"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation….
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness… it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
These are the words of our founding document the Declaration of Independence. It basically says that the government's power comes from the people and if it isn't working it is our duty to replace that government. Words we should take seriously, but in today's world we have let ourselves be beaten down so much we feel we can't make a difference. We have been manipulated to be so scared that we think more government is the answer to protect us.
The founding fathers worked hard to build this country so it was not a monarchy but a republic. A republic where the elected officials are suppose to do what is best for all of the people, not the ones that follow their beliefs or financial success. I am sure that in the time this was a great premise but did this country change so much over 200 years that even the foresight the founders had was blind to what we have today.
Today's politics is not about doing what is right for the country, it is about empty promises, arrogance, selfishness, pettiness, theories and manipulation. Instead of the people trying to make their country better, we spend our time dividing each other on behalf of our own agenda.
One of the reasons why we are a republic versus a democracy is the electoral college. If we were a democracy, the popular vote would create the winner, which means the big states would have all the power. In a republic, the electoral college makes sure that all states have a say in the election. In our last election the popular vote favored the losing candidate for the 3rd time in history but you take away the margin of victory in California and that vote difference is close to zero. In the previous two times, no complaint about the electoral college but in this past one, everyone wants to change so the electoral college goes away because that is what sore losers do. It is also why the electoral college is the way it is.
Our government was created so Congress was suppose to be the decision makers of government while the President headed foreign affairs but was part of the checks and balances in everything else. With the tremendous growth of this country, the power of the President has become more necessary, even to the point of thinking they could do anything. Congress was built so that each state had a say in the way the country was run based on their own constituents as well as the constituents of other states. However, now Congress is about making sure the other guy doesn't get what they want and about taking so much time bad mouthing the other side that nothing gets done.
Today the two parties have divided themselves and the people to the point of hating each other just because we belong to the other party. Our political leaders are suppose to be representing everyone, no matter what party they are, and because we don't believe in this we don't hold them to it. If a person does represent everyone equally, why would we ever need political parties? Of course, the government and people would never allow this to happen because then we would have to see each other as people and as equals. Has anyone ever noticed that this never an issue that is discussed.
Term limits was another idea that in today's country we are trying to destroy. The founding fathers wanted the chance for new ideas to come in or if the bad are part of the government to give us a chance to remove them. The House is elected every two years and Senators are every six, the President every four years. The real issue is that Congress has unlimited terms while the President only can serve 2 (which by the way was approved by Congress). This really would not be an issue if we voted out the people that do not do what they are suppose to but instead we vote for their party instead of what they stand for.
Our government wasn't created in a world of fundraising that is 'needed' in today's world. We as people have basically made it necessary for politicians to treat fundraising as more important than governing. Politicians even use this to manipulate us as people. They say they aren't asking large doners for money but they will ask the very people they are saying need more money to contribute to their campaign. We have basically given money to politicians so they can spend their time berating and manipulating us to hating the other party or people. Can any politician, even the ones that say they won't go negative, say anything without putting blame on someone or something?
Term Limits Debate
Maybe it was to make sure useless legislation doesn't get done but the founding fathers made it very long and tedious to get legislation passed. Making it very tedious usually means there is not a lot long term growth unless there is a reason to expedite the bill. Currently, since 1973 there has been over 300,000 bills introduced but only over 12,000 has been put into law. (4%) There are over 1,000 bills from 1973 alone that never became law.
Constitutional Amendments can also take time to create. Two thirds of the states have to ratify an amendment which can take a long time. Even though the 13th Amendment ended slavery, the 14th Amendment giving rights and freedoms to ex slaves took five more years to create. In that time how many people went back to becoming slaves, were killed or not given the right to vote.
As if the process is not slow enough, several people introduce the same bills, with only small differences. How does this not segregate the number of voters on the bill or create a bottleneck on getting the bill passed? For example, there are 2 Medicare for All bills where the only main difference is one takes 2 years to implement and one 4 years to implement. Why would you need two instead of one if you were able to come to compromises? Is credit for the bill more important than the bill itself? Does this government bureaucracy really allow for getting things done quickly and efficiently?
How a Bill Becomes Law Children Style
I am sure when the founding fathers created the system, financially backing each bill wasn't as a big of a question as it is today or maybe they didn't think of the taxpayers as a big piggy bank. With our deficit as high as it is today, financial transparency should be a priority for passing a bill. Otherwise, if a bill is actually approved into law then time has to be spent trying to find the money for it which may include another bill. Politicians manipulate us so they can refill the bank instead of fixing the problem. Why would we ever want a bill that didn't show how it would be paid for, isn't that like paying for a car and then the salesman says he will tell you what the payment is later?
When our government was created, polls were not even a thought, empty promises had nothing to do with politics and political theories were not the cornerstone of our country. Today, all of these are used to manipulate us to get us to agree with them, divide us so we can't see the reality of what is really happening or get us to hate one group or another. Our country is being run on an illusion while the reality is our country is breaking into pieces.
We say unemployment is low at 3% but this is based on a statistic given to us by the government. It is a political tool to highlight when things are good and attack when things are bad. Why else would we not care that 3% is still 5 million people unemployed? Is there even 5 million jobs available when we have so called full employment? Is the reason we are so easily manipulated because it is easier seeing people as a statistic then actual human beings who are suffering?
We want our candidates to make promises to us so that we have a reason to vote for them. Then when they don't keep these promises we get angry and ask why. The funny thing is that the promises they make to us most of the time they cannot do in the first place. No one knows what kind of Congress they will have or what the state of the country will be in when they take office. Then they say they are going to make several changes when the previously mentioned legislation process is slow.
Have we ever thought when we answer or rely on polls that we are just being manipulated into being used by the political world or each other to adhere to another's agenda? How would we react if we actually saw politicians or each other talking about our issues instead of trying to shove them down our throat? Just because 1,000 people make up 87% of wanting something, doesn't mean that 300 million people want something.
The founding fathers wanted to try to build a government that was somewhat the British way but unique in its own way. To try to take 50 little countries and ask them to act as one. To let people have freedoms so that they can treat each other as equals. Even if we have done so in the past, our current way of dealing with each other and politics has destroyed any of these.
Our government was suppose to be of the people, for the people and by the people. We have turned it into a government and country of whining, complaining, greedy, arrogant, insensitive, selfish, pettiness, scared people. What happens when you have this, easy manipulation where real change doesn't happen, only division happens. What happens then, a house divided cannot stand.
The only way to move forward is with real change. Don't believe it can happen? The founding fathers did, that is why they told us it can. We just have to believe it and make the sacrifice that our founding fathers did.
Are we ready to do that?
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