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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Expect politics to go weird

"All politics is local."

Thomas "Tip" O'Neill


Lets assume that old Tip was right. People votes reflect what's happening in their local lives.

So . . . I've got to ask . . . How are things where you are? What are local conditions like?

I am curious. I want to know. You see, there's this theory going around that in weird times, we elected some goofy politicians. Dmitri Orlov has often talked about that sort of thing happening when the old Soviet Union fell.

Now if the majority of us are experiencing weird times, we can certainly expect some wacky elections.

Having grown up in a dying mill town, I got to see collapse on a small scale. As the local economy went into a death spiral, politics became odd indeed. Lots of crazy ideas were put forward to save the town. In my opinion, most of the solutions were worst than the problem.
Politicians promised stuff that didn't even pretend to make sense. It's a good thing that small town mayors only have so much power. There's only so much damage a pocket Hitler can do.

Of course, that was during a time when most of the country was doing well. The nation could absorb a few nut cases at the local level. What happens when a goodly number of the local politicians are nut jobs. Add them all up, and the country is run by nut jobs.

Take a look around at your local politics. Getting crazy? If it is, just so you'd know, that might be the way the nation's going.

-Sixbears

3 comments:

  1. Ours has always been crazy. It's just a micro version of CONgress, with back door deals, do as I say not as I do, and "we're gonna do this even though you voters don't want us to, because it's good for you"... They have all forgotten the definition and job description of REPRESENTATIVE...

    Right now my local yokels are re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic, trying to attract all those mythical "tourists" and their dollars downtown instead of on the beach. You know, the only reason anyone comes here. The beach! I guess they missed that course on capitalizing on your assets. Alas, we have a bunch of "elitist" running the joint, trying to turn an end-of-the-line (literally!) backwater fishin' and beach bum town into Houston or something. Ain't gonna happen, never will, you'll put us in bankruptcy trying. And why the hell would you want to be Houston?! YUCK!

    This is the "Redneck Riviera", and I like it that way. Part of the charm. Part of why those that come here do come here. Leave it to politicians to ruin a good thing...

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  2. A few years ago when my wife and I were in East Texas, we almost made it down to your beach. Weather was cool and rainy so we didn't make the hike down.

    Not interested in Houston. Been there, done that, don't wanna go back. The idea of a "Redneck Riviera" is what sounded interesting.

    You might be surprised how many formally industrial towns now want to attract tourists. Rarely works, and when it does, it takes decades, too late to save the locals.

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