SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Maybe it's just me, but I've been getting this vibe (it's strong here, but I'm feeling it elsewhere too) that there are folks who would like to see our entire society come crashing down.
Perhaps they think we can build something better, and like the Phoenix, emerge from the ashes, strong and vibrant.
And I guess I can see the attraction. Our government has been co-opted by the monied interests, our waking lives seem to be either being tracked by corporations or one government agency or another, the same monied interests seem determined to depress wages to keep us docile and hungry for the resources we need to keep ourselves and our families alive. And on and on. It's as if our society has been taken over by greedy, corrupt and amoral scumbags.
And to an extent, all of this is true. Which begs the question: What can/should we do about it?
There is one thing most of us can agree upon: That those elected to administer our governmental systems aren't acting in the best interests of the greater populace. Rather, they seem to be taking their marching orders from those with the resources to command their attention, their wallets and their votes.
There's quite a bit of agreement about that. The problem is that there are large groups of people on various sides of this question with different prescriptions for solving these problems:
Some think we need to strip the Federal government of most of its power and leave things to the states/counties/municipalities.
Some think we need to reform our existing political systems to reduce the influence of money on our elected officials (at all levels of government).
Some think it's just a lost cause and we need to just tear it all down and start over.
The biggest issue, IMHO, is that those same folks who are controlling our political systems for their own benefit use these differences of opinion to divide us. This keeps us from putting aside our differences so we can work together to create the kind of society of which we can all be proud.
Which brings me to the folks who want to tear our system down. With what shall we replace it?
Destroying one of the bulwarks of our society seems like we're creating change. But what are the consequences of doing so, intended or otherwise?
History (cf. all the infighting and problems with the Articles of Confederation) tells us that a strong central government was necessary back in the late 18th century, and (again, IMHO) is even more important today.
Could government be more distributed than it is? Possibly. Should there be stronger controls on how the central government treats its citizens? Almost certainly.
But if we destroy the "beast in DC" to punish those who have so egregiously abused it, who will pay the price when chaos ensues.
Just some semi-random thoughts.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday July 17 2016, @10:56PM
"Citizens United" must be overturned. That will require a Constitutional Amendment which says that all political campaigns in the USA will be publicly financed. (Throw in "Money is not speech and corporations are not people" just for good measure.)
[...]In 2014, the Pricariat was over half of all USAians and the numbers for 2015 put it at 60 percent. These are people hanging on by their fingernails.
I disagree. I think the huge missing element here is respect for rule of law. A large contributor to the instability and corruption that you claim to care about is a widespread disregard for laws and such not just among the powerful or wealthy, but everywhere. And what is particularly relevant here is that we support protection of everyone not just the parties we like. If the laws allow us to marginalize corporations (and other organizations like labor unions, non profits, etc), then they'll have the leeway to marginalize undesirable ethnic groups, sexual orientation or gender, belief and opinion (muslim or empiricism), behavior (such as use of recreational drugs or walking at night), and anyone too poor to afford a phalanx of lawyers or a stable of politicians. The rich and the powerful still have a right to defend themselves with speech, to petition government and society for redress, etc just like everyone else. Attempt (and more likely than not fail) to take that away and you open up Pandora's box.
When we start picking and choosing who gets the protection of law, carving exceptions or onerous burdens for the groups we don't like, or throwing the wealth of society at the projects we prefer, then those best able to manipulate that sort of system win. I think I'm not spoiling anything by revealing it's not going to be the poor.