Was the "Who" song was right when it said, "Wont get fooled again."
I think they were right. I think that every societal sized tragedy/mishap/perversion causes us to collectively learn how to prevent the next one from happening. Well at least we lessen the effects of any re occurrence...
I had a thought recently (like a half a year ago) that society as a whole develops immunities to big mistakes like religious quackery and governmental blundering and plundering. During the 2008 primary and general races, some fellow Democrats were expressing their worries to me about how they weren't sure our side was going to win the big seat this year. I was convinced that as we get collectively fooled by politicians, and they do something that causes us any collective pain, our social collective soul deals with it metaphorically like the single human body deals with the infiltration of a virus. We feel bad and we get active about doing a bunch of things we don't normally do in order to get healthy again. Will we be fooled again by some new virus like political perversion on humanity? I believe so. Will we ever again believe that a single person is ordained by God to rule over man? I don't think so. Will we be tricked in the near future into allowing a military budget for stockpiling nuclear weapons? I don't think so. What then is our social penicillin? I believe it is curiosity, and a sense of ownership. That is what was missing in the recent past. Not only did our majority not care much about government, but we felt completely disconnected from it. That claim is not a big stretch. In general we don't even understand the simple system of the electoral college. Only about 20% of the registered voters (way less than potential voters) ever show up to a general election let alone a primary or a local election. The curiosity to show up to your Town meetings and listen to what is being said, asking questions and talking to friends and family is enough to keep most of the improprieties out of government. It's a pretty good bet that this year you got involved; please commit yourself to staying involved.