Capitol Spill

What’s Wrong with Washington? An Outsider’s Inside View

    Very early in the semester we were faced with the well-known reality of many individuals that come here with a driving ambition to ‘fix’ Washington D.C. To people around the country it appears as if there is something fundamentally broken or evil in this city and its halls of power. Clearly, the immediate conclusion is the following: we need a savior to deliver us from this evil. Sound familiar? It should if you know the story of the New Testament. The following constitutes a rationale of what I have learned of Washington’s flaws, with emphasis on subtle cognitive structures and the hidden myths therein. 

     It is inherent in human nature to hyperbolize: people we do not know, concepts we do not understand, musical masterpieces that overwhelm us, and places we've heard of, but have not yet visited. The same can be said about Washington, as people assign government and law mythical proportions with immeasurable powers. Out of these general notions weighed down by sheer ignorance comes the defining thought to many across the nation that we must get a particular person elected, at all cost. Some even go as far as to say that if this does not happen the consequences will be apocalyptic, with the entire fate of mankind hinging on our votes—not surprisingly, most such people would identify themselves with the Christian faith. Don’t get me wrong, it is right to support a candidate and you should vote, but how far is too far? Where do these ideas come from, how do they become so defining to these citizens, and what leads them to believe this complete antagonism between political parties? Many would say polarization and vitriolic rhetoric is the fundamental reason, but I would beg to differ, as they have got it backwards. The conflict-ridden atmosphere is in fact the result of what is happening around the country. My presence and interractions throughout D.C. have convinced me that Washington is indeed highly responsive to its voters and constitutes, a mirror of the electorate.

    Through all of the rhetoric and ideological prestidigitation one can find on Capitol Hill, I managed to identify a pattern very familiar to an Eastern European. The rise of ideologies in the 20th century revealed to the world what implications messianic thinking can have when secularized. Don’t get too excited, I am in no way going to succumb to a conspiracy theory on how the Antichrist is coming or going or returning, etc. In actuality I am trying to make a point by showing you how we blur the lines between religion and politics, resulting in a politicized religion—complete with its own saviors (for some it’s Glen Beck for others it is Pres. Obama) –a public realm that craves saviors. This becomes clear in any policy debate—one man has the answer (In recent budget debates it was Paul Ryan) but also on the ideational level the ‘silver-bullet’ oversimplification that we assign to all issues under the sun. Indeed, whether we like to admit it or not, the epistemological idea of what political scientists have called ‘immanentizing the eschaton’ is alive and well with us today, a token from an era dominated by ideological warfare. A highly revered Romanian Professor of Government at MDU writes: “Communism and Fascism, in their traditional incarnations, have failed. The same cannot be said about the psycho-ideational structures that made their rise possible.” (V. Tismaneanu On Anti-Americanism: The Resources And Persistence Of A Political Myth) It should be clear, if understood properly in its historical context, what the negative effects can be when succumbing to our own salvific temptations. The answer might lie in extensive politological analyses that I am not yet prepared to carry out, but I can say this: Engaging ‘the other’ will break down many myths assigned to the person otherwise vilified through media snippets.

     You might ask: What are you proposing, Robert? What is your silver-bullet, what should we advocate for now? In an attempt not to fall into this trap, I will conclude with thanking you for the intellectual effort in reading to the end, but also in quoting a greater thinker, Albert Einstein: “The World’s problems cannot be solved with the same mindset that has created them.”

-RB

External and Internal Advice

This past semester has literally been life-changing. I have received so much advice that my mind can barely contain all of it. The disparity between the amount of information I know now and the amount I knew before the semester began is astonishing. This can be attributed to both my internship and to those that have come and shared their stories and experiences at ASP. My faith in humanity is always boosted a little when I see someone willing to invest in others. Luckily we have been on the receiving side of that investment this semester.

My supervisor at _______ has required the interns to conduct career exploration talks with fellow staff members and other persons of interest. I am even allowed to leave work to have a meeting with someone externally. The advice that I have been given has been so practical and beneficial that I can only call it “life-changing.” I use the phrase, “life-changing,” in a more practical sense, rather than in an abstract sense. While I appreciate my fair share of theory and abstract concepts (such as the topics in Leadership and Vocation), when it comes to career, my general calling has already been determined. I really needed hard, practical advice, and I have received it. Through the various career explorations it has been affirmed that I will almost certainly need some kind of international experience. Those that I met with have really given me a better perspective into the development world. I also learned a wealth of information from the Share-Your-Mentor night and the various panels of experienced professionals. One common recommendation was to hold off on grad school until a clear passion or career preference showed itself. Many recommended some kind of program like the Peace Corps for international experience and personal exploration. The value of real work experience was also reinforced. The combination of these three gives me a basic road map for the future.

Holding Hands to Cross the Street

Do you remember holding hands to cross the street? You would have been around three or four years old and your mom or dad would stop you at the corner and say “Now we are going to hold hands crossing the road”. Why? I mean, it’s not like their holding your hand would have kept you safe if some car came whipping around the corner, it’s not that they were more afraid you’d trip and fall on the asphalt than on the sidewalk, so why? I asked a mom this and her response was that when they stopped and held hands it was a reinforcement of the idea that the street was a dangerous place and that it should not be attempted by her four year old son alone.

Always up for a good metaphor, I have been thinking about all the crosswalks in DC. The reason for crosswalks is that they are directions, directions on how not to get hit by cars, trucks, metro buses, or crazed bicycle riders with ties flapping in the wind. The little white man blinks reassuringly, ‘If you cross now, you won’t get smooshed like a frog on the I-90’. It is important to follow directions, especially when it involves physical peril from motor vehicles.

In highschool we are also encouraged to follow directions, get to school at this time, when a bell rings go to this class, the paper is to be this long, in that font, with those citations… Even in college, when we are beginning to see the bright and shining light of adulthood at the end of the tunnel of teenageism, we are still required to live in certain places, follow communal rules, go to class, and complete assignments to the specifications of the all knowing syllabus.