The Tale of the Great Whatsit


Wine and Circuses...

I know I don't need to explain the metaphor. You all know about the fear our founding fathers had of their Republic going the way of Rome. They spoke and wrote often of wine and circuses that would distract the public from the misdeads of the government.

The TV get's the majority of the blame. Even Fred laments its siren song. Yet the TV is not what distracts us my friends. The distraction is the Election Cycle itself.

It doesn't matter who you vote for... Republican... Democrat... as long as you are participating, then you are reinforcing your belief in the system.

Let me explain it as easily as I can... Imagine...

You're angry at the Great Whatsit... now I'm not going to go into any detail about what the Whatsit is, or why you should be angry at it. It just is, and you just are. Standing in front of you are three great machines, each with a crank on it. Each machine has a sign next to it, explaining how turning it's crank will harm the Whatsit, the trouble is, you are only allowed to use one machine... Again... I am not going into how turning a crank on a machine is going to harm the Whatsit. The point is you have to decide.

So... being the intelligent, reasonable, and angry fellow that you are... you busy yourself studying the three machines and investigating their various claims. You invest great time and energy... because you are very angry at the Whatit, and you will make it pay! Stupid Whatsit...

What you don't know... What the Whatsit would never let you know... is there is actually only one machine, and the Whatsit built the damned thing. It only looks like three machines. The machine doesn't actually harm the Whatsit at all. In fact, the cranking of the cranks actually gives the Whatsit quite a buzz. So while you are scurrying about investigating cranks and levers, spending money on Crank Ads, and trying to convince your friend that one crank is far more effective than the others... The Whatsit is happily mocking you, robbing you blind, sleeping with your wife, and generally being an Ass. Which, now that I think of it, is why you are in fact mad at the Whatsit in the first place... so I guess I went into that after all...

Perception and Reality people. The Wine and Circuses were about distraction. They were about finding a way to make the public take its eye off the ball. When you go to the poll, and you pull that R lever... or the D lever... you are saying, "I believe in the system."

Now you folks going to pull the L lever or the C lever... you are perhaps the worst of all. You believe in the system more than anyone else. You aren't just pulling levers out of loyalty or habit. You've actually thought about it, and are making a choice. If die hard republicans are fools for thinking thier party is conservative, the only people more foolish than them, are you who think that your vote for a third party means anything to anyone but you.

As long as you're voting, the ruling class knows it has nothing to fear. Your vote, no matter who its for, is a vote of confidence in the System, and as long confidence in the system is there, the Bi-factional ruling class will be able to use that system to mock you, rob you blind, sleep with your wife, and generally be an ass.