Plain English Please

I read a thought-provoking post the other day at Shooting from the Right and after writing a lengthy comment, I thought I would write my own post on the subject incorporating some of what I wrote. Don't worry...mine is not a politically slanted post... I don't think.

Due to a self imposed lack of information, many people judge, react and make assumptions based on what someone else says or writes. Whether the media reports all the facts, explains the intricacies of economics or international law and so forth does not matter. Most of us can’t absorb such complicated details much less truly understand them. I confess that I read a lot, stay informed and ask tons of questions and conduct extensive research on matters that interest me, and I “still” get so confused sometimes, especially when I listen to politicians on all sides start to use vague jargon and cliches. Can any of them ever “speak in plain English?” I guess not.

Politicians have studied more psychology than they have business, economics or foreign affairs. They know how to grab our attention by tapping into our emotions. Forget logic, concrete details and facts; that “stuff” is way too serious and complicated for busy Americans working 40-60 hours a week, running to soccer practice or rushing to get dinner ready. So as we withdraw from the “action” in hopes of allowing someone else to “take care of the matter,” we lose any power or control we may have been able to use in our own benefit. We freely and enthusiastically hand over our lives to "someone" else so that he or she may figure it all out and then decide what to do. This "someone" then supplies what he or she "thinks" we want in order to soothe us and quiet the masses.

Does this "someone" research the facts and evaluate them? Does he or she consult others or consider the consequences of every action that he or she takes? Does anyone really care about what happens five years from now, ten years from now or fifty years from now? Have we grown so busy or so apathetic that in the end the only thing that matters is right now, the immediate and the moment? Please don't misunderstand me, for I know I am generalizing and there are many of you who do not fit my description. You are not the one I worry about. For instance, I don't worry about one blogger in particular, Wolf K. at Accountability Corner, who has gone as far as to write and post his own solemn vow not to discuss politics "with anyone that has opinions only."

I welcome truth no matter how difficult or complex, regardless of which party it helps or destroys. In the end, if and when "The End" ever comes, I am not a Republican, Independent, Libertarian or a Democrat; I am a “United Statesman” a term I learned from my very dear friend and colleague Professor Lorenzo. --no attempt here at being sensitive to sexist language even though I am very much a woman.