Chum n. Ground meat used to lure fish or other large animals.
Once one is finally safe on top a crocodile, one does not think easily of dismounting. One can move from being a rider to being mere chum in the blink of an eye.
I’m sure many of the candidates hate the mockery of electoral politics as much as we. Many of them probably wince when they see the attack ads going out in their name. But the candidates also know that to survive they must not appear weak. They also know that many voters will punish them for telling the truth, but few voters will punish them for flattery.
It’s a sad day when we have to wonder whether every gesture a candidate makes was crafted in a brainstorming session and is meant to send a message to a certain voting group. As long as we the American public vote for whoever has the best commercials, we will remain in this maze of sparklers and smoke.
I could be mistaken, but I would guess that most reporters would love to be better journalists, but they are seen as competent as long as they serve the interests of the elite, and are denied access to power when they ask the wrong questions.
I would even suspect that most CEO’s would love for corporations to do the right thing, if they themselves would not be fired for failing to make as much money as humanly possible for their shareholders.
In this capitalist juggernaut we call a nation, it is a simple business decision most of us make to play the dog eat dog game, hoping someday to get our soul back when we are high enough up the totem pole to make a difference. Of course, by that time, our souls are nowhere to be found. The sad truth is, most whites would love to step out of racism, most men would love to step out of sexism, most business people would love to value people over property, but nobody wants to be the first to step off a crocodile.