We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us

I have heard this phrase almost all my life.  I thought it was some sort of anti-Vietnam War thing but I found this cool picture that explains it all.  It was pro-environment, anti-pollution.

I can see how that was an important message in that generation.  People did not take pollution very seriously for a long, long time.  They just covered it up and ignored it until it became too widespread to cover up and ignore.

There are other problems that also become too large to ignore, but we try to cover them up.  Global warming is not the product of pollution.  It is the product of using hydrocarbon energy and changing the environment.

We change the environment by cutting down forests, draining swamps, rerouting rivers, and transporting plants and animals to new areas where they don't fit into the ecological systems.  Casual pet owners have done a lot more harm to the environment by releasing their animals into the wild than they realize.

We also harm ourselves through our politics.  Take the gridlock in Washington as an example.  What country besides the United States elects a liberal President and a Conservative legislature?  I suppose they could be out there but the voting public just creates more political disaster and confusion by dividing the offices of government along ideological lines.

And I know no one goes into the voting booth thinking, "Well, we have a Republican President so I'll just vote for a Democratic Senator and Representatives this time."  But that is the way it works out.

Maybe what we need is a political literacy test that everyone has to pass before they vote.  The test should consist of three questions:

1. What would you expect to happen if you vote for a Congress that is politically opposed to your President?
2. Who will the President blame if he cannot get along with Congress?
3. Who will Congress blame if they cannot get along with the President?

I think these are pretty simple questions and they are politically neutral.  The first question could be answered either by written response or by selecting from a multiple choice of possible answers.  But the answers to the 2nd and 3rd questions should be no-brainer obvious.

It really doesn't matter what we think will happen if the Congress and President cannot get along.  All that matters is that nothing important will get done.

We have non-profit Voters' Rights groups who work hard to make sure that everyone who is entitled to vote has the opportunity to do so.  But we have no one who is advocating the use of logic and reason by the voters when they choose which candidates to support.

Mark my words.  That will come back to bite us again some day.  We have met the enemy and he is indeed us.