We've always been taught to believe that government has our best interests at heart–that our legislators represent us, and that the majority of Americans have a say in how government works.
But that view has fallen on hard times as more and more Americans are seeing just how Uncle Sam doesn't work. Or rather, how he has stopped working for Americans and started working for soft money, special interests, and corporate America.
This accompanying video is a representation of that view–a view which I share, by the way, and I'm not alone.
All across the U.S., Americans are displaying their outrage with teabags, of all things, and red letters. But what are we really accomplishing with these pitiful displays of our anger and dissatisfaction at our legislators? Our leaders already know that Americans' satisfaction with the job they are doing is abysmal. They already know we disapprove of their multimillion dollar bailouts, of their obsequious gestures of goodwill, of their hypocrisy and of their willingness to represent whoever has the deepest pockets.
As you watch this video, consider what it's going to take to turn things around. It will demand more than a teabag, a stamp, and an envelope. My prediction is that as long as we are content to waste our time with these kinds of displays, things will continue as they always have.
In order to have an effect on how we are governed, we will have to adopt strategies which have an outcome that can be felt by our leaders in a meaningful way. That means total reform at the legislative level. We will have to find a way to beat the politickers at their own game. Since no one on the Hill has the backbone to do the right thing, most likely, we will have to find innovative ways to exert political pressure on our current legislators. Next, we will have to replace them with legislators who will enact the kind of reforms we need to substantially diminish the corruption of our system. That means, among other things, enacting term limits and campaign finance reform. We'll also need to systematically remove corporate lobbyists, special interests, pork barrel spending, and soft money in any form. A watchdog group of American citizens will probably have to hold legislators accountable. Stiff penalties will follow for those who violate the law.
Is this little pipe dream of mine possible? Sure. Will it happen? Probably not. Once the political machine is in charge of holding itself accountable, it becomes self-perpetuating. It's a closed loop system, which ensures it's own survival by upholding the status quo. Reforming it will require unity on a national level and as long as the Party favorites are running the show, keeping us divided and distracted, the most we can expect from Americans is a red letter and/or a tea bag. Maybe, we would gather the courage to act in a pragmatic way, if we knew that our protests did little more than provide our lawmakers with a free beverage and cheap coaster to sit it on…but I doubt it.