You have proven to be noneffective, and your time has come. Courtesy of Getty Images
Anyone who lives in America knows that something is wrong with our government. Congressional approval is at an all time low, mainly because the fact that petty party politics has lead to constant stalemates that do now allow for important legislation to pass. In a time when Americans need action, a bunch of crusty old men in suits are bickering and playing power games.
This might sound like a lead in for me promoting a candidate. It’s not. Our legislative branch of government is so rotten from the core that even if we did elect an honest politician that wanted to do some good for this country, he wouldn’t be able to make a dent in the gargantuan mess that makes Washington. This is what I believe happened to Barack Obama.
I do not claim to have all the answers to the country’s problems. However, there is a radical idea I that I believe could. First, however, let’s address the specifics of the problem before we get to a potential solution.
The first issue that I mentioned is the two party system. Everyone beats this one to death, and it is not my main concern. However, it is a serious problem. The ass and the elephant are in a perpetual power struggle to get out on top, and if it means sacrificing the betterment of the people, they are obviously more than willing to do so.
We could do this online, and we could do it on our own laws. Courtesy of Getty Images
The main issue I have are lobbyists and corporations. To put it bluntly, anyone who thinks that the common man has a say anymore is kidding themselves. The monolithic corporations have cemented themselves into the infrastructure of our political system, and are using politicians as marionettes to pass laws that will make them even more money, even if it’s at the peoples’ expense.
This is why I believe the occupy movement started. We see such economic disparity and problems in America, and every time we use our democratic powers to vote for representatives or a president, it doesn’t do much of anything to fix them. People have taken to the streets because it is the only choice they have to get something accomplished. They cannot throw wads of cash at senators in order to get things passed.
I have adopted a political ideology that I feel could solve the issue of inability to get anything done. How do you stop corporate greed In our legislative branch of government? Get rid of it.
I believe in system of direct democracy. We should abolish the legislative branch as it is, and draft a system in which the American people create, vote on, and pass their own laws.
Obviously, it would take years to work out the kinks of such a system. However, here is a rough draft of how I Imagine it to be.
Some dude has a great idea for a law. He tells a bunch of people and they agree that this law is just peachy. They get together and write out a rough draft of the law and how it would work. They then use government appointed legal professionals to draft it into a document full of the proper legal jargon that could make it practical and realistic.
They control you, because they control the people who hold the power. Put the power in the hands of the people, directly. Courtesy of Getty Images
Once this law is ready to go, it is set for a specific polling date and advertised through government paid means. All proposed laws would have to be equally advertised under law. Once that date arrives, the American people would use an Internet based system to vote on whether they want it passed or not. Simple majority rules, and if it passes it becomes law!
You can’t bribe representatives if there are none, and you can’t bribe the entirety of America. If we are fed up with Congress, lets get rid of them! We don’t need them to govern our country anymore: we can do it ourselves.
I realize why representative democracy was needed in the past. Not every farmer in the 1700’s could get on their horse and go and vote every time there was a law on the table. Also, not everyone was educated back then; thus not making informed voters.
In a world where we have the Internet and a (mostly) educated society, I believe that representative democracy has been rendered obviously ineffective and obsolete.
The judicial and executive branches would still be there, and checks and balances will still be in place. Even if some stupid law like, lets say that everyone must wear newspaper hats all the time, passes (which it wouldn’t because the people who vote wouldn’t let it,) it would be shot down by the judicial branch as a violation of freedom of speech.
Again, I realize this is just an idea and there are so many things to work out before it can be reality. But I believe with 100% of my heart and soul that a system just like this would solve so many of our problems and give us more liberty than any before us have known.