Why Politics Suck

The following is an essay written in 2004 by Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther who was convicted in 1982 of the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.  He was sentenced to death, and sat on Death Row for 26 years, until a new capital sentencing hearing was called, which eventually resulted in his death sentence being changed to life imprisonment without parole in 2012.   He has written six books during his incarceration.

WHY POLITICS SUCK 

By Mumia Abu-Jamal

When I think of politics, I think of a politician -- an odd one, I'll admit -- and not even an American.  I think of Charles De Gaulle -- the tall, big-nosed French general who became the first president of France's Fifth Republic. Why him? Well, in truth, he barely nudges out the great political scientist, Machiavelli; but both gave us deep insights into the world of politics.

De Gaulle though, gave what seems like the best definition of a politician when he said: "In order to become the master, the politician poses as a servant." (He also wrote in a letter, the great line: "Politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians").

In those two, brief lines, De Gaulle provides both the problem and the solution; the problems are the politicians; the solution -- not the politicians.

I think, for millions of folks, there's the very deep feeling, maybe even the knowledge, that politicians will say virtually anything to get elected, and, once in, proceed to betray those who voted for them. I'm convinced that it is precisely that inner knowledge -- that gut knowledge -- that keeps millions -- perhaps 50+ million Americans -- from voting at all. They know better.

They know that politicians are the tools of the wealthy -- and that they spit on the poor and impoverished.

Remember those so-called 'debates?' (OK -- I use the term loosely). But wasn't it interesting that the poor, or working people, were never mentioned? How their concerns didn't even merit a mere moment during a 2-hour debate?  That's because they are invisible to the rich guys who run, or are run in, the political system. It really doesn't matter if we discuss Republicans or Democrats. It's the same.

Do you know how many folks contribute to election campaigns?Just 4%. 4%! Most political dough comes from corporate coffers. So, who do you think they serve? That's where the $4 billion bucks came from to pay for the U.S. presidential campaign in 2004. 

So -- the political system sucks. But, guess what? It was designed to suck (at least for people like us).

The rich men who wrote the Constitution hated and feared the common people, whom they called 'the Mob'; and, not surprisingly, the common folks hated them back. Consider the words of New Jersey's Governor, who, in 1765, lamented: "The Mob had set down no less than fifteen Houses... the houses of some of the most responsible persons in the Government. It has now become a War of Plunder, of general leveling and taking away the Distinction of Rich and poor" [From Jerry Fresia's Toward an American Revolution: Exposing the Constitution & Other Illusions (Boston: South End Press, 1988), at p. 28]. 

And this wasn't simply New Jersey -- such attacks took place in Boston, in Pennsylvania, in New Hampshire and beyond. They hated the rich snobs who lorded over them then -- and I'd guess it's not very different now -- it's just far less visible. We now see a government dedicated to the proposition that all rich folks matter -- and no one else. The recent election crystallized that truth.

Politics sucks today because it is, for most folks, a burden -- and a lie. It promises, every few years, to change things for the better, yet the only 'change' one gets, if from bad to worse. Thus, millions of people no longer play the game.

It sucks because people learn, even when they participate, that it's not a fair game. Votes are 'lost'; votes are stolen; voters are intimidated, and the politicians are bought and sold like stocks on Wall Street.

It sucks because people feel trapped, and want to be free.

© copyright 2004 by Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Support Mumia Abu-Jamal: http://www.millions4mumia.org/