Hope and change was one of the Obama campaign slogans, not a platform. And in major addresses, that slogan was contextualized with Ghandi's "be the change you wish to see". How did it work out -- better than I expected, worse than I'd hoped.
> The political process in America is broken and voting will not solve the problem of corruption.
"Getting involved" is not limited to voting. GP didn't say "If your elected officials don't give you access to them, vote for those who say they will." He said "...f your elected officials don't give you access to them, work to put in office, some who do."
That includes voting, but goes far beyond it. Run yourself, or get people to run. To the extent that the electoral system and the perverse incentives and limited selections it offers are a barrier to getting the kind of candidates you want elected (and if you want something different than what the major parties keep putting forward, that's probably a pretty significant barrier) educate yourself about it and work to change it; sure, you may not get buy off from lots of incumbents in office, but if you live in a state with a citizen initiative process, you don't need that support to change electoral procedures at the state level. (Of course, in such a state, you can also work to directly attack problem policies through the same process, which limits the effect that problem politicians have even before they are replaced.)
Yes, but you don't seem to.
> Hope and Change, how did that work out?
Hope and change was one of the Obama campaign slogans, not a platform. And in major addresses, that slogan was contextualized with Ghandi's "be the change you wish to see". How did it work out -- better than I expected, worse than I'd hoped.
> The political process in America is broken and voting will not solve the problem of corruption.
"Getting involved" is not limited to voting. GP didn't say "If your elected officials don't give you access to them, vote for those who say they will." He said "...f your elected officials don't give you access to them, work to put in office, some who do."
That includes voting, but goes far beyond it. Run yourself, or get people to run. To the extent that the electoral system and the perverse incentives and limited selections it offers are a barrier to getting the kind of candidates you want elected (and if you want something different than what the major parties keep putting forward, that's probably a pretty significant barrier) educate yourself about it and work to change it; sure, you may not get buy off from lots of incumbents in office, but if you live in a state with a citizen initiative process, you don't need that support to change electoral procedures at the state level. (Of course, in such a state, you can also work to directly attack problem policies through the same process, which limits the effect that problem politicians have even before they are replaced.)