#Occupy is best understood as a political form of the incompatibility between the capitalism of a fascist/oligarchic regime and the people. Capitalism itself is no longer the problem or issue but rather Fascism/Oligarchy as an imperialistic ideology and mode of governance.
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America , difficult
as it may be for some to accept, is a house of cards, i.e., "a weakened
structure that is in danger of collapsing or failing if its foundations
continue to erode." This nation of ours remains in deep turmoil as our nation
and our democracy are being ravaged by Corporatists and rogue politicians.
There is only one way to combat this dangerous coalition and that is by
unleashing the massive power of the American people against it.
What brought us to this sorry state and condition? To
begin with, America has
become a democracy in name only and government of the people, by the people and
for the people of America
has been cleverly transferred to the masters of Corporatism. Powerful corporations
have now assumed control over this nation and rule it with an iron fist. The
tentacles of this giant octopus are wrapped around and are suffocating every
important institution in this country.
Far too many Americans are seemingly oblivious to the
depth of this dilemma and the precarious state of this nation. For those who doubt
and minimize these dangers because they have been conditioned to think that
this nation is invincible, all they need do is listen to some of the respected
economists who warn that our financial sector can, at any time, be devastated
by a monumental collapse of mega-trillion dollars of toxic derivatives that
could wreck this economy almost overnight. Congressional oversight and
regulation has been so weakened over time that it makes such a catastrophe a real
possibility. See this article
by Richard Clark to receive an alarming, in-depth analysis of this issue.
Now let's further examine how this government and the
Congress have become the antithesis of how a democracy should function. The
principles of our democracy indicate that the passage of legislation should be
based on majority rule but that's not how this Congress and, especially the
Senate, functions. And it never will until the use of the poisonous filibuster,
by which legislation is routinely obstructed, delayed and destroyed, is brought
under control. Congress, as is often said, is the place where good ideas go to
die. Try as I might I can think of absolutely nothing of real substance that
this Congress has done since America
entered the 21st Century.
But it's
more than just the deadly filibuster that is making this Congress
dysfunctional. Another contentious issue involves how the people of this
country are represented in the Senate. The Founding
Fathers made a colossal mistake when they created the Senate and mandated that
there would be two senators for every state instead of basing the number on
states' individual populations. Time and again the votes of tiny states have
proven to more powerful as those of massive states. For example, the eight
least populous states in America
have a combined population of 5,876,000 and 16 senators while California
and New York
with a combined population of almost 57 million have a total of only 4
senators. That condition limits and dilutes the overall power of the people.
Combine this political mistake by the Founding Fathers with
the use of the filibuster by the Republicans and you know exactly why this Congress
remains in gridlock and critical legislation never gets off the ground. This is
concrete evidence of exactly why this country is so badly deteriorating. Both
of these contributing factors to congressional incompetence could be altered if
the power of the people is unleashed to begin the transformation of this
government.
Therefore it's not difficult to conclude that this Congress, as
currently constituted, is entirely incapable of effectively governing this
nation and society. Then the really big question becomes: what exactly can be done
about it? Well, that's where the massive power of the people of America comes
in because this power represents the one and only way that this grave condition
can be alleviated. It all comes down to the fact that the people must be energized
and motivated to put an end to this political madness.
That massive power of which I speak is the voting power of
nearly 210 million eligible voters in this country. Those who sincerely want to
address this country's myriad of problems have to realize that voter turnout
must be dramatically increased and that they must organize a massive movement
to accomplish just that. They need to undertake this task at a time when the
Republican Party is doing everything in its power to reduce the number of
voters through all sorts of devious means because they know that their only
chance to win elections is by low turnout.
Here is what must happen. The Center for the Study of the
American Electorate, put 2012 voter turnout at 57.5% of all eligible voters in America,
This study group estimated 126 million people voted in the 2008 election,
meaning that 93 million eligible citizens
did not cast ballots. How can this democracy function effectively when so
many Americans who have been given the opportunity to vote choose not to? That
is inexcusable; every American who could actually vote and does not is
contributing directly to the gigantic mess this country is in. They are at the
very center of this problem that is allowing our system of government to be
corrupted by sleazy, greedy politicians. You would think that progressives and
independents would recognize the great danger this poses and would be working
tirelessly across America
to substantially increase voter turnout.
