Thoughts on Taking Back our Government
What happened to us, America?
I mean, seriously – when did the election cycle become so incredibly long, convoluted, and all-encompassing? When do these ‘representatives’ actually have time to represent, between campaigning? When did we get reduced to ONLY two parties, both of which are more-or-less wholly owned by their corporate overlords?
There is a supposed ‘election’ in 10 months. I say supposed because, really, what role do WE, the Average Americans, play? We have, for the president, a choice between a Republican and a Democrat (and thanks to the Electoral College, that really IS the only option) who straddle an invisible line, one leaning to the ‘left’, the other to the ‘right’. And our congress is a bunch of incumbent, grey-faced, corporate owned suits who do nothing that might adversely effect their job security.
Is this REALLY what this country is supposed to be about?
Those currently in power are taking some bold, scary actions to keep their power, and silence those of us who do not pay for their continued exalted positions. The NDAA will let them arrest us without the CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED due process, if they deem us to be committing a possibly terrorist act. SOPA and PIPA are thinly veiled attempts to censor the internet, letting the government exert control similar to what we hear about in China.
And why? Because they are afraid.
This is where the next ‘revolution’ will begin. It is the place they cannot control – the internet. Right now, they have managed, through corporate ownership, to gain control of the ‘major media’ outlets. But they do not control blogs, they do not control this mode of FREE SPEECH. And that frightens them. Because they know this is where the threat will come from to their power.
Right now, to get elected, you need both an obscene amount of cash, and the ability to raise even more obscene amounts of cash. That is what the two parties are doing, more than bothering to govern the people. They are seeking all the money they can to grab and hold power. And they dominate our entire political landscape.
I believe, though, that there is another way to get elected. A way without the money and party sponsorship of the Democrats or Republicans. And they know it.
The internet, my friends. This is where someone with a good idea can have a voice, free of the ludicrous amount of money normally required to run for office.
Please note – this DOES NOT apply to the presidency. Let’s just face the fact that, until the Electoral College is eliminated, the President will be a member of one of the two parties. Period. But Congress – congress is another story.
The President cannot make laws. He can sign or not sign laws that the Congress makes. So arguably, that is where the majority of the ‘power’ in our political system lies. Those in the Congress are well aware of this. So it behooves them to keep their power, if they do not aspire to a supposedly ‘higher’ office.
But the Electoral College does not elect congress. WE do. Our votes. This is where the election process is literal. And it is here, working within the existing system, we can begin to make a change. They are well aware of this, too. As are their corporate sponsors.
So let’s say you have REAL, actual ideas for governing the people, but are not a member of the parties, and have not sold your soul to a necessary corporate entity yet. You don’t have millions of dollars to your name, nor the fundraising savvy to acquire that kind of cash. But you have the desire, the drive, and a message. So how can you get heard?
The internet. This is the place you can be heard, where you can be seen – and without the obscene money normally required to run for office. It can begin with something as simple as social media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, a blog. All you need to do is spread your message, get your friends to spread your message, and really hammer on the work that the mainstream candidates ignore in favor of attacking one another. You can start a movement, you can do a viral video, a viral blog, you can get your name and your face out there.
And you don’t need to start this process NOW. No, that’s foolish. You don’t need to start more than a few months BEFORE the election. Why? Because its about name recognition, it’s about standing out. Start now, the major parties can and likely WILL bury you. But start just before we go to the polls – and you might just be heard above the din, the insanity that the two-party, disruptive, argumentative election cycle is.
THAT is what they fear. That is how, they know, they might just lose their power, their position. Someone like you, someone like me, with a goal, with a plan, with a voice, with the internet savvy and the connectivity they utterly lack. Do you think your Congresspeople or Senators pay their mortgage monthly, juggle expenses, sacrifice fancy meals and vacations for clothing and necessities? Of course not. They keep proving again and again how completely disconnected from mainstream America they are.
If a man or woman popped up online, running for office, who held a normal day job, earned under $100k a year, and had really useful ideas to effect change were running for office…if they were addressing the issues we are all facing today – wouldn’t you vote for them, instead of these career politicians who care far more about holding office and representing their party than actually HELPING us? I know that I would.
It is time to make their fear of the internet justified, I believe. We need to take back our government from the corporations, and their bought-and-paid-for representatives. We need to get candidates OF the people, BY the people, and FOR the people past the two party blanket and INTO office. We need to find and support people running for office who truly wish to govern, to effect change, and to improve the lives of the average Americans.
Think about it. And then – let’s find those candidates, get their names and faces out there – and get them into office. Let’s take back this country from the religious zealots, the corporate sponsors, and the two parties more interested in their own power than doing what is right for the nation.
This is what America was founded on – throwing off the yolk of oppression. Freedom. Thomas Jefferson, one of those founding fathers (and yes, I am aware he was an imperfect human being) said “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”
Think about it.
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