Rhetorical Analysis Of 'Why Don T We Complain?'

No matter how dysfunctional or out-of-touch Capitol Hill is, it seems to never improve despite the United States being home to a stable democratic process. In “Why Don’t We Complain?” American conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr points his finger at the American people himself as their own apathy is to blame for the current status quo. Buckley is successful with his use of symbolism to demonstrate the issue of political apathy among the average American voter. When Buckley published his article to Esquire magazine in 1960, the United States was undergoing a political transformation that would define the entire decade. President John F. Kennedy would win a close victory against Vice President Richard Nixon in the 1960 elections, and would …show more content…
Buckley issues a grave warning on the dangers of apathy, stating that “when our voices are finally mute, when we have finally suppressed the natural instinct to complain, whether the vexation is trivial or grave, we shall have become automatons, incapable of feeling.” Through symbolic portrayals of apathy in society, whether it be over not wanting to fix a broken air-conditioner or an out of focus movie, Buckley makes it clear that to continue this cycle of apathy and indifference is to essentially give up the right to petition that was stated in the Bill of Rights. If the people indirectly surrender that right, they become no freer and represented than the people of the communist regimes or military dictatorships around the world. As a result, those on Capitol Hill who take part in eroding the rights and dreams of the American people feel even more liberty to do so, as there is no longer the risk of a population that will rise up and hold those in power accountable whenever they don’t feel