Democracy has Fallen, Can it Get Up?

Gentle reader,

If the USA is a democratic nation and democracy is so great then how come the government of the USA is doing things that its people did NOT ask for? Unless I am mistaken, the citizens of this great country did not ask for the following:

- A war in Iraq
- Their jobs being shipped to India and other countries
- A broken health care system
- Overpriced colleges
- Mostly non-existent public transportation
- Stagnant wages
- Both parents having to work in order to make ends meet
- Suspension of Habeas Corpus
- Half of their tax money being used for war
- Government snooping on their citizens
- The ability of the government to declare ANYONE an "enemy combatant" and send that person away to a concentration camp where they are tortured.
- Executives making insane amounts of money compared to their workers.
- Huge government debt, leading to a falling dollar and higher inflation.
- Social programs that are financially out of control such as medicare and social security.
- A crumbling infrastructure of roads and bridges

Part of the problem is that there really is little true choice in government - you get a bunch of rich guys in the pocket of corporations or another bunch of rich guys in the pocket of mostly the same corporations. A true and fair democracy would allow poor people to become president. When was the last time that happened? The ability to raise vast quantities of cash to pay for TV commercials biases things in favor of the people with deep pockets. The fact that dynasties of presidents occur (Bush, Kennedy, Clinton) is proof of the fact that the playing field is not level.

The system of government in the USA is clearly not working at this point and needs to be changed somehow.

The sad part is that as far as international opinion goes, the citizens of the USA are being tarred with the same brush as their government, even though they do not agree with most of what their government is doing. Most US citizens are as appalled and outraged by the actions of their government as anyone else. I have met precisely ZERO US citizens that are happy about the items mentioned at the beginning of this post. If you are reading this from a country outside the USA I would ask you to respect the fact that most Americans are not willing participants in their country's rapid downward slide into a state that resembles fascism more and more each day. They have been sold down the river by a government that seems to care only about money and power, and not about its own people. When I first came to the USA I was skeptical about the need for citizens to carry guns. Today, I am not so sure it's a bad idea.

Time for today's quote:

As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression.
In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged.
And it is in such a twilight that we all must be aware of
change in the air—however slight—lest we become unwilling victims of the darkness.
-Justice William O. Douglas

Until the next time, gentle reader, I remain,

your friend,

Buford Twain