Americans Won't Hear Truth from Politicians

Published in Rzeczpospolita
(Poland) on 8 October 2008
by Piotr Gillert (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Agnieszka. Edited by Bridgette Blight.
The second presidential debate in the United States was an exciting opinion exchange that laid American democracy's weakness bare. Politicians are unable to directly tell people the sad truth. America is falling into a state of depression. Meanwhile, the candidates are acting in a way as if nothing significant was taking place. Even John McCain, who is almost surely heading towards defeat in these elections and for whom it was one of the last chances to change the unfavorable course of action, did not say anything that could surpass the “safe standard.”

In this situation one would want any of the candidates to step out to the center of the arena and announce in front of the cameras, “People, times have changed and it is going to hurt but we all have to curb our wasteful lifestyles.”

One must not be blame Wall Street for the whole financial chaos if a statistical American family has a debt of $8,000 on a credit card or if six million families in the USA have mortgages they cannot afford.

People must not complain about oil companies and tear their hair because of petrol prices if they keep driving cars with a five-liter capacity everyday.

One must not show dissatisfaction with outsourcing to China and demand cheap products in the supermarkets at the same time.

Americans have forgotten that easy access to house with a garden, cheap petrol and high-limit credit cards are not within the basic human needs embraced in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But no politician has the courage to convulse Americans and say "Enough!"

“I am confident about the American economy,” Barack Obama, the biggest visionary of the contemporary American democracy and probably the next president, said. He surely knows that if he said the truth, the voters would have felt offended.


Amerykanie nie us?yszeli od kandydatów prawdy
Piotr Gillert 08-10-2008, ostatnia aktualizacja 08-10-2008 20:42
Druga debata prezydencka w Stanach Zjednoczonych by?a pasjonuj?c? wymian? zda?, która obna?y?a fundamentaln? s?abo?? ameryka?skiej demokracji: ca?kowit? niezdolno?? polityków do mówienia ludziom trudnej prawdy prosto w oczy.

Kraj stoi w obliczu depresji, Ameryka ze?lizguje si? w bylejako??, a tymczasem obaj kandydaci zachowuj? si? tak, jakby nic wielkiego si? nie dzia?o. Nawet John McCain, który coraz pewniej zmierza ku pora?ce w tych wyborach i dla którego by?a to jedna z ostatnich szans na odwrócenie niekorzystnego biegu wydarze?, nie powiedzia? niczego, co wykracza?oby poza bezpieczny standard.

W takiej chwili chcia?oby si?, by który? z kandydatów wyszed? na ?rodek sali i powiedzia? do kamery: Ludzie, czasy si? zmieni?y, to b?dzie troch? bola?o, ale wszyscy musimy zmieni? swój rozrzutny tryb ?ycia.

Nie mo?na ca?ej winy za obecny finansowy galimatias zrzuca? na Wall Street, gdy si? samemu ma ponad 8 tysi?cy dolarów d?ugu na karcie kredytowej (jak przeci?tna rodzina w USA) lub gdy wzi??o si? kredyt hipoteczny ponad swoje realne mo?liwo?ci finansowe (jak 6 milionów rodzin w USA).

Nie mo?na wygra?a? koncernom naftowym i rwa? w?osów z powodu cen benzyny, gdy si? co rano je?dzi do pracy autem z pi?ciolitrowym silnikiem. Nie mo?na jednocze?nie narzeka? na odp?yw stanowisk pracy do Chin i domaga? si? tanich produktów w supermarketach.

Amerykanie zapomnieli, ?e ?atwy dost?p do domu z ogródkiem, tania benzyna i karta kredytowa z wysokim limitem nie nale?? do podstawowych ludzkich potrzeb obj?tych Powszechn? deklaracj? praw cz?owieka. Ale ?aden polityk nie ma odwagi potrz?sn?? nimi i powiedzie? "stop".

Prowadz?cy debat? Tom Brokaw znakomicie wywi?za? si? z zadania, próbuj?c wyci?gn?? od obu kandydatów w?a?nie taki szczery apel o zdrowy rozs?dek. – Wierz? w si?? ameryka?skiej gospodarki – tyle do powiedzenia mia? Barack Obama, najwi?kszy wizjoner wspó?czesnej demokracji ameryka?skiej i prawdopodobnie nast?pny prezydent.

Zapewne wie, ?e gdyby powiedzia? prawd?, wyborcy by si? na niego obrazili.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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