The student body staged a walkout from class today in protest of the war on Iraq. I had a test so I didn't even consider it, but even if I didn't have the test, I don't know if I would have walked out. I mean, sure, I oppose the war on Iraq, but how does a bunch of students walking out of class at a single university accomplish anything. If the students think that their actions will actually change anything, they're being remarkably naive. The UT student government passed a resolution opposing the war, as did the Austin city council (I think)- yet Washington couldn't care less. I think both organizations were wasting their time; at their prospective levels, they are both powerless to stop the events that have been set into motion by a machine far beyond their control.

Political rant. I dunno, I guess I've kinda become disillusioned with politics and anything of that nature (including political activism). I just think that the people hold so much less power in our government than we'd like to think. "It's a democracy- a government for the people, by the people." "Every vote counts. You too can make a difference." What a crock... and anyways, it's a republic- I don't know why they throw around the term democracy so much. And can an elected official ever really say he's representing the views of his constituents, given our society's abyssmally low voter turnout rates? But I mean, I guess I can sympathize- like, I try to keep up with politics at the national level, but stuff like on the city/county (and sometimes even state) level doesn't command much of my attention. It just takes too much effort to keep up with the issues and to know each candidate's platform. And that's just the problem- people don't care enough, so they don't vote. The people who get elected are the ones with the money to motivate people to go to the polls. Money is power, people. And the people with the money are the ones who control the agenda, not the electorate. Politics suck.