Coach potato culture impedes democracy

Tuesday, April 2, 1996

Voters need to focus on political issues, not sensationalism

The other day, I was strolling down Bruin Walk when I saw a huge
crowd of people gathered around a man in a bow tie. He yelled that
75 percent of college students would rather argue about Sydney’s
future on "Melrose Place" than debate any issue in politics. He
claimed that 75 percent of all college students care more about the
words of Newt Gingrich’s mom than they do about the political
ideologies of Newt Gingrich. He also argued that 75 percent of all
college students payed more attention to the inclusion of Rodham
into Hillary Clinton’s name than they did to Israel’s peace accord
with Jordan.

While the man sounded more like a blithering idiot than a
coherent human being, I actually thought about his message: The
average person is apathetic, uninformed and uncaring about the
world around him. This man made me realize that the devolution of
the electoral process into an annoying arena of mudslinging,
superficial rhetoric and dumb slogans is not totally the fault of
the politicians. Rather, it has a lot to do with their lazy,
indifferent constituency.

In order to win an election, a politician must prove that he can
best serve the needs of his community in an honest and just manner.
Unfortunately, the American public cares more about a convicted
rapist’s return to boxing’s heavyweight throne, than it does about
most issues in politics. Therefore, if a politician cannot garner
votes by virtue of his stance on issues, he must gain votes by
childishly belittling his opponents.

Our generation is oriented around television, news flashes and
sound bites. The average individual has an attention span the
length of a Menthos commercial, and therefore has difficulty
focusing on a single issue or problem for an extended period of
time.

News clips last approximately 20-30 seconds. When a newscaster
attempts to explain a complex issue, such as the civil war in
Bosnia, reporters focus on the blood and carnage instead of the
actual conflicts behind the war. Rather than seek to explain a
complicated issue, such as the tensions between China and Taiwan,
the news caters to the American public’s lust for sensationalized
garbage.

I was appalled that O.J. Simpson’s aerobic aptitudes captivated
the world more than Israel’s peace with Jordan. Even in the "trial
of the century," people formulated their opinions based on the
speculation of TV "experts," rather than on the actual testimony of
well-established witnesses.

It is certainly not surprising that no one will watch a show
which tries to explore an issue in depth. People lose interest
after the first few seconds, when they realize that the issue
cannot be reduced to a simple sound bite.

Politics has become a carbon copy of America’s trashy TV shows.
When one turns on the television, it is difficult to distinguish a
Senate hearing from a "Days of Our Lives" rerun. Part of the reason
for this degeneration is that politicians know the voters’
insatiable appetite for real-life soap operas, not lively political
debate.

Rather than a comprehensive discussion over solutions to
Medicare, Social Security or the Israel-PLO situation, people
prefer to hear about Bill Clinton’s glorified sexual conquests with
Jennifer Geranium, or whatever her name was. People do not realize
that Clinton’s inhalation proclivities have no bearing on his
ability to govern our nation. It is merely coincidental that
Clinton governs as well as he inhales, but I digress.

If the American public had the good sense to educate itself
about current events and play an active role in our dynamic
democracy, then politics would regain respect. Basic laws of supply
and demand dictate that if there is no demand for mudslinging, then
there shall be no supply. An uninformed public is an indirect
demand.

Of course, politicians are responsible for some of the
degeneration of politics. Pat Buchanan espouses racist ideology and
is an incompetent leader. Regardless of whether or not Buchanan is
selling himself to a herd of sheep or to a Mensa convention, he
possesses certain ineffable flaws which forbid him from appealing
to most majorities. Since it is naive to assume that racism,
homophobia and xenophobia will ever totally disappear, politicians
such as Buchanan will exist with or without a well-informed public.
However, logic says that the more one knows about Buchanan, the
more one despises him.

Granted, not all citizens are the glorified couch surfers whom I
here criticize. America does have its share of politically aware
citizens; however, these elite comprise a fairly small percentage
of the voting population. Sadly, elections are usually decided on
which candidate better appeals to the lowest common
denominator.

What do I advocate to solve this serious problem? Am I inspiring
you, my fellow Bruins, to "Rock the Vote?" No, because voting in
itself is not enough. Any uneducated, apathetic individual can drag
himself off the couch and into a voting booth long enough to check
a random box. I am advocating that people take the time to educate
themselves on the vital issues of our time. Political involvement
is the lifeblood of American democracy. Anything less than total
commitment by the American public threatens the very foundation
upon which our great nation is built.

A childhood spent infatuated by the songs of a pathetic purple
dinosaur, or obsessed by the mind-numbing antics of the "Mighty
Stupid Power Rangers," does not inspire political activism in later
years. It inspires a couch-ridden adulthood. A sub-40 percent voter
turnout in California’s primary proves this theory. The only way to
reverse the vicious cycle is for citizens to realize that they are
more responsible for the decay of politics than are our
politicians. Upon this realization, education and activism are the
only solutions.

White is a first-year political science/French student. His
column appears on alternate Tuesdays.