Sure this could be a great thing for America but to
many it's difficult to picture how that process would actually evolve. So,
let's think of it this way; suppose you buy a house that needs a complete
rehab. So where do you start? First, you have to address the rotting
foundation, the sewage from leaking pipes and, of course, you will need to
bring in the exterminators. You start where the worst damage is being done,
spend a lot of time, money and effort to make the necessary repairs and then
you move up to the higher levels of the house and finish the job.
So, let's proceed from that analogy back into the real
world and see just how such a monumental endeavor could be progressed in order
to cleanse and stabilize our currently corrupted political system:
*In the 2014 national elections: the objective must be to
do everything possible to soundly defeat every
GOP candidate. We need to get rid of every U.S.
Representative and senator that has blocked critically needed gun safety
controls, those who consistently obstruct job creation, those who support an
agenda of perpetual war, and those who are working to restrict the
Constitutional rights and freedoms of the people. In doing this certain Senate
Democrats, Mark Begich, AK, Mary Landrieu, LA, Mark Pryor, AR, Heidi
Heitkamp, ND and any other Democrats who too often vote against the best
interests of the people must also be replaced.
The Republicans in Congress have now crossed the line,
they have stabbed the people of America
in the back time and again and as appropriate payback this party of control
freaks must be dismantled. The voting power of the people, a power that, when
ignited nothing can withstand, will do just that and turn this ideologically twisted
party into a pile of smoldering ashes.
A very broad coalition of rational-thinking Democrats,
progressives, independents, Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, and
every other minority group in America, together with the majority of Caucasian
Americans, must band together to flush these traitors, be they Republicans or rogue
Democrats, out of the Congress and send them into political purgatory.
*If the people would send the Republican Party into
political oblivion, it would naturally follow that for the first phase of this
governmental transformation, the Democrats would take full control of both
houses of the Congress. That could be another problem in the making and so it
would be crucial to immediately initiate a movement to create and develop a
Progressive Party that would, for all practical purposes, take the place of the
defunct GOP and challenge the Democrats on all key issues and problems facing
this nation. Such a movement could be formed through the collective efforts of
progressives, independents, the Green Party and other similar groups.
*With a new style Congress it would pave the way for
making campaign finance reform the #1 priority by enacting legislation that
absolutely bans corporations and special interest lobbyists from having any
contact with any member of this Congress or associated government agencies. This
would completely remove Corporate America from any involvement of any kind with
the election process.
*Let the Democratic and Progressive Parties compete for
the support of the American people. If the Congress undergoes an overhaul, if
the filibuster obstruction is stopped, if the Senate is reconstituted with more
senators from populous states and no more than one senator for each of the
smallest states, then we can, once again, see democracy in action.
*Open the door for honest, ethical, individuals with
vision and passion to lead America out of its current deep morass; presidents
who will never allow themselves to be controlled by the proliferators of war
and the masters of Corporatism as has been the case since we entered the 21st
Century; those who, over a period of time, would transform the Supreme Court
into a judicial body that rules on the basis of the constitutionality of issues
instead of personal beliefs and ideology.
Without question, many out there may well react to this
kind of a plan as far-fetched, naïve, and even deluded thinking because they
just can't see how the mass of the people can be awakened from their lethargy
and motivated to do something dramatically different. But that's what's been
the problem; we keep telling ourselves what we can't or don't want to do
instead of making up our minds that we can and must not allow our country to be
further ravaged by those whose only objective is to advance their own interests
at the expense of the people.
But even in the face of the expected opposition by those
who embrace the status quo and passively accept and condone what is happening
around them, this is a plan that, without a doubt, could be successful if the
majority of people can be made to fully understand that they have no choice but
to get involved; that time is running out and that it is critically important
they concentrate on taking positive actions instead of merely criticizing and
complaining. They need to wake up to the realization that they must do
everything in their power to save their country. All they need do is to stop
sitting on the sidelines and get out to vote.
This can happen and, in fact, it better happen or we are
going to see this house of cards in which we live come crashing down upon us.
Michael Payne
Michael Payne is an independent progressive activist. His writings deal
with social, economic, political and foreign policy issues. He is a
graduate of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and a U.S. Army
veteran. His primary objective is to (more...)
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