What Does It Mean To Be Politically Independent?
I have concluded of late that I could only consider myself a political independent if there is such a thing. I do not think I should be labeled "Republican" or "Democrat", on the "left" or on the "right" or any other affiliation except to be a proud citizen of this United States and live by the principles on which this great nation was founded.
As far as I am concerned, our government as it stands today is in great need of an overhaul and a wake up call. I firmly believe that if our founding fathers could see the way our government and institutions run today, they would be greatly disturbed and dismayed on how far "we the people" have strayed from the principles that our republic was built on.
There was a time long ago and at the beginning of our republic and our experiment in democracy, that to serve in public office was considered a privilege and not a right. To serve in public office often meant financial and personal sacrifice to those who gladly served the people and this great country, sacrifice or not.
Today, most who serve in public office expect a windfall financially and are mainly interested in the influence they can gain to increase their wealth in office and for when they leave office. Where is the personal and financial sacrifice to serve? They look at their title as a possession and not a privilege. They pontificate to attempt to bend the "will of the people" to their ways of thinking instead of deriving their actions from the "will of the people" to whom they profess to serve. Some politicians become so entrenched in their governmental powers; they often feel themselves above the law.
Today's politicians are a washed in a tsunami of lobbyists, who bend the ears of those in government in order to influence the politicians' vote that will most benefit the interests of the lobby they represent. How often do we see politicians, who when they leave office, become pawns; working for one lobby interest or the other? Elected federal government officials need to be banned by law from working for a lobby for at least 5 to 10 years after they leave office in order to stop the habit of influence peddling after they in fact leave public office.
I dare say, I lay a good part of the guilt for the perversion of public office on "we the people" themselves whom have absolved their responsibility to impose and elect officials on their merit and desire to serve the people. They have abdicated their rights by allowing so-called public servants to make their own decisions of policy and directions for the public servants own benefit. "To hell what the people want!" they say. "We know what is best for them. Where would they be without us?" they say as they puff up their chests and proudly strut.
I always thought that there should be some sort of term limitations for all federal elected positions, not just for the presidency. Change is good, as it allows the government to refresh itself on a regular basis by bringing new ideas and approaches to work for the people.
When will "we the people" ever wake up and demand that the government of the people, for the people, by the people be truly put into the hands of the people and not political demigods'?
I see the slow demise of our republic if "we the people" are not brought to our senses. Will we follow the demise that history has shown us be-felled other once great nations and peoples? I would say, it is likely, considering the current state of affairs of government and the distance we have traveled from our roots of our democracy and our republic.
Why "We the People" May Never Restore The Principles Of Our Founding Fathers To Our Federal Government
Restoring our government to its roots of being "of the people", "by the people", and "for the people"*may be impossible today. A majority of those elected, who will put up a good legal fight to keep things the way they are, has held our government hostage. It seems that there has become an unwritten premise that to hold political office you need a law degree. It has become increasingly hard for anyone without a law degree to be able to be elected, and if elected, make any significant changes in the politics practiced today or to have their own agendas be successful.
Did you know that the lawyer population has grown in size every year since 1951? The ratio** of lawyers to the general population has gone from 695/1 in 1951 to 264/1 in the year 2000. No wonder there are more instances today of lawyers suing lawyers than any time in the past. When the sharks begin running out of their food source due to too many sharks in the water, they begin then to feed on one another. This will become even worse as the years go by if past trends to continue.
Lord have mercy on us, if the ratio ever gets below 100/1.
Mr. Merokee
*The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863
**Research America - American Bar Foundation An ABF Update Volume 16, Number 1, Winter 2005
"Pro is to con as progress is to congress."
Anonymous
"The minute you read something you can't understand, you can almost be sure it was drawn up by a lawyer."
Will Rogers (1879-1935)
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
Aesop