If there is to be a change

I read recently a tweet that said that we are now in a time where one third of americans are willing to kill another third while the last third stands idly by. While I dont necessarily see that extremism as accurate, I do however see the emotion that drives it. And while I do not buy into the idea that a third of americans want to kill another third, I do believe that never before, at least not in my memory or in my lifetime has this country been so deeply divided.

To think that there are people who will put the welfare and well being of their own political party above and beyond the welfare and well being of not only their fellow citizens but the welfare and well being of the rule of law, the basic freedoms guaranteed by our constitution, and the very founding tenants of our nation is beyond disgusting.

To say that the political parties in this country have been corrupted by power beyond their own intrinsic ability to reform is more real than we should like to admit. It is not limited to the two major perpetrators of this intellectual violence against the american people, the Republicans and the Democrats. It seems that the Libertarians, Socialists, Greens, and even the Nazis are incapable of putting forward a cohesive plan, a viable candidate, or even a convincing argument for their respective platforms.

With third parties remaining more or less the butt of a great political joke, it is easy to see how these parties offer no way out of our current climate. What we need rather, is a party more open, and to its foundation more ideologically pure than what is offered. A party dedicated not only to the founding tenants of our democracy: equal justice under the law, representative government, and responsible governance, but also with a keen eye towards the realities of the modern world. We must accept that in the information age, access not only to information, but communications systems, that is, the ability to communicate between free people, to share ideas, to debate them, these are fundamental human rights. We must come to the understanding that until all men are free and enjoy equality of these rights, then none are free. What good is it to call oneself american from the safety of a palace while americans starve and die of cold on the streets? One may as well use whatever means and whatever name to aquire wealth, for to do so while americans suffer at the hands of a system which does not value them is devoid of honor.

What we must do together then is to reclaim our national honor. To rip from the hands of these tyrannical parties the idea that they are the sole defenders of the voice of the people. It is a task no less momentous than it is difficult. To do such a thing, we must be dedicated in strength and number, and disciplined in the continuous nature of the approach necessary to undergo such a national project.

And that is how this must be approached: as a national project of the highest importance. We must sell this idea to ourselves and each other over and over again as though we were selling war bonds to fight the Nazis. For the longevity of our nation and the long term ideological solubility of the republic we must dedicate ourselves to dissolving this punitive system of political ideological slavery. We must fight for our right to think freely, to question everything, and together, as a diverse melting pot of backgrounds, ideas, and educations, build a better body politic for ourselves, the world, and our posterity.

We owe it not only to ourselves to build a more responsible ideological system, but to the world. If we intend to lead the free world into the next millennia and beyond the stars to new worlds, we must act and we must behave as though we are representative of all peoples of this world. This is our call, not to make the world safe for democracy, but to make our democracy safe for the world.

If we are to tear off the shackles of ideologies made for a world order now dead, we must do it consciously, together, and with a discipline to rival the roman army. It will not be enough that we call our congressmen, or our legislators, or our governors. It will not be enough that we carry placards of our disgust at a time conducive to our own work schedule. We must dedicate ourselves each day to this one single resolution: that there is but one voice which matters in this country, the voice of the people.

This is to be the great struggle of this generation. That day after day we should harass, distract, organize, march, and fight in order to win our country from the hands of those who would usurp the will of the people. We will take them by the neck and rub their noses in their failures, and to do this every day without ceasing, and to elect our own citizens and not their anointed candidates, we will win the security of our democracy for generations to come.

If we intend for one more year for ours to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, we must ensure through this great struggle that it is first a government made of the people. That career politicians should run scared before the tide of the American Electorate. It is in this way that the american people can demand the nationalization of the only industry that matters, the industry of our own government.

The problem however is that this is simply not possible. The two parties are far too large and far too entrenched within not only govenrment, but our society as well. They are fully staffed, fully funded, and they can field paid armies to fight the people at the polls, on the airwaves, and in the streets. The century of gerrymandering that has entrenched these parties within the government and within the political sphere has crippled any and all third parties and even movements from standing a chance at the polls. We have become so acclimated to the very idea of safe districts for a party that we do not even flinch when we hear it, even though the implication that the people in those districts have been stripped of their voice, their true and free voice, within our democracy.

At the local level this process plays out with absurd and horrifying consequences. The parties can run anyone, regardless of credentials, and with their endorsement, are nearly assured victory within their fortress districts. This has never been clearer than with the recent fight in Alabama, where an accused pedophile nearly won, and his spokesman believed, with all the zealotry of a crusader, that in order to take elected office in this country, by law, one must swear their oath on the Bible.

From state legislatures we see this absence of the ability to think critically made manifest in the ability for corporations, represented by organizations such as ALEC (a non-profit who drafts legislation on behalf of private sector representatives for state legislators, and has recently made its foray into global politics). That legislators are so incapable of critical thinking that it is done for them, not by the people, but by any private sector entity is beyond forgiveness. This, of course, would not be the case had the two parties not conspired to strangle democracy between their unholy gerrymandered safe zones.

As qualified, intelligent, educated, and responsible citizens are barred from office by the de facto monopoly of power held by both parties, our government, from local to federal, has suffered likewise from an absence of intelligence, education, and responsibility. It is no wonder, therefore, that our government has failed to think critically for its represented people, provide for the education of our nations youth, or to adhere to the most base standards of ethics, conduct, and decency.

It is because of the deep roots of this corruption that mere protesting will never suffice. So long as these politicians have their safe districts, they do not care what has angered the people when their reelection is not on the line. They know that with their party behind them, they have an insurance policy safeguarding their position for as long as they want to have it.

If this system is to change, anger alone will not suffice, neither will protesting, nor will writing in, nor calling in, nor abstaining from the polls, nor voting a third party. No what will force the political class into action is full, widespread, permanent, and visceral political engagement on the part of the people. What is necessary for this change is nothing short of a national strike. The radical nature of this cannot be understated, and the radical nature of the change it seeks to implement likewise cannot be understated.

If every driver, cook, pilot, teacher, cameraman, lineman, banker, activist, doctor, professional, and every last person who draws a paycheck for their labor were to walk from their jobs, and stay in the streets until the capitulation of the political class, that change would roll over this republic, and in its wake an open, level, and equal field of play for all those who want to participate in this democracy.