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This presidential campaign is about as interesting as watching paint dry. Part of the tedium is inspired by the candidates themselves.
One says that the election is about competence, not
ideology.
Competence has its place, perhaps, but
incompetence (i.e., declaring that Sept. 7 is Pearl Harbor
Day, or rehiring a campaign manager whom one fired not long
ago) is more entertaining. The other has spent eight years
in Ronald Reagan's shadow, and he promises us more of the
same, once he becomes the one who casts the shadow. That,
too, is about as inspirational as a laundry list.
But even if both candidates glowed with charisma and spoke with the tongues of men and of angels in witty 20-second sound bites, the 1988 election still works better than Sominex.
Why is it so boring? Because the major issues this year are not things that presidents can do much about.
Consider the federal decision which had the most effect on your life this summer. You can't see the mountains (even from Salida), and you're inhaling carcinogenic particulates, on account of huge forest fires in Yellowstone National Park. Those fires resulted from decisions made by career bureaucrats; the President does not determine fire-suppression policies on federal lands.
The federal government is too big and complex for any president to have much influence on the day-to-day decisions that affect us all. As for our major domestic problems, they too are matters beyond a president's reach, but well within the power of every individual.
Drugs? Controlled substances are out of control because people want them; as long as there's a demand, the market will arrange a supply. Name one federal policy that makes people crave drugs, or anything a president might do to make people cease lusting for drugs. If drugs are indeed a threat, it's because individuals want them, not because there is any federal policy that an election might change.
Balance of payments? America becoming a debtor nation? We choose to buy things made in other countries. But it is your decision and mine, not the president's, to buy a foreign-made car, coat or computer.
Widespread illiteracy and the general sorry state of
American education? A president can use his bully
pulpit
to call attention to such issues. But the most
the government can actually do is spend money -- and these
are problems that are solved by individuals who care enough
to spend time teaching and learning. Devoting the entire
GNP to education wouldn't be as effective as a million
devoted people, which you or I could be.
AIDS? Besides spending money, the other thing governments can do is pass laws. State governments once passed laws to prohibit activities that spread AIDS -- certain sexual practices and intravenous drug use. Those laws were either so unenforceable as to be repealed, or so widely ignored that they didn't matter. Again, any solution to this epidemic lies in what individuals do, not what governments do.
Air pollution? The greenhouse effect? Gridlock? All result from automobiles. The average auto trip is all of 7.9 miles -- about 20 minutes in a car, or 40 minutes on a bicycle, which produces neither pollution nor congestion. Those extra minutes might not even be significant, if they came from time now devoted to jogging or workouts at the spa.
I could continue down a dreary list, but the trend is clear. No matter who wins the election, or even if there were no election, most of our major problems could be solved if we, as individuals, truly cared about solving them.
But instead, we want to Let George do it
or
Let Mike do it.
Naturally, we insist that they do it
without raising taxes or otherwise disturbing us. It's hard
to say which is worse -- their fatuous promises, or our
willingness to believe them, rather than do something
ourselves.
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