So, I have had several conversations lately with friends and family about the current state of the state. I have realized that ties to the traditional parties are very strong. Even to the educated or well informed. I have come to a few conclusions of my own...
I believe we have come to a point in this country where the political structure has, if not completely broken down, reached the point of "when" not "if". We have reached a point where the government is completely out of touch with a majority of the population. It is impossible to make decisions in regards to the welfare and and best interests of a population you do not understand. Not only do they not understand, they do not care. They are to focused on scoring political points for their party to use in the next election to make any kind of rational choices. But the politicians are not the only ones to blame here. They are the end point of a much larger problem. The huge private and corporate donors give money to the parties. The parties use that money to field candidates. Along with the fundraising the candidate does on his own. This automatically shapes a large part of the candidates priorities. Raise taxes? Lose party money. We all know that without money you cannot win an election. The parties are buying the candidate that will serve their purpose. This leaves little room for any creative problem solving or original thought. The result....GRIDLOCK. The system is broken.
Once the election cycle is over the real fun begins. Highlighted by the farcical debt crisis. We have reached a point where one side will automatically denounce or reject the others ideas just for the fact it came from the other side. There is no longer any room for compromise or debate. Small radical factions of parties have managed to dictate to the rest what will be the message. They have no interest in what anyone else has to say, let alone the people of this country that put them there.
The people that put them there...let's talk about the voting public for a second. First, only a little more than half of us take the time to vote in presidential elections. But that is not the real problem. Most of the that 50 percent are so biased toward one party or another, they walk into the booth and vote straight down the left or straight down the right. I would say these people are at least aware of politics going on around them but would never dare speak against their party of choice at all costs. The most disgusting are the ones that watch FOX news every evening taking in whatever tripe is being served. As with the ones that will only watch CNN or MSNBC (all two of you MSNBC fans out there :-)) That leaves a small percentage of that original 50 that actually take the time to to think about what they are doing. But it really doesn't matter, the numbers are to small. Sounds like a hopeless situation.
There is hope! On September 24th and 25th at Harvard Law School, A Conference on the Constitutional Convention will take place. Here is an excerp from the site.
From the Right and the Left, citizens are increasingly coming to recognize that our Republic does not work as our Framers intended. Reform of any kind is stalled by a status quo that profits from blocking change. No side in the political debate benefits from this inertia.
The Framers created a method for escaping from captured government—an Article V Constitutional Convention. If two-thirds of the states pass resolutions calling for a convention, then all sides will have the opportunity to argue for the changes they believe will restore our Republic. Any amendment proposed must then be ratified by three fourths of the states to become law.
It is time, we must do something to restore some sanity in our government. This event will be debated and discussed by people who care about this country and not their own re election. Who want to see government work towards the betterment of this great nation not just the betterment of their bank accounts. Who are not to donors, parties, or special interest groups but only beholden to their own ideals and a hope that we can save our country from ruin.
See you in Boston.
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