“A politician divides mankind into two classes, tools and
enemies.” Friedrich Nietzsche
Rehearsal is ongoing, the stage is set and the actors are in
place, or more accurately, the politicians are in place. In place to perform
their hollow acts of political theatre to keep the fiction alive that they have
a clue as to what they are doing.
Theatre of the Absurd is exactly what it
sounds like, people performing on stage with no point, no plot and no logic.
Sounds a lot like what’s going on in Washington these days. We are not being
led by competent leaders but by corporate power with an insatiable appetite for
power and an unquenchable thirst for the chaos they bring about with their
apocalyptic visions. Absurd drama subverts logic, politicians defy it. There is
a sense of primeval anguish to the meaningless exchanges that have become
nothing more than a vehicle to legitimize their inaction and disguise their
incompetence.
Politics has been reduced to a mere sport for the celebrity
zombies rather than a forum for citizens that are engaged. The line between
propaganda and reason is blurred as the media produces and nurtures a culture
of stupidity with diversionary spectacles of entertainment sports, reality
television as we are mesmerized by the empty lure of celebrity. Political
amnesia works its way through our sycophantic culture and we find ourselves in
a celebrity induced stupor rather than focusing in on the dangers of policies
that rob us of any real political power.
Politics isn't something to think
about only during elections; it’s something to think about every day because it
affects our lives every day. Waiting for
Godot is an absurdest play that essentially tries to convince us that life is
meaningless and that things are determined by chance.
Throughout the play the
characters sit and wait in vain for someone who is not coming, it’s time to get
off the bench and let Washington know
the reviews are in, the waiting is over and that we need a new cast, one that
knows how to act.
