There is nothing I dread so much as the division of America into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our constitution.” (Thomas Jefferson)
Thinking about our two major parties in Jefferson’s era does not give us a true picture of how they operate today or explain why they have failed to foster a full democracy.
A nation is Democratic when the humblest and weakest and the biggest
and most powerful citizens enjoy the same rights. (Randolph)
Jefferson was right about “political evil” as pertained during the decades when the current system was evolving; but that context has long since been surpassed by America’s real owners and rulers — Plutocrats.
One of the of the most powerful lessons I ever learned took place when I was appointed to my first corporate board, and that was that in the plutocratic stratosphere, in the smoke-filled rooms with the “zillionaires,” labels and affiliations, even political party registrations, don’t matter – greed and profit prevail.
No matter what the apparent national party leadership has been over the centuries — and there have been continuous shifts in national political party power — America’s leaders have gotten worse. America has been led at the national political level by 26 REPUBLICAN and 20 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS.
What chiefly diverts the lawmakers in democracies from lofty pursuits is not the amount of money they already have, but the passion, even violence, of the exertions they make to improve their amount. (Alexis de Tocqueville)
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed – for lack of a better word – is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms – … FOR MONEY … – has marked the upward surge of mankind. Profit seeking is ethical no matter how it is done. (Milton Friedman)
America’s Economic Power Elites constitute the PLUTOCRACY that wields unprecedented power and owns and manipulates elected and appointed officials. Stripped of the “camouflage dressing,” such as titles of their sub-groupings — e.g., Political, Governmental, Religious, Social, Republican, Democrat, Independent, Left, Right, Radical, Liberal, Conservative – the class looks like a monarchy. Their kin and kind remain in the upper strata and their lower echelon counterparts remain at the bottom irrespective of America’s waxing or waning economic conditions over time.
If one wants to understand American politics, he or she will have to understand that politicians are fixed on getting elected and getting re-elected (Thomas Sowell). To hold on to power, there is no act of treachery or meanness of which the true politician, as opposed to public servant, is not capable — for in politics there is no honor. Nevertheless: The tools have always been available to fix the political system itself, the vestiges of slavery, the permanency of appointments to the supreme court, and the Electoral College.
Leadership Failure is an obdurate, harmful bipartisan malady. However, citizen self-disenfranchisement, which accompanies leadership failure, is just as serious a malady, maybe worse, for it leads to an unrepresentative government, with elected leaders who do not resemble the public in demographics or favor the public in policy-making outcomes. Despite approval ratings in single digits, Incumbency Reelection Rates have been as high as 95%. Voters condemn politicians in general, but vote for their own.
Profit will always take precedence over public needs. What our Plutocratic Rulers will do to prevent change in the conduct of government defies tidy classification. Economic Power-Elites and narrow interest groups succeed in getting their favored policies adopted about 50% of the time, an astounding rate, and in stopping legislation to which they were opposed nearly 100% of the time.
“I can conceive of no better service than boldly exposing the weaknesses, liabilities and infinite corruptions of democracy.” (Walt Whitman)
I am morally bound to be relentless in pursuit of truth about our rulers, irrespective of their political affiliation – I have none. We who place love of America over political affiliation understand that the government we live under, now controlled by the political party system, must be transformed.
In 2016, 110 million adults self-disenfranchised; and 112,000 votes, 0.045% of the voting age population, tipped the Electoral College for Trump.
Trump lost in 2020 because voter turnout increased by 17.1 million. In 2024, 111 million voter eligible Americans self-disenfranchised and the negative outcomes are obvious.
Marches, petitions, polls, and surveys are features of a bygone epoch and will have no effect on the mindsets of todays’ rulers.
We The People have an opportunity in the Fall 2026 Midterms to send a signal as we did in 2020. A significant number of seats are open, including all house, 35 senate, and 36 gubernatorial seats.
Self-Disenfranchisers are accomplices of corrupt politicians and traitors.
