Same old game?

Well, well, well ... who would have thought that the Americans would have pulled it off? I would, and did. So we've got another six months of breathing space till the gyrations begin again. If there ever was a demonstration of the "game", this was it.

Though the US will now pay its bills and borrow more money, nothing has been resolved. The spin machines are operating at full power; everybody's responsible for saving the country, if not the world; the others were responsible for such reckless behavior; not a single thing has changed. There was nothing learned (other than maybe the other guy just might not cave when you expect); and there's always another day. In this case, it's a few months, but what difference does that make in the scheme of political things?

What the shutdown and standoff made crystal clear, though, is that whatever they are doing in Washington, it has nothing to do with what any of us might want or what might be of benefit to any of us little people. This isn't a simple matter of Washington being out of touch, it is about the fundamental principle of modern government: it's about those who govern, not those who are governed, and governing has lost its meaning of service to the general population, it is only about power. The Tea Party will continue to try to stop the Affordable Care Act, the Republicans will look for more hostages for the next round, and the Democrats will strut and gloat for a while and then realize that they, too, have to get ready for the next round. It starts in the spring.

On this side of the Atlantic, the expected has become news as well. The Greens and the CDU/CSU admitted they don't have enough in common to form a government, but, just as expectedly, maybe they could find enough should the SPD not manage to get together with Merkel & Co. The front door was closed, the back door unlocked; and you let the other guys step forward to take the hit for success or failure. We all know it's more the latter than the former. Though the polls indicated that the German people wanted a Grand Coalition, it's becoming increasingly clear that nothing will happen, no problems will be resolved and the ruling parties will spend the next four years fighting over who is really ruling, and nothing further will be resolved.

It is time to simply recognize and openly admit that they are going to do their thing, no matter what the rest of us want, and each is going to continue looking out for their own interests not ours. We're all faced with the same problems: crumbling infrastructure, an unbearable debt burden, upward pressure on unemployment, decaying and increasingly obsolete and inappropriate educational systems, aging populations, impending environmental disaster, decreasing standards of living, and as good as no future for our children, but what are TPTB in Germany and the US doing? Fundamentally the same thing: arguing amongst themselves as to who has the most say in doing what they want, not what the people might want, or even what might actually need to be done.

I would say the disconnect between the governing and the governed is pretty much complete. In all that's going on, what I miss more than anything else is even a hint that it's about the pursuit of the general welfare on the basis of anything even slightly resembling democratic processes.

But, it does look very much like the old adage is true: people get the governments they deserve.