Politics is theater, is drama

I've long said that politics is theater, especially US politics, and it's the only rational way to look at it. It's all show. Of course, there are real-world consequences, but everything you see is a show. Like Dave Winer said: "Hey here's a free clue -- what you're seeing on TV is a TV show".

It was only recently that I realized how accurate that is, though. What you see is all about the drama triangle playing out: People are racing for the victim position, casting the other party as villains.

Of course all sides see themselves as the victim, and the others as the villain. No sane person accepts that they're the villain. And then they're incredulous that the other side cannot see just how much of a villain they are, and that they themselves, are the real victims here.

And then there are the heros, who just want to be good and nice, and help the perceived victims be saved from the evil villains, and that way they get to feel super good about themselves, while in reality making everything worse, mainly by keeping the other sides stuck in their respective roles.

It's a great way to spend a ton of energy getting absolutely nowhere. Which is exactly what's going on.

PS. This is a good book about the drama triangle at a personal level.