Unfortunately, the system is setup to expediently counter attempts to change it. Why do you think we keep getting the same results after every election? If it was just a matter of "getting a democrat" in the office or "getting a republican" in office, then problems wouldn't exist, because we have one or the other in office every few years. It's a deeper problem in that the fingers that manipulate the puppetry and the machinery are so deeply embedded in the process that with very few outlying exceptions, little occurs which isn't vetted by the corrupt process. (Also reads: There aren't really many substantive differences between viable politicians.)
The few people with any power in politics are expelled by the system itself. They're either not viable to begin with or if they somehow absurdly get into the system, it marginalizes them. They're called crazy or otherwise derided and made irrelevant through all the modern mediums we have available to us and society itself is too pre-occupied with what church they go to or if they ever smoked pot.
I didn't say I have any meaningful way to contribute or improve the process. Nobody else really does, either. It's not merely as simple as "well, run for office and be the first honest person in the government!". Very few people can even stand up against a single company and fight injustices. What hope does anyone have against the corrupt government plus all of the companies - together?
I know, this is all very anti-American. We're raised to believe that there's always hope and "we the people" and "power to the people" and all. Just check the right box in the voting booth or volunteer your time to support the right magic politician that we've been waiting a couple centuries for.
There is a critical point past which an organism is so consumed with cancerous tissue that nothing can be done to save it.
They seem to be making progress at massive change in the middle east (Libya, Eqypt, Syria, etc.). It's pretty inspiring how much strength there is in numbers. I'm not much of a leader, but I would always participate.
Maybe one of the talented designers around HN could spin up a nice site to pledge to march on DC if/when 10 million people sign up? I'd write the copy and donate some hosting $.
> They seem to be making progress at massive change in the middle east (Libya, Eqypt, Syria, etc.). It's pretty inspiring how much strength there is in numbers. I'm not much of a leader, but I would always participate.
This is after 40 or so years of dictatorship in every single one of those countries; and peaceful previous attempts did not work (were mostly met with deadly force)
In the US, most people have the illusion that they are actually voting for THEIR representative, and thus it will take 400 years (not 40) until something will happen. Douglas Adams described this very well:
"Ford Prefect, of course, had an explanation for this, as he sat with Arthur and watched the nonstop frenetic news reports on television, none of which had anything to say other than to record that the thing had done this amount of damage which was valued at that amount of billions of pounds and had killed this totally other number of people, and then say it again, because the robot was doing nothing more than standing there, swaying very slightly, and emitting short incomprehensible error messages.
"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
The few people with any power in politics are expelled by the system itself. They're either not viable to begin with or if they somehow absurdly get into the system, it marginalizes them. They're called crazy or otherwise derided and made irrelevant through all the modern mediums we have available to us and society itself is too pre-occupied with what church they go to or if they ever smoked pot.
I didn't say I have any meaningful way to contribute or improve the process. Nobody else really does, either. It's not merely as simple as "well, run for office and be the first honest person in the government!". Very few people can even stand up against a single company and fight injustices. What hope does anyone have against the corrupt government plus all of the companies - together?
I know, this is all very anti-American. We're raised to believe that there's always hope and "we the people" and "power to the people" and all. Just check the right box in the voting booth or volunteer your time to support the right magic politician that we've been waiting a couple centuries for.
There is a critical point past which an organism is so consumed with cancerous tissue that nothing can be done to save it.