By CE Marshall
Chapter 1: The Snake of Incompetence – Off with its Head
Defining the Snake
As I consider the frustrations regarding
our government today, the daunting obstacles to restoring American Democracy keep
surfacing in my mind and I'm sure in the minds of any thoughtful reader as
well. These obstacles are like four major parts of a snake, each of them
functioning together, dependent on one another as they slither their way around
Democracy constricting and rendering the ordinary citizen powerless. The four parts are ; The Lobbyists
(and the moneyed interests behind them), The Elections (and the moneyed
interests behind them), The political parties (and the moneyed interests behind
them), and The media (and the moneyed
interests behind them). As you can see, at the root of all of these
snake parts there is one very common denominator, the money. Money supports the head of the snake- what I call "Mad King George"- The mind and power behind the snake of incompetence that has been robbing us of our Democracy for over 100 years. The head of these four parts must be removed. Let's make Mad King George the King Louis of France in the 21st Century.
THE SNAKE PARTS
The lobbyists.
Our government is in the palm of all those interests with enough money to
gain influence. Usually this involves lobbyists that essentially hold our
leaders "hostage" so that no Congressional leaders should expect
financial support if things don't go the way of these moneyed interests in
society. The more notable lobbying organizations are Pharmaceuticals, Medical, the insurance industry, the oil industry, dairy industry, packaged food industry, etc..... (even- alarmingly- foreign interests are getting in on the feast). Have you noticed substantial good being done
by our government to help the American Citizen regarding any of these groups?
No, of course not. The lobbyists are not there to help the American
people, they are there to help
themselves. So then, how can our leaders claim to be representing the
American people when the truth is so contrary and so obvious to all ?
The Elections. In
the 2012 national elections the following amount of money was spent by our so
called leaders ; The presidency; $2,000,000,000. House of
Representatives; winner spent on average $1,400,000 and the average winning
Senator spent $9,800,000! More currently-
Between January 2023 and April 2024, US political campaigns
collected around $8.6 billion for the 2024 House, Senate, and presidential
elections. I
will refrain from “filling pages” for this book with more and more statistics. I
think the picture is clear; Elections in
the United States have become a profit center benefiting those within the
confines of Washington, DC but certainly NOT those outside of DC. The debate and process has become the center
of attention for all involved making the service to “We the People” a quaint
old fashioned idea- an afterthought. In addition,
there is no hope of an ordinary American with leadership skills and high moral
standards to even make it into an election.
How can any ordinary American hope to ever run
for a position of leadership when the cost for such an endeavor requires a
"King's Ransom" for this ascension? They can't. That's
why half of all Congress is occupied by millionaires. If they're not
millionaires, it's actually worse because these individuals are most assuredly
in debt to a lot of people. This will require a lot of favors and consequently
a lot of "maneuvering" in our Capitol. This activity will
occupy much time and effort that would otherwise, rightfully be devoted to the
good of the American citizens they represent.
The political parties; The Democrats
and Republicans. These consummate enemies have had all the power
for far too long. Not only do they have too much power, but they've
turned the governing of the United States of America into a perpetual
"Football Game". All touchdowns and/or penalties are for the
benefit of each team and the only group that always loses is the American
citizen sitting in the stadium, frustrated at their lack of influence on the
players below. The power of the parties will continue as long as they
stick to hating the opponent and swearing they will do all in their power to
bring them down, no matter the consequences to the people themselves.
They've suckered us all into believing that the art of governing must be
in perpetual dispute, a tug of war over ideology, a necessary evil. In
actuality, it is the job of our leaders to lead not argue. Disagreements
should be the exception, not the rule. There are far too many American
citizens who are hurt because this simple act of leadership is missing today.
I doubt it is their conscious intention (as a blithering herd, neither
group really thinks or contrives anything other than stampedes to the latest
inane frame of thought), but the
political parties have neutered the power of the American people by dividing
us.
Removing money from the process would put anyone with a better idea of
governing on an even keel with the political parties rendering them much less
capable of calling the shots regarding how our government works. It would
promote individuals with superior ideas to the position of power simply from
their success as leaders with good ideas and good intentions. No more infuriating need to “satisfy their
base”, ie, the ideas that drive the other side of the aisle to alarm, panic,
and obstruction.
The media, also known as "the
enablers". They criticize and provoke and instigate, and then sit
back and watch the fun. I'm sure they all enjoy the conflict with a bag
of popcorn clutched in their claws, the same way human beings watch movies.
The media power brokers would most assuredly recoil at the idea of
removing money from the election process. Not only do they stand to lose
a lot of revenue from political campaigns, but they also lose the pure joy of stirring
the pot every 2-4 years and all the attention and “eyeballs” that this
attention musters. The reality is though, that over the last 10
years the public has lost most of their trust in the media and they could
actually end up in a much better position if they listen to reason and consider
jumping to the side of the people. Some
of the ideas in this book could actually be a benefit to the media because they
would be the window through which we all watch a new process of election. They could also, perhaps, learn what it is like
to remark on productive and intelligent conversations, not the ludicrous circus
they’ve been muttering about for so many decades.
In
conclusion, we can sever the head of this "snake of incompetence" by withholding
its source of power. Remove Mad King George's head. Remove the money. If money is removed from the process of
electing leaders then a lot of problems would naturally disappear. In this book, I want to offer up the problems
and then offer up solutions quickly so that every man, woman and young adult
can quickly read my ponderings and be empowered to react with passion and
urgency. Consequently, that is what each
chapter endeavors to do- remove the money from the process of governing our
nation. Government is not there to help
a specific group to profit so nobody profits if money is out of the picture. The
government is there to help ALL the people profit, and to not yield to one tyrannical
group over another. That is the problem. Remember- the individual American is the
champion of the government—the individual citizen is the ruler of the government-
not the pharmaceuticals, the military establishment, the corporations ‘nor the
media. Their heads must be severed from it's involvement in governing.
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