by Joseph Whalen

Created on: July 07, 2010

The government doesn’t have the right to pass any laws. Legislation in a representative government is a matter of duty and responsibility.  As a result legally elected representatives of a governing body have the power to enact all laws they see fit to enact, regardless of whether the general population agrees with those laws or not.  This is a fundamental fact that has been not only the driving principle of our government but other such elected governments over time.  Historically the ultimate result of this type of power always leads to corruption and abuse.  This was the case with the Greeks and Romans and is also the case with the United States.

The average citizen in such a corrupt and broken system of government is placated with the artificial power of the vote.  If the citizens disagree with their representatives they can elect new representatives that best reflect their ideals and philosophy.  This has been the corner stone of democracy since its inception and for at least that long it has been a fiction.  The vote of the individual is so diluted in the grand scheme of the process as to make the individual citizens voice totally unheard.

Instead we let the politicians, lawyers, big business and special interest groups control the government.  While this is a disappointing and painful reality it is reality none the less.  In today’s society many people see this for the truth that it is and generally make one of two decisions.  If you truly want your voice heard you can align yourself with either a political party or a special interest group that reflects your thinking.  Or the unfortunate alternative that more and more American’s are opting for is simply to remove themselves from the process all together and not vote at all.

Today’s two party political system in the United States has taken the inherent failings of representative government with its susceptibility to corruption to new levels.  Virtually locked out of the political process entirely, third party candidates from various backgrounds and philosophy are mere footnotes in the political process.  While a few have met with some success, for the most part the third party candidates are used as pawns on the chess board between the other two major party candidates.  Set up to either distract voters from the real issues, or propped up and supported by one party to draw votes away from another, third party

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