Sick of Propaganda!
As you read these lines, the local elections will be over, but as I write them, they are five days away. If you still aren’t totally annoyed by the little flags, posters, pictures of weird candidates all around the place, you should wait for a few years for the general elections, where those may double! What I don’t like about politics is the phony side it has, and how it manipulates people, both the ruler and the ruled.
For politicans or candidates, the case is such that although they might have sincere intentions to serve the people, they're bound to change due to outside factors before they reach that 'chair'. No matter how idealistic he/she could be, he has to find himself in a stupid competition, which is based on not only providing the propaganda to the general public for your party, but more on the humiliation of the rivals. That I cannot understand. One should exhibit self-enhancement instead of worsening the opponent, for competition cannot be sensibly useful otherwise.
Also, acting not as an individual, but as a voice of a totally non-democratic whole, the party, should be very boring for these politicians who really aim to achieve something for the community. That requires manipulation not to be yourself, I suppose. If one can go along the road to leadership, whether that be regional or national, without being negatively affected by petty minded games, cheap propaganda, and the rigid party bureaucracy, let him be my guest.
From the public’s side, however, things seem much different. Examining the paradox between how much people are interested in and discuss politics (+), and how much they actually know something about it (-), one shouldn’t be surprised with the extremely explicit propaganda tactics we've witnessed in the last few weeks, 'cause they probably work. And this is how people are manipulated: show something a hundred times, and our sub-conscious will take it for granted. Myth becomes reality!
It’ll take weeks to clean what is left of the propaganda items from the streets; the noise coming from the speakers of the party buses, and huge crowds of fanaticism with minimal information. OK, I admit it, I am sick of the propaganda! I’ll take political theory, instead.

Efe Peker (POLS/IV)