Why Americans Hate Politics
By Keith Boykin, in politics
Monday, May 9 2005, 11:50AM
A few years ago, a well known author wrote a book called Why Americans Hate Politics. I don't think I agreed with everything he said, and I don't think either one of us really understood America's dislike for politics. These days I have a different perspective. Now I think I get it.
I don't think you can fully appreciate America's dislike for politics if you love politics yourself. That was the problem with the book I mentioned, and that has always been my problem as well. Although some really talented politicians like Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan have managed to tap into America's dislike of politics and use it to their own ends, most political animals have no idea why Americans don't get into politics.
I understand the allure of politics. I got involved when I was in high school. I worked on my first campaign in 1982. I worked for George Sheldon, a liberal Democratic candidate for Congress in Clearwater, Florida. Sheldon lost the election to Republican Michael Bilirakis, who went on to become an undistinguished second-rate member of Congress.
It took me a long time to understand that election. I was caught up in the cause of it all. I was an idealistic high school kid sitting on the back of a pickup truck riding through the congressional district speaking on a bullhorn. I was not your average 17-year-old.
The political bug stayed with me for years to come. I worked on a string of other unsuccessful campaigns from then on. In 1984, I volunteered for Walter Mondale's campaign for president. He lost. In 1986, I helped out on Julian Bond's congressional campaign in Atlanta. He lost. In 1988, I worked on Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign staff. He lost. And in 1989 I even worked for a license collector candidate in St. Louis, Missouri. She lost too.
My first successful campaign was Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential election. He won. I got a job in the White House. And I never went back to another campaign again.
In the years since I left the White House, I have stayed involved in politics. I ran a Washington-based advocacy group, I taught political science at a college in D.C., and I wrote about politics in my books and columns. I even went on a reality television show -- about politics. Politics has always been in my blood.
Then something happened last year that I didn't expect. I realized that I'm no longer interested in politics the way I used to be. The day after the presidential election last fall, I stopped watching the news, turned off the talking heads and stopped taping the Sunday morning shows.
I stayed informed from snippets here and there, but I stopped being engrossed in the day-to-day minutiae of politics. Who really cares about an amendment to House Resolution 3456 anyway? After 20 years of participation in the process, I discovered that the big issues were still important, but the daily details were not.
I found time to watch "American Idol" and "Desperate Housewives," my two new favorite TV shows. And I lost all interest in watching "Meet the Press" and "Face the Nation."
Now I have a much better understanding of why so many Americans don't like politics. It's not about George Bush or Bill Clinton or even about Watergate. It's about who we are as a people. And I'm not sure it's just about America.
I was watching a "True Hollywood Story" about Lucille Ball last night and there was one part of the show that reminded me how long this has been going on. The night when Lucille Ball gave birth to Little Ricky on the "I Love Lucy" Show was the highest rated show on television for a decade to come. More people watched that episode of "Lucy" than watched President Eisenhower's inauguration the next day. So even back in the 1950s, Americans still preferred entertainment over politics.
It's no surprise that 30 million Americans watch "American Idol" every week and are genuinely excited about voting for their favorite contestant but presidential elections take place only once every four years and we go into the polls with a sense of numb resignation to the inevitable disappointment.
Celebrities disappoint us and we read about them in the tabloids for all the juicy gossip. Politicians disappoint us and we lose faith in the political system. But we never lose faith in the culture of celebrity. We don't expect much more from them than to be entertained. And maybe that's part of the problem with politicians. They promise us so much more than they can ever deliver, and leave us with so many more reasons to check out.
Much of this misinformation we are fed is served to us on a platter from an all too solicitous and increasingly profit-motivated media that rarely bother to challenge our minds or introduce us to new ideas outside the hackneyed "he said/she said" formula that masquerades as journalism these days. When CNN dispatches three correspondents to tell me every hour about a suburban white woman who runs away from her wedding in Georgia, there is precious little airtime left to investigate the black man in Atlanta who may have been wrongly convicted of murder. When the "reality" shown on the television news bears so little resemblance to my reality at home, there is no reason to pay attention any more.
