American Politics

Since Election Day is fast approaching I want to say a few things about American politics. I said in my entry on "America" that the American government is in the hands of the American people and that's what makes the American form of government so wonderful. There's a downside to that, which is that if the majority of American's just don't care enough about the government to get involved in it then they'll be controlled by a few people, often people with aspirations to power.

Make no mistake about it, by electing someone to any office, from local police chief to President of the US, you're giving that person power. In many cases you're giving them immense power. You're giving them the power that only government has, which is the power to legally use violence or the threat of violence to do what it wants. Think about that for a moment. If I owe you money and you come to my house threatening me with violence if I don't pay you I can call the government (in the form of the local police) and have you arrested. I can even use violence against you in self defense and it would be legal (assuming the legal requirements for self-defense were met). If I owe money to the government, in the form of taxes for instance, representatives of that government can, and will, come to my house and threaten me with violence if I don't pay up. If I respond to these threats with violence I would either be offered more violence (up to and including deadly force) and if I survive I will be charged with resisting the government officials. Think long and hard about that.

To get involved in the process you need to understand the process. I went to the New York City public schools. In those schools we learned a LITTLE about how our government was structured in a class called "Social Studies". This basically combined the classes formerly known as "History" and "Civics". Of course when the SATs rolled around Social Studies was pre-empted by Math and English because Social Studies didn't help you get into college. More's the pity. I have to say that most of what I actually learned about our political system I learned by self-study. The information is there.

What information do you use to decide who to vote for? During the 2000 Presidential election a co-worker told me I should vote for Al Gore because he was better looking than George W. Bush. If she'd told me I should vote for Gore because he was pro-choice I could have respected that despite the fact that I disagree with it, but to decide who should head up the most powerful nation in the world based on LOOKS?

Still other people ignore the process and let others decide who's going to govern them? Why would so many people give up their freedoms as long as they're fed and the TV works? Because nothing's changed since the Roman Empire, give the people bread and circuses and they'll let you do whatever you want. For some people, as long as they're fed and entertained they couldn't care less about corruption in their government, they couldn't care less about whether or not their rights are being violated largely because they don't even understand those rights.

If I have an ultimate purpose for this Blog it's to wake people up. I want everyone, EVERYONE, to understand that you, YOU RIGHT THERE SITTING IN FRONT OF YOUR COMPUTER, has rights. That the Government doesn't bestow these rights like some favor on those who serve it well but that they are part of who and what you are. That the Government doesn't have the authority to infringe upon those rights. That the only way you can be deprived of those rights is that if you have committed a crime and such deprivation is part of your punishment. That if you, YOU! don't exercise those rights you might as well not have them. If you don't vote you have no cause for complaint about the government you get. If you don't write to your elected officials to influence them you have no cause for complaint when they pass laws that are abhorent to you. If you keep sending the same politicians back to Washington DC despite the fact that you hate them then YOU are the PROBLEM.

How do we make the system work? First off, if you're one of those people who doesn't get involved, start getting involved. Vote. Write letters, not just letters to the editor of your local newspaper but letters to your elected officials. You don't know the issues? Educate yourself! There are plenty of places around the web to find out what's going on at the state and national level. You already vote and write? Good for you, now start holding the elected officials responsible, let them know that they were elected based on their promises and if those promises are not kept they'll be voted out and replaced. Nothing frightens a politician more than the possibility of losing an election.

I said it before, the American people decide what happens in our government. If everyone participates we get a government that represents us. If we don't we get a government that represents only those few who turn out. Either way we get the government we deserve.