Yesterday, I was eating dinner in a restaurant while on a business trip. The people behind me were discussing politics, or at least that’s what it sounded like. When one made the statement about how they needed to take WE THE PEOPLE back from the LIBERALS and restore America to what it used to be!! I sat there thinking about this commentary and smiled as I recalled when this nation truly used to be about We The People. Funny thing? Back then politicians used to COLLABORATE and cooperate to gain the best benefit for the nation. People voted their concience and not the party line, and they discussed politics in civil manner.
Sadly over the past 25 or so years, we have become a nation with schisms so broad and deep that I fear we may never recover our national identity. I hear people talk about their neighbor Americans as if they were the ENEMY. Unfortunately I know that it comes from our political leadership, from the “CORPORATE” media and most insidiously, from the uber-wealthy who wish to take our republic and turn it into a set of fiefdoms. Problem is, We The People are so wrapped up in disparaging our neighbor and fellow American that we fail to see the real enemy and they are laughing their asses off at us.
Let’s face it our two major political parties no longer represent any of the people except those who hold the largest share of all the wealth in the country. Whether it is a Republican or Democrat, if a politician, the odds are they are already in someone’s pocket. Think this new rage political group, the Tea Party bunch, is an answer? Hang it all, not nearly. They are controlled, (although they will NEVER admit it) by some of the wealthiest slugs this nation has ever hatched. Two of the major slugs who are well on their way to buying America are the Koch brothers. They are the real power behind the Tea Party groups, spending millions upon millions to encourage these poor misguided folks to attack the politicians that the Koch brothers don’t like or worry about their loyalty after all the bucks they have slipped into the pockets of our elected officials.
Let’s face it, you don’t really think that the Supreme Court believes that a corporate entity is a person with right of free speech and that stuff supposedly for human beings, do you? The Koch brothers and the top 1 percent of the rich folks in this country sure do. They are the ones who convinced the Right Wing of the Supreme Court to pass that judgement and now, we have even more money buying the country from it’s citizens.
But while we can rightly and correctly blame the uber-wealthy and the large corporations for the stealing of America, we also have to step up to the plate and take on blame ourselves. WE are our own worst enemy when we allow these cretins to agitate us into vicious open battle of words against our neighbors. And even more insidious is that we the people don’t exercise our right and DUTY to vote in our elections. Do we not care that our people have died in wars to ensure that we keep that freedom and right?
I also listened to a relative recently who spoke out about the horrible fact that Civil Servants were earning far more than the private sector. First of all his number was far off the mark, but in point of fact, many civil servants do earn more, but why do you suppose that it? Because unlike the private sector, which is driving wages ever downward using this recession as an excuse to abuse their employees, the governments have legislation that specifies the wage structures. Also, interestingly, at the pitiful increase rates of government civil servants for wages, they are still increasing, where the private sector has been decreasing. Think that is unfair? You damn well better believe it, but the corporations and the extremely wealthy people had a plan and it is working!
So, the next time you think about We The People, just remember that is should be your neighbor who you should include in that statement, not the uber-wealthy and the Corporations of this and foreign countries.