I used to wonder how anyone could go a month, a week or a day without reading the paper. Now I wonder how anyone can last that long while reading it? The politicians and the media don't talk about much that's real to our lives. What George W. Bush does in Russia this week could no doubt have a lasting impact on my life, but George Bush will never listen to me anyway. With Whitney and Mariah and Michael, I give them my vote of confidence or no confidence when I purchase their albums or play their music. They help me make it through the day.
George Bush, on the other hand, plays no role in my day. I tune him out as soon as I hear his voice. I turn the channel when I see his face. I expect that he will go on stealing from the poor to give to the wealthy, or whatever it is he purports to be doing with himself as president.
And so the cycle continues. The politicians keep on talking. The media keep on repeating. And the people keep on ignoring them. When politics is no longer just a game, an abstraction, a practiced dialogue between two repetitive and irrelevant forces, then maybe Americans might be more interested. In the meantime, we will continue on performing our civic duty -- pulling the lever as we hold our noses.
Comments conceal
Bernie
May 9 2005, 1:28PM
I would almost agree with you wholeheartedly, were it not for the fact that the politicians in power (and the unelected power brokers behind them) have a vested interest in keeping people disinterested. While America tunes out, they continue to pass laws, laws that will impact us detrimentally and them beneficially.
We can all sit back, shrug our shoulders and hold our noses at the pathetic state of "the system." But unless we're willing to do something about it, things will NEVER change.
Doing nothing is not a viable option.
Andre
May 9 2005, 2:27PM
Thanks for the insigthful article Keith. Americans are disenchanted and disheartened by the current political process/climate. Oftentimes, politics seem like a relentless foe designed to keep the downtrodden oppressed and the upwardly mobile progressing. Is it any wonder we turn to entertainers/celebrities for escapism?
I suggest a major overhaul of the U.S. political process--just kidding. That's easier said that done.
Jacqueline
May 9 2005, 5:50PM
What can awaken the sleeping giant that is America from it's disenchantment with the political process? Maybe Meet the Press should come on 5 days a week instead of All My Children and The Young and The Restless. I don't know, but something has to give.
Can you name the Congressmen/women from your state?
Jazzi
May 9 2005, 6:40PM
I thought there was something wrong with me (well, actually there is but...). I guess I'm not the only one who just can't get into politics. I used to beat myself up over not reading the news papers or watching the nightly news. I feel it is important to know what's going on in the world around you but I just can't stay interested. But this mentality plays against us. While we're looking the other way, the politicians are pushing all kinds of shit through congress & inot law. Then we look up & say " Where'd that come from? Who'd they do that?"
Jazzi
May 9 2005, 6:47PM
The last part of my statement was "into law" & "How'd they do that".
Kenneth
May 9 2005, 7:43PM
True enough, politics today is nothing like it used to be. An associate of mine started to rant and rave about how people from my generation lacked the understanding of government that his generation did. I'm 33, he's 48--whatever...then we thought of the 70-year old gay friend of ours that only watches nothing but TCM's old black and white movies. You don’t have to be young to be apathetic or uninterested! I agree that it has as much to do with the generation of citizens as it does with the generation of politicians (who are mostly over 33 and closer to 47 or 70).
He asked me why the networks broke to a show about Paris Hilton in the middle of the President’s last State of the Union Address. I responded "At least some people find Paris Hilton interesting..."
He felt an obligation throughout his life to remain informed, as do I. I do still read the paper everyday and then I watch CNN while cooking breakfast. I am just as disappointed in what I read, but a part of me feels like I should be aware of each yank and pull at the threads of the fabric of our freedom (if we ever really even had it at all). For example, I quit smoking recently; PARTLY because I had “read” that I would no longer be allowed to take my lighter on the plane. I thought about how difficult it was to get in and out of a non-smoking airport for a smoke as it was. Extra time looking for a light or fiddling with matches just made it all so not-worth-while. That made the reading the paper quite worthwhile, right?
