Why are we being led by the best politician money can buy? Are we are just getting what we have earned? Are we just being led by people just like ourselves?

Consider how we choose our leaders. Most of us do not even bother to vote in most elections, and many who do vote make very little effort to become informed. We look at the label, check whether the politician supports the programs (often government give-aways) we care about, and then we vote out of some obscure sense of obligation. As a result, we encourage the worst behavior during the campaign season. Instead of thoughtful presentations, politicians fill the airwaves with 30 second attack ads. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, busy as beavers, lobbyists make deals with the candidates they think can be “persuaded” to support their government-give aways.

Why are we so apathetic? Do we have all our attention focused upon our self? Is our apathy just indifference? Have we become so self-obsessed we have turned apathy into a religion (Apatheism)?

Isn’t such indifference evil? What is evil? We can find relatively good definitions even in the popular culture.

What is evil?

My definition of evil is pretty simple – “to act, or fail to act in way that causes or allows suffering”. As there are degrees of suffering there are also degrees of evil. “Failing to act” means apathy, indifference, willful ignorance, or compliance (“Just doing my job”) with policies that lead to death and suffering.  (from here)

Why are apathy, indifference, and willful ignorance so important to the definition of evil?

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death.  — Elie Wiesel (quote from here)

When we become self-obsessed we don’t care about others. We love only our self, and we contrive to believe that the community in which we live exists to serve us. Therefore, even if we bother to vote, we do so carelessly or we just vote for the politician who promises to give us what we want. Thus, we vote for the leaders we deserve, people like ourselves, people willing to promise us what want, people indifferent to whatever it might cost future generations and those who don’t even care enough to vote.

We must each make the effort to care about our neighbors. That includes taking the time to cast an informed vote. Please consider:

• What our government exists to do. Read the Declaration of Independence.
• How our government is supposed to work. Read The United States Constitution. Set aside some time in the future to read The Federalist Papers (or here at Project Gutenberg).
• Becoming informed about the candidates.  For information on the candidates, here is  a start. Check 2014 ELECTIONS.

Please cast an informed VOTE!