At some point enough people are going to wake up and realize they have had enough. I suspect we’re getting close to that point — that critical-mass of angry citizens necessary to set off the big chain reaction. Here’s an excellent essay by Sherry Wolf on the dilapidated state of our union: “An Empire Going Kaput.”
A good pair of articles from David Rosen…
“How Democracy Dies” is an excellent short essay, by Chris Hedges, that looks back to Greece’s somewhat similar struggles twenty-four hundred years ago.
An excellent article on the Tea Party by Matt Taibbi.
Here’s my Voter Guide for a New American Century: “D” is for disappoint and “R” is for regress. Those, sadly, are the two major-party choices in this country, which is why we all need to start voting for independent, or third party, candidates in the coming elections.
The important fact is that both major parties serve the same master: Big Money. A vote down either rathole garners the same result: more of the same. That is why the ruling elite — the only ones happy with the way things currently are — would like to see you continue worrying about Ds and Rs.
It’s like professional wrestling, where the promoters care only about the take at the gate, not the outcome of the match. The “fight” is merely an act, put on to capture the crowd’s attention, to the point where they become invested in the outcome. In the long run, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses each match as long as the performers put on a good show and keep the marks coming back for more.
I don’t think Not Voting is the answer, that just makes it easier for the status quo to keep itself in power. The answer, short of actual revolution, is voting independent. Individually, it’s a small thing, but voting is where our power lies, and many of us, acting together, could make it a big thing. The freedom to do so comes from the real understanding that it doesn’t matter if a D or an R wins. That is a trap, and remains a race to the bottom. As Noam Chomsky likes to say, “voting for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil.” We can do better than that, and we should.