A lot of people I know have lost interest in the world of politics since Bush's re-election. Even though I think he cheated this time too, I still watch him to see if this man, that holds what could arguably be the most powerful political position in the world, will ever learn to speak proper (American) English, develop AND OWN a coherent stream of consciousness, and/or learn to tame his ego just a little bit in the name of showing some diplomacy and compassion. By the way, for those of you who quit watching, he hasn't—he makes me want a cigarette.
On the other hand, it is fun as Hell to catch the occasional mention of his poor reputation globally. I would have paid for a plane ticket to fly and watch him, in-person, be pelted with eggs on one of his early trips, for example. Those Europeans can really go at it on him sometimes, Hallelujah! Parliament, for instance, had been very interesting here lately as they bake Tony Blair like a pig at a luau for siding with Bush on Iraq--but actually, Parliament is ALWAYS interesting even when there's nothing really going on...here, here!
Nevertheless, I can see the pointlessness of following every white tip in the waves of politics these days. Conservatives lie like rugs, use blunt logic (see Argumentum ad ignorantiam, Argumentum ad nauseam, and Argumentum ad numerum) and beat Democrats over the head with twisted and distorted statistics about the state of the nation during Clinton administration.
Plenty of Democrats are lawyers and most have had way more Latin than I, they should know better! Point being, what the Republicans do is neither unnamed, nor insurmountable.
The Democrats break my heart WAY more than the Republicans or George Bush. I've always known that Republicans were the rich (and/or crazy) that wanted to keep it that way, but I never knew that Democrats could be so cowardly, weak, and unable to present a clear plan of their own. The Democrats seemed to have learned this dysfunctional and reactionary "modus operandi" from the Whitewater and the Lewinsky affairs. Democrats don’t make statements anymore; they now only seem to simply “respond.” They don’t create and propagate their own vision. How can I vote for something that looks like it is being seen from the backside of a waterfall?
If the Democrats had something worthy to say back to Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reiley, I'd watch more too. Sadly, these days, it's like watching a poodle fight a bulldog—and all the blood and guts that follow. Republicans eat them up every time with just simple-ass vocabulary like "life," "security," and "values." Then Democrats desperately wiggle and squirm as if they’ve been scolded by a stern parent. Democrats need to find away to tell America what THEIR lives mean, what makes them secure, and what values they have. The arguments over what "life," "security, and "values" really have become so stagnant, they are deservedly ignored for Paris Hilton, American Idol, and Desperate Housewives.
I'll keep reading the paper and watching the news and I'll let y'all know if anything interesting happens…
…and that’s why I don’t like politics anymore either.
Mark Smith
May 9 2005, 8:12PM
Keith,
Yet another amazing story that caught my attention. I agree to a certain extent. I fell I need to be slightly informed of my future at times but I do not indulge in the political lifestyle(as if their is one)so to speak.
Guess Who??
May 9 2005, 10:55PM
Keith, welcome to your next level of understanding new concepts of life!
cmoney
May 9 2005, 11:30PM
Today was such a beautiful day Washington that I walked during my lunch hour past the White House and realized that I had not even been to the place since the coronation in 2001. Normally I would have been by there at least once a month. Now, I almost unconciously avoid it....the same way I turn the channel everytime Bush appears on the screen. Why do people hate politics? Because one can only take so many lies. The people who like politics are either telling lies or don't care that they are being lied to. By the way, doing nothing is a viable option. If nobody financed or voted for these fools, they would disappear and get real jobs.
jaymillionaire
May 10 2005, 4:16AM
Keith,
That was perhaps your best work on this site. I agree with you when I say "I don't give a shit".
FRE
May 10 2005, 12:13PM
Keith,
I can understand why many people don't like politics and are fed up with it. However, our quality of life and many other important matters are determined to a large extent by politics. Therefore, we must be politically aware, at least to a reasonable degree, and work to influence what happens.
