If you have ever listened to someone speak and known that they are speaking solely because they enjoy forcing people to listen to them, then you have some idea as to the state of political rhetoric today.
In Western democracies, there is a tradition of debate where politicians will make speeches and counter-speeches on a particular topic.
The point of these exchanges is to hold the government accountable and to ensure that the best possible policies are being enacted.
What happens instead is nothing short of a tragic display of showmanship for an audience of one’s peers that has little if any effect on policy.
Political debates have devolved into each side digging in, oftentimes yelling at each other, and proclaiming loud, grandiose statements that are ignored by their counterparts and cheered by their peers.
This self-serving display of bravado and bombastic bluster does little beyond raising one’s stature amongst their likeminded peers.
And no one else really cares.
There are raging, marathon debates that ensue in which hours of back-and-forth are recorded for the official record – which no one except the most hardcore politicos will ever read – before finally coming to a conclusion that was predetermined before the debate because no one actually changed their minds.
In an era of party discipline and whipped votes (in other words, a politician is told by their party leadership how to vote on certain issues), debate has become meaningless and has deteriorated into a peacock-like display of posturing and rhetorical oration.
This is not to say that politicians do not work hard – they absolutely do, and they, for the most part, do it because they love their country and want to do what is best for it.
The problem is that the whole point of debate is that it is supposed to inform decision-making when in actual fact decisions are made in a closed room long before public debate ever begins.
Politicians spend hours upon hours speaking from their soapboxes, and yet it would appear that no one is listening.
Debate is integral to the function of our democracy, and as long as it is broken, our democracy will suffer.
In my next post, I will talk about how meaningful debate could look.