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It all depends on who is in power. When the Republicans are in power, the Democrats are the whining babies. They ridicule their President about “Mission Accomplished.” They complain about him on foreign soil. They insult his intelligence and constantly bring up that he might once of been an alcoholic. They oppose every bill that he makes so that he’ll compromise.
And when the tables are turned, they’ll denounce the very same thing they just did.
The Cycle
Such is the cycle of power. Those that are in it believe that they are owed unquestioning ability to dictate policy. They discuss everything as a mandate from the voters because “the voters chose us.” When they’re out of power, the same people will discuss how mandates are much less broad, how there’s a mandate for a small changes, not big ones.
And it’s not just policy.
The same people that say that a given tactic is wrong will switch and say that it’s right. Backers of a given policy will suddenly become the policy’s biggest opponents should the opposite side decide that the policy wasn’t so bad after all.
The Other Side is Evil/Stupid
It’s all about the votes. You see, at one point in time only land-owners voted. Now that everyone has the right to vote—and few people actually do—the game is more about how many registered voters can you get to the polling place than about whether you have the best policy for the country.
To that end, politicians exaggerate the opposite side in order to get people to the polls. They say that one candidate is stupid and a cowboy. They say the other is a Muslim or the Anti-Christ. They say that the Patriot Act is the end of privacy, but then turn around and pass Health Insurance Bill that potentially creates privacy problems with medical records.
They’re after power and control, and they know the game.
Just like then Sen. Obama was able to beat then Sen. Clinton in the primaries because he knew the timing of the primaries, our elected representatives have gerrymandered districts and know just the right things to say and do to continue to keep them in office, and they consistently bad mouth the other side.
Is There a Solution?
There are a series of steps that could be taken to fix the problem, but it’s bigger and has gone on longer for any one solution to fix—and that’s why many people have given up or are looking to another revolution.
The problem is that all of this comparing and all of this name calling has divided our nation to the point that it is no longer about who has the better policies or discussing these policies, but it’s become about the character of the people that hold the policies. It’s no longer “I have the better idea” but “I am the better person, I’m less of a hypocrite, and I’m smarter than you.”
We’ve gone very far down the path of splitting this country—where both parties have tactics have taken root and are now bearing the fruit of the animosity and fear used to get listeners, to get votes, and to get power. We are reaping what we sow—and that is truly scary.
You know why only land owners voted? It’s because in America if you purchased land, you truly owned it sovereignly. The people who owned the land had the right to decide what was done on the land. This is what was known as Property Rights. Because the people owned a piece of the state, gave them the right to be represented in the government of the state.
I don’t think it had nearly as much to do with how rich a person was as many today would have us all believe.
Right derives from property. Your first piece of property is your body. Whatever you are able to produce for yourself becomes your property.
Of course, the government has done away with all of that through an elaborate series of laws over the last two centuries…
That’s why the government has a right to tax your land today… because you don’t own it. The legal term for truly owning land is allodial title. You can look that one up. You’ll find that there are only two states that still offer allodial title on land… Texas is one of them.
Anyway, I’d say that the reason the two parties complain about the other then go and commit the same sins as the last is because the Republic is corrupt beyond saving at this point and the two parties are essentially the same.
.-= Arthur Eiss´s last blog ..Obtaining the City Code of Schenectady =-.
Interesting research, thanks for that Arthur. I’m not sure that there ever was allodial title in the United States. According to the source I read, originally all land was the property of the King, and even after the Revolutionary War, many of the states kept land in the control of the states rather than granting allodial title. In fact, though Texas and Nevada have pseudo Allodial title, it cannot be passed on to descendants, it cannot be mortgaged, and there are other strings attached.
So I’m not sure if it’s accurate to say that property ownership has been removed by future Congresses, but I agree that it’s been eroded by Congress and the Supreme Court.
With the spiraling decrease in intellectual and moral content of our politicians, you cannot blame the people for such a terrible mess we find ourselves in. For a country to progress, it is important for the people to take the initiative and start passing the baton along. We need to work on smaller issues, for the bigger issues to be highlighted. Being opinionated and worldly wise is easy. What is difficult, and important is to initiate action.
You can look that one up. You’ll find that there are only two states that still offer allodial title on land… Texas is one of them.For a country to progress, it is important for the people to take the initiative and start passing the baton along.
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@Jackson