I'm sure that you are aware of this and much of the work you are doing is likely to improve life for all of us.
Jason Schirle
May 11 2005, 5:14AM
Keith,
You couldn't have made your point more succinctly. Although I seemed to have developed a modicum of civic responsibility as an adult (albeit begrudgingly at the best of times) I still hold fast to my childhood opinion that politics are boring. I stood up and took pride in my part of the American political process when Clinton ran and was elected. Despite his failures I still believe he did more good than bad (though I too lost faith after 'Don't Ask-Don't Tell'). Now politics and the news in general are so frighteningly fantastic and absurd that I'd drive myself insane if I consciously followed either on a daily basis. I stay informed but I keep my distance. I'd rather live my life infused with enthusiasm over a new STAR WARS movie than be habitually depressed with anxiety over the state of the union.
alicia
May 11 2005, 2:24PM
ditto!!!
great column keith
i have been on a mission to see/hear no more than 15 seconds of king shrub's face/voice since he stole his first election...
president select shrub and his nationwide jim crow voting antics were the nails in the coffin of my eternally nominal mainstream political passions...
see more at my site on "politricks in this wicked shi*tsym"
ie:
my last election
rainbow hypocrisies
reflections a pope and a dope etc
peace
ab
www.geocities.com/ambwww/index.html
Terrence
May 14 2005, 4:46AM
I've been asleep for too long. We had Clinton and I was content. Bush came and I was disappointed. But then I buried myself in the moment -- a moment of clubbing, Showtime, studying, stressing over a rumor of my employer's impending sale, and figuring we all just had to ride out this term and wait for a better President to win the next election, meanwhile just dealing with our own individual dramas. Afterall, Bush couldn't possibly win a second term, it wasn't in the cards and it wasn't in our minds. But stuff happens. I woke up because I heard Bush had won again and my best friend was in tears. The unexpected had happened and it was like watching The Omen III.
I understand what you mean, exactly. It is way more fun to see what's happening on "24" this week than to follow along with every debate and issue that's being discussed or passed under our noses. I feel like I know what is right and what is wrong and I've just been coasting through my dream that what is right will prevail. But it doesn't seem to be turning out that way.
For some it's easy to fall into that trap. Fortunately not everyone does, *unfortunately* too many did. Part way into your article I was thinking "oh God, Keith Boykin is giving up?" but then I realized your point, and that I was not alone in that opinion. America is on break, watching the latest reality show.
Michael
May 15 2005, 6:58PM
I couldn't agree more with this column. I don't have much more to say but I appreciate reading your changing perspective on the issue.
Cheers,
Mike
Azaan
May 16 2005, 7:35PM
Interesting article and I couldn't agree more. It's shocking, but not surprising, that more young people tune in to vote for American Idol than the presidential election. On that I believe that one, American Idol celebrates its stupidity and irreverence, makes no pretense for being about anything whatsoever, and it is this honesty that I believe people like. With the last election, well, if it wasn't the lies of Bush it was the "I mean this but not really but sort of but no really" sh*t of Kerry, both all the while telling you that this election is the most important when really its not an election at all because, ding ding, they're both a part of the same establishment. (Aren't they both part of the same fraternity as well?)
I think another reason why politics is not of interests to many Americans is because they're discouraged either implicitly by the media or explicitly by their representatives to not care. There's a lack of true dibate, true discourse, a lack of TRUTH about what really matters to people and affects their lives (such as our healthcare system, our schools, our standard of living, our environment, etc.)...such a lack that I completely understand how people become apathetic. But I'd go further...
I believe "the establishment" (i.e. the white male capitalist patriarchy) prefers people's apathy because they are easier to control and exploit. This is why, really, so much more energy goes into our "entertainment" than does the things we need. When people turn off the entertainment and "infotainment" (that sh*t called "news" in America) , start looking at the real world they live in (the one not on television nor stated in the propaganda from the t.v.), start talking to each other in their communities then we'll have some real progress...