Pen-Elayne on the Web

Pulled Both Ways

Look, I'm tired of pundits, even the ones who write well and sensibly, saying over and over that "Most people, even most liberals, are complacent. They don't realize how dire the fiscal outlook really is... when will the public wake up?" on the one hand, and on the other hand reading how one blogger after another is going on hiatus or talking about burnout from trying to fight the good fight. There's a difference between ignorance-complacency and powerlessness-frustration-exhaustion. I think the majority of thinking Americans - and by golly there are a lot more of us than we give ourselves credit for! - are "guilty" far more of the latter than the former. We're not dumb, we're not dismissive, we're just up against a lot of government power that's rewarding the rich and punishing us and at this point it's all many people can do just to stay afloat. The last thing we need is to beat up on ourselves over our inability to exert greater influence over a rigged game. The power players are beating up on us enough as it is, okay? I mean, I'm just saying.