They work at their jobs (whatever they are) and try to pay bills, keep their families together and keep atop of the “News”…
…and yet…
Seem to find themselves rooting for one “Republican” or “Democratic” position…when really… these folks in American Society are really much more connected to Justice and Common Sense.
What we need to do, to confirm, to give credence to their senses is to confirm that ‘they’ are not ‘beholden’ to either position.
That the MAJORITY of Americans must come together and commit themselves to ending corruption in the Political system.
Both “Right Wingers” and “Left Wingers” in the world KNOW that professional politicians are NOT the answer.
There is a median.
A “sense of the common man” that is not articulated or given credence in the everyday exchange of MSNBC or Fox News.
We must find some way (if only we can both legally and politically) get $$Money$$ out of the Political Process.
Maybe Public Funding of campaigns at the National level?
We must stand up, as Citizens, and acknowledge that folks who seek to keep their fiedoms in the Senate and the House, have some other Agenda on their minds than We do.
The World is a big place.
Global Corporate interests are a Huge thing.
There is NO way to thwart them than to KNOW, educate ourselves, to STOP money, at every instance, being a part of power.
I think you day you start running your country in accordance with the “common man” ethic is the day you totally fuck yourself in the ass.
Not that I wish to be crude, mind you, but I’m not certain there’s a better way of describing it.
I’ve honesty tried to think of another analogy that better illustrates the utterly futile self-destructive gratification-seeking of such a course of action and I keep coming back to fucking oneself in the ass, so I stand by my earlier statement.
The notion that turning rule over to the masses would create a system free of corruption is, well… child-like, at best.
I think that the vast majority of people are too stupid to hold a political belief, much less as passionately as they tend to hold them.
The very idea that one’s entire political philosophy can fit neatly into one category or another is fucking ludicrous.
lurking guest There is no such thing as ‘no corruption’. Corruption is when someone else’s self-interest trumps your own. We consider it corruption when people serve themselves and those immediately connected to themselves. The very institution of Republican Democracy is an impossible paradox. We expect people to operate by their own self-interest, but then call it corrupt when they do.
The problem with America isn’t that it’s NOT ruled by popular consensus, but that it IS.
I think that the vast majority of people are too stupid to hold a political belief, much less as passionately as they tend to hold them.
Really?
The “VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE” are the folks in EVERY country who cause the “Elites” to be uncomfortable; who sign up to fight wars; who vote as the ads tell them to; who have children and make communities; who pay taxes and buy houses; who purchase goods and services; and keep the “Elites” on that ‘edge’…“Are they still believin’ us?” - can we keep controlling them?..from the kids making sneakers in third-world countries - to the envied Americans…ALL peoples around the earth HATE injustice.
It is not a hard concept.
It is an easy concept.
And most all folks recognize it.
I guess most of the world’s populace are “Rubes” - according to the those with Power.
But the fact is, that most common folk, in every country, under every government, know what is right or wrong.
It is left to them to make things right.
Across cultures, across religions, across geography, can ‘they’ do what they’ve never done before?
There is knowing what is right on an individual basis, and knowing what’s right on a macro basis. Most people know the first and have no fucking clue about the second.
Very few voters critically analyze what’s going on, they vote based on who had the most eloquent and persuasive argument. The soothing black man, or the cowboy that clears brush at his ranch.
If people knew what was right we wouldn’t have low voter turnout in local elections as people would recognize that their vote for Alderman is far more impactful and immediate than their vote for President.
"If people knew what was right we wouldn’t have low voter turnout in local elections as people would recognize that their vote for Alderman is far more impactful and immediate than their vote for President. "
I disagree.
Right now. In October of 2009 - most people don’t****know that their vote nor their voice means anything!!
They KNOW that their voices have been usurpped by money and influcence and power.
Should a person in a trailer in Georgia REALLY think that they’re thoughts on anything matters to anyone?
They “get” it.
They have no money.
They are stupid.
They’ve made “bad choices.”
They are “unworthy.”
They fall far, far far****below Donald Trump, and Senators in the evaluation of their credibility.
Money. Money. Money.
If you don’t have it.
You are undeserving.
