Corruption in Politics: The Root of it All

Ever find yourself overwhelmed by the state of the world and wonder how we got here? Facing so many problems it seems impossible to focus your energy on just ONE?

I have and I believe this feeling is at the heart of the Bernie movement.

We’ve hit a state of crisis, not just in our country, but globally. Issues like climate change, the refugee crisis, polluted water and air, mass shootings, fracking, toxic waste, homelessness, hate crimes, discrimination against lgbt people, out of control police shooting black people, devastating impact of industry on our environment, and rampant (steadily increasing) poverty, just to name a few.

At the core of it all is one thing; A corrupt political system.

There is a system in place, an elected government, a CONSTITUTION, that is there specifically for the benefit of the American people.

“in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”

I don’t know about you, but I think they have FAILED MISERABLY at carrying out their duty upholding the Constitutional rights of the American people and our future generations.

Their actions have been motivated, not by justice, truth, and the best interest of the people, but instead by incentives from large corporations that keep the wealth in a (very) small group of individuals that benefit monetarily while the state of our nation, not to mention our environment, suffers catastrophic and sometimes irreversible damage.

Every issue facing our nation can be linked directly to a government body that has failed to implement productive policies for the people, instead promoting their own personal financial interests.

Perhaps we were a great nation at some point. A global leader. But now we are nothing shy of an embarrassment.

Our so called leaders have lost their sense of humanity (if they ever had it), and replaced it with greed. They have exchanged integrity for a payout, livelihoods for a boost in personal wealth. An unnecessary financial boost when you compare the average salary and benefits for members of the house and senate (174,000 plus benefits) to the average salary of the average American (overall average of 53,000 with over 14% of Americans below the poverty line: >24,000 for a family of 4!).

The scope of ignorance and greed is hardly a mistake. They clearly have access to the data, statistics, and scientific facts and still take a payout to work intentionally against the health of the people and environment.

At some point the history of ‘mistakes’ adds up to a character flaw and a continuous lapse in judgement that can’t be excused by the willingness to admit, in hindsight, that you were wrong.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough. We don’t have time for business as usual. The answer to addressing the catastrophic problems we face is to get involved in the political movement and demand that things change. It is the responsibility of our government to protect the people, ALL the people, the economy, and the environment, not to use taxpayer dollars to abuse their position for personal financial gain.

It’s time to demand they do their jobs. It’s not just about the presidential election. It really is about a political revolution. One we desperately need.