The story of the year
2013 was the year I gave up politics. I will still vote, and I will still be informed, but 2013 is the year where I realized that regardless of political stripe or belief, life goes on. The news is dominated by political tirades. Right, and left. Both sides are pitted against each other in heated verbal battles. People screaming and yelling, acting like righteous rebellions for some kind of cause. Angry old men on the boob tube… But what do they really accomplish? In 2013, they shut down government and almost risked a United States default. And inaction on a farm bill may push milk prices to $8 in 2014. And for those who battle to defend the President, Obama’s health care website was so disastrous that it became the top story for months by barely working and failing to keep up with the users trying to access it. Government itself is made up of people–people who push papers and have desk jobs, those who know regulations and tell you to smile when they take your drivers license photo. In some states, like mine, government employees sell me wine and liquor. In other states, they clean up messed on streets and respond when gas lines are ruptured, threatening entire towns. I would like to believe that government is not made up of politicians. They are the roadblocks to progress, the hindrance of common sense. Politicians are reptilian shape shifters, pretending to care when they don’t and looking for the next mistress in a crowd of fans. They drink and drive.. and we pay. I am so done with politics, but not government. They are distinct and different. In 2013, I finally came to the full realization, years in the making, that “right vs left” is a sham argument, a meaningless piece of tripe given to us by the media, and a mistake to fall into. Let 2014 be the year of reason, the age when you also find out that the political beliefs you harbor have simply been implanted into your brain. Think for yourself. The nation depends on it.
