Body

The Severe Flaw In The American System Of Government And What To Do About It

Written by

Jesse Attreau

The founding fathers had great wisdom. They were people who recognized that even democratically elected governments could get out of control. To make sure that didn't happen they incorporated a system of checks and balances into the federal government.

Specifically, they created three separate, distinct branches with each being a sort of check on the other two. We know these to be the legislative branch, or Congress; the judicial branch, or Supreme Court; and the executive branch, or President.

The founding fathers also incorporated into the constitution freedoms, such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press, to ensure that the voice of the people could never be suppressed.

Yeah, these were all truly brilliant ideas. They resulted in a stable country that's lasted well over 200 years now. A country that, throughout most of its history, set the standard for freedom and democracy.

However, as great as those ideas were, it has now become apparent that they didn't go far enough to round out a comprehensive framework for government. You see, as wise as the founding fathers were on the subject of freedom and democracy, they knew virtually nothing about social reality and why it has to be taken into account when forming a government.

For instance, what do you see when you look at the United States government? Well, if you're looking at the U.S. Congress you see 535 pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies. If you're looking at the U.S. Supreme Court you'll see nine what are probably best-case examples of pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies. And ditto for the President as well.

Before I continue, what do I mean when I say pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella baby? Most people would probably think of a rich kid. Although money would probably be a good rule-of-thumb, it isn't an automatic. It is possible for a poor kid to fall into the category of pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella baby, but much less likely. What I mean by pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella baby is a person who experienced few, or no, impediments to growth in intellectual and social awareness during childhood, someone who did the complete and total escape from the reality of the system. Over the course of American history, some people had a veritable cakewalk to growth in intellectual and social awareness during childhood, while others had absolutely no opportunity at all.

Pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies are pretty easy to pick out when you know what to look for. In fact, there was two best-case examples in the 2000 presidential election: George Bush and Al Gore. They both grew up in wealthy, politically-well-connected, and powerful families. I've got news for you, folks, the closest that either of those two ever came to the reality of the system was maybe a light-year.

No one who has ever served in any of the three main branches of the United States government ever came within a light-year of the reality of the system.

So what's wrong if the U.S. Congress is made up of nothing but a bunch of pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies? Well, let's put it this way. Let's say that you and two other people set out to climb Mount Everest. Let's say that, half way up, you and one of the other climbers are hammered by severe weather. For days, weeks, you're trapped in your tent. The conditions finally take their toll and leave you no choice but to end your ascent. By contrast, let's say that the other climber experiences nothing but clear and sunny skies, and has a veritable cakewalk to the top. Now, who would you want to be judged by on your climb? Would you want to be judged by the person who had a cakewalk to the top, or by the person who was socked in with you, who has some idea of what you lived through and how it affected you?

It appears to be a no-brainer, doesn't it?

You certainly wouldn't want the climber who had the cakewalk to the top to cast judgment on you, would you? Of course not. So, why would you want a bunch of pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies in congress, who did the complete and total escape from the reality of the system, to cast judgment on you?

This is a very significant question.

Many, if not the majority, of the decisions that congress makes are moral, or social, judgment calls: Should an adult be a criminal for taking a toke of pot? Under what conditions can a person declare bankruptcy? Should a person be strip-searched via the urine before he or she can get a job? How much of your hard-earned paycheck are you capable of handing over to the govern- ment? And so on...

Should it always be the pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies of our society, who skated through, who get to cast judgment on everyone else all the time?

Well, that is essentially what has always been the case in this country. Month-in, month-out, year-in, year-out, decade-in, decade-out, it's always the people who didn't come within a light-year of the reality of the system who get to cast judgment on everyone else.

And that's the problem in a nutshell.

Democratic governments, at least in the case of ours anyway, have a tendency to be exclusive clubs of pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies at the highest levels, the judgment- casting levels. In otherwords, merely holding an election to determine who gets to serve at the highest levels of government doesn't mean that you've done all that's required to produce a comprehensive and fair government.

There are some, this writer included, who consider the present situation to constitute an unjust and immoral one. I know I don't want - and I'm sure there's a lot of other people as well - some pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella baby in congress, who didn't come within a light-year of the reality of the system, who did the complete and total escape from it, who skated through, and who can't understand why everyone else isn't just like him or her, to cast judgment on me.

So, what needs to be done to correct the problem?

Actually, the answer is obvious. What is needed is the creation of a separate, independent body made up of a cross-section of the American public - not just pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies - that would be a sort of check - the check that the founding fathers neglected to incorporate in - on the U.S. Congress and the Presidency. The body would have the power to block, or thwart, any legislation passed by the congress and the president unless it also agreed. In otherwords, before any legislation can become law, all three entities must agree. For lack of a better term, we could call this new body the People's Legislature.

The main question, of course, would be just exactly how would this People's Legislature be selected? Well, to guarantee that the body represent a cross-section of the American public, it might be necessary that it be appointed instead of elected. You see, one of the reasons that the government is always top-heavy with pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies is that the average person is too caught up with his/her own situation - particularly, survival - to be able to waste time on politics. Pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella babies, on the otherhand, have much less to worry about in life and, therefore, are able to devote much more time to politics. Due to their golden, escape-from-reality, childhood's, they also had a pathetically easier time acquiring the kind of credentials that make it easier to get elected - the kind of credentials that people who had bad childhood's had virtually no chance of obtaining in a timely manner.

One way to insure that the People's Legislature be made up of a cross-section of the public would be to appoint it. I suggest that the criteria used to determine the adults who get appointed be a person's yearly, annual income. The various income groups would be represented on the body according to what percentage they make up in the general population. For example, if twenty percent of the adult population had an annual income of $10,000, then twenty percent of the People's Legislature would be made up of adults who make $10,000 a year, and so on... Even adults who don't have any annual income at all would be represented on the body, and by the same percentage that they make up in the general population.

Clearly, a criteria that's based on income would go far in achieving a representative cross-section of the public.

Keep in mind, however, that what I've proposed here is just a rough foundation, or starting point. There's clearly a lot of technicalities that would have to be worked out. I'm also not totally closed to the idea that the People's Legislature be elected, as long as the process produced a realistic cross-section of the American adult population. I do, however, have doubts as to whether an electoral process can accomplish that.

Either way, until something like this People's Legislature is established, the average person will continue to go without a say at the highest levels of government. It will just continue to be judgment by the pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella baby, for the pampered, bowl-of- cherries, Cinderella baby, of the pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella baby.

Now, I know, I know, members of congress can be expected to say that they're the elected say of the people. Well, what I mean is a say other than that of the average person's elected pampered, bowl-of-cherries, Cinderella baby.

I think that the American people have always had a tendency to believe that a democratically elected government like ours must automatically constitute the perfect form of government. It now appears to be clear, however, that just simply isn't the case. Merely installing a democratically elected government by itself does not do all that's necessary to achieve optimal representation of the people. The present situation, whose roots go all the way back to the beginning of this country, constitutes an unjust and immoral one, to put it kindly. In fact, the lack of an institution like the People's Legislature severely raises into question the legality of just about everything the United States government has ever done, and is currently up to. The time has come.

(read about the historic capitulation from the government that this commentary resulted in) cave in

http:www.unintimidatedpress.com
Home

This site counted by Web Counter