I believe that this system has been rigged for the elite and, as a result, is too badly broken and too corrupt to be salvaged. Whenever a political / national system collapses and eventually gets replaced by a, hopefully but not necessarily better, system, that is usually referred to as a revolution.
The US the system of government was deliberately designed to limit democracy in order to prevent a tyranny of the 51%. An good idea that was poorly implemented. The US senate is fundamentally undemocratic, as is a gerrymandered Congress. The Supreme Court where the justices rule for life is, at least so far as a democratic institution goes, a complete fuck-up. The President of the US is not elected by “the people” but by the electoral collage. All in all the the claim of “one person, one vote” is a complete illusion found nowhere in the Constitution that we all claim to love some much. (Well, some of us anyway.)
“States rights” are, inevitably, used as cover for the elite to abuse the population over and above that allowed by the federal Constitution. In my lifetime “States Rights” have been a cover for Jim Crow laws, allow assaults on women's rights, provide loop holes though which corporations can poor poisons into communities and, today, to allow Christians to discriminate against LGBT citizens.
Elections are not going to get it done. Armed revolutions are deadly, leading to years of war and deprivation followed by, if one is lucky, a slow rebuild into something better. Successful peaceful revolutions are likely another illusion. Without at least the credible threat of violence, why would those in power pay any attention? (Before anyone points to MLK, it doesn't seem to me the civil rights movement would have gone far without the implied and, sometimes, implicit violence of groups like the Blank Panthers.) If someone comes up with a way that replaces this corrupt system without a shot being fired, I am all for it.
That being said, having the country fade into history rather than convulse into something new is probably the best bet for most of us. With a certain amount of doing people can still carve out a pretty good life, take care of the ones they love, know a certain amount of joy, share in the laughter of kids and grand kids, and practice a bit of personal freedom and responsibility. As I move into the late fall and early winter of my own sojourn, my wife and I have carved out such a life. If I am completely honest, if there is to be a revolution, and as much as I think that could be a good thing and is quite possibly and inevitable thing, I hope it holds off for a few more decades.
But if it doesn't, if my grand kids decide that enough is enough and take to the streets, I will understand. In fact, I would hope to take up my (by then needed) walker, and join them.
The US the system of government was deliberately designed to limit democracy in order to prevent a tyranny of the 51%. An good idea that was poorly implemented. The US senate is fundamentally undemocratic, as is a gerrymandered Congress. The Supreme Court where the justices rule for life is, at least so far as a democratic institution goes, a complete fuck-up. The President of the US is not elected by “the people” but by the electoral collage. All in all the the claim of “one person, one vote” is a complete illusion found nowhere in the Constitution that we all claim to love some much. (Well, some of us anyway.)
“States rights” are, inevitably, used as cover for the elite to abuse the population over and above that allowed by the federal Constitution. In my lifetime “States Rights” have been a cover for Jim Crow laws, allow assaults on women's rights, provide loop holes though which corporations can poor poisons into communities and, today, to allow Christians to discriminate against LGBT citizens.
Elections are not going to get it done. Armed revolutions are deadly, leading to years of war and deprivation followed by, if one is lucky, a slow rebuild into something better. Successful peaceful revolutions are likely another illusion. Without at least the credible threat of violence, why would those in power pay any attention? (Before anyone points to MLK, it doesn't seem to me the civil rights movement would have gone far without the implied and, sometimes, implicit violence of groups like the Blank Panthers.) If someone comes up with a way that replaces this corrupt system without a shot being fired, I am all for it.
That being said, having the country fade into history rather than convulse into something new is probably the best bet for most of us. With a certain amount of doing people can still carve out a pretty good life, take care of the ones they love, know a certain amount of joy, share in the laughter of kids and grand kids, and practice a bit of personal freedom and responsibility. As I move into the late fall and early winter of my own sojourn, my wife and I have carved out such a life. If I am completely honest, if there is to be a revolution, and as much as I think that could be a good thing and is quite possibly and inevitable thing, I hope it holds off for a few more decades.
But if it doesn't, if my grand kids decide that enough is enough and take to the streets, I will understand. In fact, I would hope to take up my (by then needed) walker, and join them.
