is that most people would choose Stalin to keep Hitler out, or vice versa, depending on whom they thought was the lesser of the two evils.

That's what American voters are like these days... they talk a lot, but most of the talk is to justify to themselves and others the bad choice they intend to make. Americans have become gullible, placid, take-it-in-the-shorts suckers. I'm now convinced that will not change. Americans of the past, with far less money, free time, and access to information, had far more guts and interest in elections. We've muffed it completely, and we deserve what is coming.