Chaos , Disruption, Government is not there to help you, a true patriot relies on himself, freedom, we want small government, no interference in our lives.
So many arguments against good governance, letting us forget that the folks perpetuating these arguments are also making government unworkable for most individuals.
- Brandeis said it best, We can have Democracy or we can have Plutocracy, but you can’t have them at the same time. We are now experiencing Plutocracy, government merging with large Corporate interests, creating a State for an elite moneyed few. The State no longer works for “We the People”. It is bought and paid for by special interest Groups, representing the needs of Corporations. The interests of “we the People”, are in conflict with their interests.
- Our history with Plutocracy is not new. It dates back to the Gilded Age, 1891 -1929. When unions were rising to protect the worker and the Rail Roads controlled the Statehouse and Federal Government. The crash of 1929 occurred as a result of unbridled Corporate Greed, speculation, risk & deregulation of the banking industry.
- When FDR was elected President, the Great Depression confronted his administration along with the Dust Bowl. He was able to reestablish good governance by implementing programs that stimulated the Economy and put people back to work. He also salvaged the aquifer running under the States making the plains habitable again.
- The 2 Nd World War further increased American productivity and creativity. Programs like the GI Bill gave Servicemen a chance to become better educated and able to re enter the workforce with greater skills. The American Labor movement, bestowing greater Equality, made realizing the American dream a reality for many. Unfortunately, many African Americans and Hispanics were left out of this development process , which was deliberately cut short, by the ascendancy of the modern Conservative Movement embodied by Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was the first President to run up the Federal Debt and place people in high office who wished to destroy the Institutions they were assigned to protect. So the mantra was spread; big government is bad for “We the People”, only small gridlocked government works. What was true, as Reagan was proclaiming the merits of small government, he was deliberately making sure that government no longer worked for “We the People”. He was right. The Government he fashioned was no longer accountable to “We the People”.
Next we elected Clinton, a Democrat, who closed the deficit, put people back to work and knowingly or not, allowed our basic Monetary Safety Nets to be destroyed. Glass Steagall was replaced by the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, allowing the Banks to combine with Insurance and Brokerage Houses, blurring the lines between their self interests and the interests of their customers. For the first time, Derivatives as a financial product was introduced to the World. With Globalization the flow of money among countries became entangled . One Bank could control the money streams from many entities. Our Monetary systems were now interdependent. The last bill to be passed around 1999, took away our protection from Lobbyists and opened their revolving door. There had been 500 Lobbyists in Washington at that time, Paul Manafort, was one of them.
Next came George W Bush, the architect of government outsourcing and a true believer in Small Government. No longer were others dictating the benefits of big business interests to W, his cabinet contained Big Businessmen. They kept their visits with Energy Corporations secret , while they negotiated to sell the State to cronies, outsourcing, replaced government.
- “W”‘s government continued on the Conservative path to destroy and dismantle government. Government became non functional for” we the People ” and the Federal Bureaucracy, that maintained our Institutions. Government became opaque to “We the People”, as closed door sessions amongst cronies, became the norm. That’s why so many of us believed , government, was supposed to be gridlocked or small.
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After the Conservatives finished remaking government to become a seamless integration with Business. It was so pernicious, smaller, was indeed better.
Where once , the US military went to War and took care of a soldiers’ needs, food, military protection and transportation were outsourced to friends of Dick Cheney, like Eric Prince, a mercenary, whose sister now oversees, the Dept of Education.
The Federal Budget Deficit climbed to $ 4 trillion under Bush. The ill advised & unbugeted Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, adding to the bloated budget.
The ballooning budget deficit wasn’t the only casualty of Conservative thinking. With deregulation of the Banking industry and the unregulated use of Derivatives, our Monetary system crashed in 2008, wiping out the life savings and pensions of “We the People”.
Obama was left to pick up the Monetary pieces but was constrained by the existing GOP in Congress who negotiated with him and provided too little stimulus to help “We the People”.
Playing out behind the scenes was the continued degradation of our Institutions and Labor. The same Senators who survived the Regan and Bush Administration continued to function to hollow our Institutions. Labor Laws were degraded, Citizens United passed in 2010 by the Supreme Court, became a battleground for Conservative thought , further allowing Government to be hollowed out by PAC money, Lobbyists and Billionaires intent upon destroying the rights of Labor.
When Obama left office, we the People were left with stagnant wages and rising inequality. No wonder, working class citizens have bought into divisive politics and hate “the other” no matter who they are. It’s easier to focus your hatred on a group rather than comprehend the policies behind America’s transformation from a Democracy to a Plutocracy.
- Whether you love or hate Donald Trump, he is the head of a movement, to destroy our Democracy. The prophecy of the film Network, written in 1976, is our reality. There are no sovereign Nations, there is only Globalized business. The State as we knew it, now exists only to serve the needs of business. The Conservative ideology , which is not the Republican Party, that Barbara Bush, could remember or associate with, has taken over our Democracy.
We can see the effects of this ideology. Wage Stagnation, Migration, hatred, fear , poor health, inadequate education, poor quality products, inadequate transportation , privatization of everything , leaving no room for entrepreneurs and competitive businesses. We are at War with big Business. Of course not all are malevolent, however, the old Conservative white regime remaining in the Senate and Statehouses are. Those Democrats selling their souls to the Corporations are tarnished, as well.
What is a citizen to do?
- First stop railing against Government and join the fight to bring back control of our Institutions to a decent dedicated bureaucracy. Stop the revolving door between Government and industry for 7 years.
- Change your city and State Charters to make voting easier for all America’s citizens.
- Focus, like a Laser, on removing Donald Trump from office along with his cronies in his cabinet and those moneyed Conservatives who continue to use the Federal Government and the Statehouses as their personal piggy bank!
- Our Institutions need to be rebuilt. If “we the People” remove Donald Trump and his clique in a timely basis, we can save our land and People.
- Our lives and livelihoods are at stake. In my estimations, we can’t afford to re elect Donald Trump, his cabinet or those Conservatives in Government for another term. Nor can we continue with the hard line GOP at the State level, either. The Conservative GOP ideology has led the way to the Plutocracy that exists, today.
- Corruption has a cost. When business becomes Government and Government only responds to the needs of Business, “we the People” no longer matter !
We can overcome our histories , we can arrive at solutions that work for the many but, we won’t succeed unless we focus like a laser on returning rights to “we the People” and voting the ruling Conservative movement out of the Federal Government and the Statehouses. This is our priority till Election Day Our lives our existence and the planet’s existence depend upon us being successful. We can’t fail.
- I’m told too many governments across the world are just like ours. To everyone I say focus , unite and do not re elect those with a shortsighted corrupt self centered business approach to government. In the civilized world these men wear suits and talk softly , the despots are heavy handed and use guns. The outcome is the same “We the People” are held back from achieving our destiny.
- We were told we have a 12 yr window of opportunity to prevent the globe warming further. Extinction of our species is a real possibility. Let’s not find out, if the prediction is true. Let us work together to rebuild our Democracy and lead the world once again to a better place.
See you tomorrow an d we’ll chat.
“The heart and pulse of “We the People”