Toward a More Perfect Union

Democracy in the United States can be discouraging.  The two dominent political parties have a monopoly on public policy but are so unwieldy they make political change almost impossible.  Money buys sophisticated ad campaigns carefully crafted to touch emotional buttons that result in voters often voting against what would be in their self interest. 

Frustration periodically boils over in protests from extremes at both ends of ideological spectrum.  When the protests can be turned into votes (think Tea Party) they produce tangible results.  When the protests do not produce tangible change in voting behavior, they produce only instability that undermines the restraint and respect that inoculates democracy from potential dictators. 

Some try to address the disfunction of our two party system by forming smaller minor parties, as is typical in parlimentary systems.  In theory a minor party could be beneficial as power brokers - if they limit their activities to developing committed constitutents who will vote as a block for whichever major party buys into their platform. Unfortunately the leaders of minor parties in the United States generally are so full of themselves they run hopeless campaigns to get themselves elected.  In the end their efforts usually end up helping the major party whose views are most far removed from their goals get elected.

In the end the path to change in a democracy comes only through wiser voting.  Studying issues outside the Washington/Media controlled political dialogue could inoculate most voters from the massive media campaigns that control elections these days, but, as long as life is pretty good most folks are so busy enjoying life they end up having no time to investigate issues.  So an election rolls around and either they don't vote, or they fall back on ideas rooted in emotional attachment to what is familiar, and are subject to emotional manipulation by the effective use of the media. 

In a burst of idealism I created a web site a couple years ago thinking I would start acting to develop an organization that voters could use for educating one another on issues (http://www.theidp.org/ ).  Alas, since that burst of enthusiam I have done nothing further toward bringing the organization into existence - I am to busy enjoying life to find time to act on it.