It seems entirely appropriate to hold the election right after Halloween. We are in the right frame of mind — we no longer know the difference between fact and fantasy, and the Dark Side has become all too familiar. Elections are about masks, handouts, illusions and enormous amounts of money.
In fact, as political campaigns move entirely to TV and social media, the only essential thing will be money. This will simplify the democratic process. The biggest fundraisers will buy the longest and most fantastic commercials and will win automatically. In a rational future, we might just get rid of the whole tiresome electoral process, and simply choose the candidate who has pocketed the most money by election date. Of course, those with the richest supporters would always win, but at least we would be spared their campaign speeches.
This may sound a tiny bit cynical, but an election is never an edifying spectacle. The sporting metaphor of two teams fighting it out seems to be fatally locked into our DNA. Eric Hoffer used the term “True believers” to describe the closed minds that are attracted to this kind of oppositional politics. He uses “true” not in the sense of correct but “true” in the sense of being emotionally faithful to an idea whether you have any evidence for it or not.
Presidential elections are emotional events, and that’s not good. Elections are supposed to be rational events based on thoughtful policies and sensible choices. Modern democracy was an invention of the Age of Reason in the eighteenth century. But today’s elections seem more like excuses to indulge our best and worst feelings.
Feelings are fine, within reason, but they should be reserved for situations where nothing important is at stake like sports or TV reality shows. Then everyone can scream and shout, and emote to their heart’s content, no damage done. But at election time, we need to lock our emotions in the closet and think. When people say, “This comes from the heart,” it usually means they haven’t thought about it much. The heart is just a pump – useful, as any cardiologist will tell you, but not a source of greater wisdom. If wisdom is anywhere, it is in the head, and we can use our heads to think about this!
No politician has time to think in the middle of a campaign. Their advisers and campaign managers are supposed to think for them. But they have no time either. The media are hysterical, jumping from one unreliable poll result to another — they can’t stop to think before the next deadline. Campaigns move at a manic pace, reactions must be instant, reflection is utterly impossible. The result is like one of those Roadrunner cartoons where Wiley E. Coyote pursues the Roadrunner in an eternal battle of need versus speed, aggravation versus acceleration. They never stop to discuss things.
Add to this the irrational loyalties, the trite slogans, and the torrent of lies from the social media, and you have the perfect prescription for an election choice that is about a thoughtful as a five-year old choosing ice cream with sprinkles over ice cream without.
If anyone at all is going to think at all tomorrow it must be the voters.
