Debate Or Game-show?

Today I'd like to share with you a rare sight in this short post. You might know that I almost never have anything good to say about politics, or the state of western democracies, as it is my strong conviction that both operate under the power of money and those who possess it.

_{source: Common Dreams}

Democracy has become a celebrity contest. I've sat through almost two and a half hours of the latest Democrat debate, and boy was it painful to watch. Not because of the ideas put forward by the candidates in themselves, but because of the whole "The Voice Of"-format, only no one can sing and songs are the length of a tweet. Really, the only thing missing there was an applause-meter by which to "measure" the "effectiveness" of the twitter-length slogans being sung by the contestants. This whole charade played out as a confirmation of the fact that we vote for personalities instead of ideas, policies or political track-records. They were all selling themselves, not their principles or plans. Not really.

But hey, that's just the format, right? They can't help that the masses aren't interested in long boring monologues, that their attention-spans resemble that of a goldfish (true by the way; look it up). And that's true, but still; when they get the microphone all I hear is why the others' plans are garbage, not why their own plans are good. Accusations are easier to fit in a tweet or slogan that a good explanation of your own plans, but no one even tries. Whenever they get a chance to talk slightly longer, it's always something they personally did in their own neighborhood or organization, an anecdote meant to endear the people to them, to show that they're really just one of the masses... Who do they think they're fooling? This is why I don't watch TV anymore; it's mostly just infuriating to me. Everything has gone plastic, nothing is real or sincere anymore, and even democracy itself has become a game-show, a celebrity contest.

There was one exception though, and if you've read anything by my hand you'll already know who that was; Bernie Sanders. As far as I'm concerned, he was the only non-robot on stage (and maybe Elizabeth Warren). The rest were robots driven by AI's programmed to deliver poignant talking points, and one of the AI's, Biden, was faulty at that. I also hated, and this might come as a surprise, how everybody focused on "Orange Man Bad"; it's not helpful and exposes you as someone trying to score cheap points. Instead use your limited time to at least try to explain why you're for or against healthcare for all, explain how you'll realize the overwhelming wish of Americans to put an end to illness related bankruptcies. Instead of attacking Trump for short term success, paint a future as you see it and make concrete your first tiny steps toward that imagined future. And don't be afraid to imagine, please; to act as a reliable moral compass for the millions of people you represent, you need your own ideological magnetic North, a true vision for the generations (plural) to come.

Like I said: Bernie Sanders is one of those rare exceptions to the rule, in my opinion of course. He's a real human being who has stood for the same policies and principles for decades; he walks the walk, but is, alas, not so good at talking the talk; not at this debate at least. He looked 1,000 years old and his voice was broken because of his relentless tour filled with town-hall meetings. Sorry for the clearly biased political mini-rant here, but I'm sincere when I say that Sanders is, if nothing else, the real thing; he's not faking it, he's not in it for the money or the fame, he's there, in that cheap game-show, because he believes that a real change is needed, a change that goes much further than just removing Trump from the White House. And that's what I wanted to share with you all today: in the below linked video you'll see a man, a human being, and not a politician, even when he's in the middle of being all political. He might just have saved a life also; it's only 8 minutes, just watch the video please, even if the host, Kyle Kulinski from Secular Talk, shares my enthusiasm over Bernie :-) I'm not an American, but if I was, I'd break my own rule of not supporting the fake democracy with my vote, and vote for Bernie to hopefully make him the next president.

_{Bernie Talks A Guy Out Of Killing Himself Over Medical Bills}

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