Election Post-Mortems
The lowest turnout in 50 years in this last election is shameful. While we extol the virtues of democracy to other nations, we hereby dishonor it at home.
Who or what is to blame? Can it be that television has made us apathetic? Maybe it’s our rising illiteracy rate. Surely, the lengthy and obscenely expensive political campaigns must contribute to the blame.
Perhaps our leadership, involved in the “sleaze” factor, promising a balanced budget and then running up the biggest deficts in history, has made cynics of us. Perhaps the waste and corruption in our defense industry, or the flagrant manipulation on Wall Street has turned us off.
Whatever the reasons, without a reversal in our attitudes, without a greater participation in the electoral process, we are headed down the road to dictatorship.
LEONARD ZERALDO
Canoga Park
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