With just over a year until the election of the 44th person who will preside over the affairs of the U.S. governmment, we have entered again the silly season of American politics. Although I pay as little attention to this circus as possible, at times it can be hard to ignore. Yet it is eminently worth ignoring, despite all the forces and voices that hector me from all sides. First, my vote (if I even cast one) has no bearing on the outcome. Second, democracy in America is actually an oligarchy, as all elective democracies are (there's a good reason why the ancient Greeks favored sortition over election as a method for choosing those who would exercise power). Third, the purpose of our modern two-party state is for the elites to divide and conquer the people through a particularly insidious application of in-group/out-group psychology. Fourth, just about everything in life - friends, family, work, community, science, technology, the arts, the environment, ideas, values, the conduct of life - is more important than mere politics, and it's always best to focus on what is more important at the expense of what is less important.
Some would say I am apolitical. No, I am actively anti-political. I have come to the conclusion that electoral politics is, by its very nature, a deeply corrupting influence on the soul of the individual and the course of society. Even though as one small voice there is very little I can do to counter that influence, the fact that I am effectively powerless will not stop me from expressing my utter disdain for the oligarchy that rules us and the political methods they wield to divide the people and cling to power.