It makes me laugh ( and cry ) to think of all of the Conservative bloggers on this Board who fight for the Corporations …
They are small…
They are nothing…
But they fight****
Because ‘One Day’… THEY may become a Bill Gates or a Warren Buffet…
When conservatives were little children and went to the movies, did they cheer for the bad guys in the black hats to win? Didn’t their mamas teach them to share?
If it’s any comfort, lurking guest, I think something is already happening. With the advent of the internet and email, information is getting out and the individual is beginning to be heard. Granted, much (most?) of what ends up being sent around is crap, pushing the same lying agendas and protecting the interests of rich men in suits who “work” money rather than create anything. Hey, I’m not saying they’re evil; that’s just their gigs, ya know? But it doesn’t really help the rest of us. But even my most fundamentalist Christian tea-baggin’ conservative family members are beginning to ask me questions about the stuff they’ve believed for so long, prescicely because they’re reading it over and over again in their emails and their friends’ blogs and they’re beginning to hear the bullshit. These are good people, and not unsmart people; they just happen to be people who are comfortable listening to authority. But because everyone has a voice now, when you hear the same thing from your loudmouthed neighbor that you hear from your “newsman” on the radio, you can’t suddenly start looking at the neighbor as the authority. Hearing the same thing, often literally word for word (thanks to cut n paste), dilutes the “authority” and opens the door for questioning the messanger.
Us Americans have such power that we don’t use, but entitlement is not just a problem for the welfare mommas, yo. We sit back and go vote once every four years and then get mad when that one guy doesn’t fix our problems. God knows, I was terrible about it. I never voted, watched the news, educated myself, because I knew it was all bullshit and anyway, what could I do? Then I saw how bad things were going and I realized I wasn’t doing my job as a, you know, a citizen.
The government is us, y’all. We’re THEIR bosses, and we have collecting paychecks and letting the business run itself into the ground while we take our kids to soccer or play golf or watch American Idol (or whatever the hot show is right now).
Lurker, are you being the change you want to see in the world?
Freedom and Democracy isn’t given it’s taken. You are talking about people complacently waiting like docile cattle for someone to come and empower them. No one ever will, but lots of people will sell them things with the promise of empowerment.
Politics is local, if you are too stupid to realize that then you don’t have a voice, and voting for President is irrelevant.
The endless cry of, “They lied to me!”, is a copout for the weak. Everyone is lying to you all the time. It’s your responsibility to to educate yourself so that you can spot liars.
In theory I agree with lurking guest. In practise I agree with Bryan Ekers (and may I add that your first response was brutal in its accuracy). The current political system in any democratic country is fundamentally flawed, however a “true democracy” as outlined in the OP would be an absolute disaster.
In thinking about this I have to agree. Although we defend the rights of the individuals that make up the general public {us} the general public is not smart enough or emotionally equipped to actually run things. Sadly too many of our elected officials are ill equipped as well.
A Democratic republic needs a variety of people with various expertise to examine the multitude of problems and try to find solutions. It requires persistent attention and maintenance. The general publics role should be to keep track of their elected officials and weed out corruption rather than turning a blind eye to it for the sake of one or two issues.
The problem as I see it{simplified} is a great division of interests where the various groups fight and manipulate to serve their interests with little regard to how that affects the whole. A short sighted attitude harmful to society.
It seems you’re talking about motive and character rather than an in depth understanding of issues. I can agree that the basic goodness and sense of honor in the public can be helpful in directing elected officials and steering society if we can come together. The public can’t always come together. We see that now in people divided on the issues and the excessive amount of vitriol in that division. People may have a basic sense of what is right and wrong but in complex issues they often miss the nuances and don’t actually know how to resolve problems with various conflicting interests.
I’ve been wondering lately about character. Does it work from the top down or can it work from the bottom up? Can the general public insist on certain levels of character from their elected leaders that they themselves do not possess? How can we insist on what is right from our elected officials if we don’t know and can’t agree on what that is? If the masses allow themselves to be easily distracted and manipulated and remain willfully ignorant of the facts surrounding the important issues how can they know what is right?
Really, this was the original intention of the founders of the nation.
There weren’t originally supposed to be political parties, and you weren’t supposed to vote for issues. Rather, the goal was to seek someone whom you trusted as being sound-minded, rational, and understanding the sorts of things that affected the people of your area.
Personally, I think that this is how things should have gone, though the idea lasted about two seconds before George Washington was first voted in as President.