Hint: The Democrats are not the answer
It’s hard to grasp the extent of the political madness gripping the US today, but it’s obvious that President Trump is leading the way. As his polling plummets, his MAGA base crumbles, and his social media posts verge on insanity, it’s hard to guess how long his leadership may last. If the Republicans lose control of the Congress in the November midterms, it’s likely he will be impeached. Even if he somehow hangs on, he can’t run for a third term, unless he succeeds in completely overturning the Constitution. Behind the proverbial curtain, the Democrats, despite have been his accomplices in war, genocide, and multiple violations of domestic and international law, are waiting in the wings to step into his shoes. Pink Floyd sang, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” They ended the song hopefully with, “We won’t get fooled again.” But will we? We’ve been fooling ourselves for so long. We actually believe that we still have democracy in this country, and that it’s the land of the liberty and justice for all. It’s time for our wake-up call; the American Dream is dead.
The US government is no longer run by “we, the people.” It’s run by they, the people with money, Trump and his billionaire buddies. The Supreme Court opened the flood gates for cash with their decision in Citizens United, ruling that money is a form of free speech, which is protected by the Constitution (that no one follows any more). The Supreme Court (jesters?) are also the ones who decided that corporations are really a new kind of person, with all the rights theoretically granted to humans. I say “theoretically” because, have you tried to exercise your own human rights lately? Such as the right to a decent standard of living? Medical care when you’re sick? Equality before the law? Ask that last one to the 95% of the people in our prisons who never even got a trial. I could go on, but I won’t. You get the idea. All of those noble sounding ideas are just the wool being pulled over our eyes, while our government ignores the law, and robs from the poor to feed the rich. Because they’re the rich, and they’re just feeding themselves. At first they did it by stealing from other countries, but now they’ve brought it on home. The sad part is that we, good citizens that we are, let them do it. We criticize and complain about them, petition, protest, and even curse them. Then we vote for them again. We vote against ourselves, and against all the other people in the world that the US government is threatening, bullying, bombing, and killing. We need to stop supporting this criminal, illegal, and immoral government, of which both the Republicans and Democrats are a part.
There’s a way out
We are the answer to our problem, but we don’t know it yet. Democracy runs on votes, not money. Each one of us has just a many votes as a billionaire; one. And there are millions of us, and just a few of them. If we just stop letting them fool us into voting for them, they won’t have a chance. What are they going to do, kill us all, like they’re doing to Iran and any other country that won’t bow down to them? We actually have the power to change things, but we don’t do it. We’ve been trained since childhood to sit quietly, follow the rules, and obey the person in charge, from our kindergarten teacher to the President of the United States. If we really believe in democracy, and in ourselves, we have to find the courage to disobey these immoral and illegal leaders who lie to us constantly.
One of the people I admire greatly is Chris Hedges, who you can find easily on the internet. You can’t find him on TV, radio, or in the newspapers, because they all belong to people who don’t want you to hear what he’s saying. One of the things he’s said is, “We need a vision.” Instead of always worrying about what’s going wrong, we need to imagine – to envision – the new world in which we want to live.
Let me share my own vision with you…
A world without war, in which the billions of dollars we were spending on war and killing go instead to provide us all with a place to live, the food we need to be healthy, and free medical care if we get sick. In my vision, we take all of the land and natural resources that produce wealth back from the people that are hogging it for themselves, and make it the property of the nation. There will still be industries and businesses, and some people will get rich (not too rich!) from them, but most of the wealth created from the earth will be shared with us all.
Imagine having a guaranteed income for life, with no taxes of any kind! Private property will still exist, but only on a small scale, and for a limited time. Every family can own enough land for their own home or farm, for the life of the parents who establish it. There will be no inheritance; children will be expected to start their own lives, and if they choose, their own families. The land of the deceased will revert to public ownership, and be resold at an affordable price to another new family. The income from these land sales will replace the need for any property or sales taxes, and provide a never-ending stream of income to support essential government services.
There will be no more prisons. Local jails will temporarily restrain people who need to be stopped from harming others or putting in danger. Persons committing serious crimes will forfeit all of their personal wealth and property, and be permanently exiled to a country of their choice, where they can make a new start.
Let’s make a new start of our own
What needs to come after Trump and the madness he embodies? We do. If we just pass the power to the Democrats, we’ll just be asking for more of the same. They’re just another wolf in sheep’s clothing, waiting for their own change to devour us. If we really want change, it will have to come from us, not them. We have to take all the money out of politics, and replace it with people: us. In fact, we need to transform the “us” into the U.S.! Only then will we have a real democracy in this country.
Here’s the good news. It won’t cost us anything, because we’re going to take the money out of politics. The first step is free. We all need to change our voter registration, and quit the two parties that are running this rigged political system. We can even save money by not giving either of them any of our money at all. They get all the money they need from their rich friends anyway, which is why they don’t need us, or even care about us. All they really need from us is our votes, and that is the most important thing that we must not give them!
With both of the ruling parties divided among themselves, the economy on the brink of collapse, and Constitution of the US being shredded by those in power, it’s time for us to take that power away from them. By law, which they disregard, this country belongs to us. To stop the madness, and restore sanity and humanity to this country, we need to realize that we actually have the power to change things. We just have to find the courage to do it.