Is Voting the Best Solution

In the current broken political arena, here are some new ideas. You may not agree with them all but perhaps this can be a starting point for a new discussion. While many people feel not voting is apathetic, I disagree. This is not about one man not voting, it is trying get a large collective of people not voting as a national demonstration against a system that is no longer representing us - the people of the United States...

We, the United States of America, are the greatest nation on Earth. We are compassionate, inclusive, and safe. Yet over the past few decades we have begun the fall from this position. We are a nation with a government of the people, by the people, and for the people and it is this government – not the people – that is failing.

Our current two party system has divided the country like never before. Even though it may seem like we have so much choice, this choice is just an illusion. It becomes difficult to support a candidate we know can't be elected. The favored candidates are always the ones with the most money and can therefore "market" themselves better than the others.

Personal, party, and corporate money supplies these "marketing" efforts. Even the "Get Out the Vote" campaigns are financed by the same sources. Therefore we end up with candidates that, although we don't believe in, become a "lesser of two evils".

I don't want to vote for a "lesser of two evils" candidate, I want to choose greatness! Our current money driven system doesn't allow for greatness to break through because true greatness in a candidate would have the nation's people as the main agenda rather than corporate policy or international interests. I know we are in an irreversible global economy and I am not speaking about protectionism. A candidate that truly puts the American people first won't get the needed monetary support. We need to start doing things differently.

I say to you all, the people of our great nation, that it is time to show our discontent and be civilly disobedient, which was a founding tool of this country, and not participate any longer. Don't participate in a system driven by money and where our choice doesn't include a choice for greatness.

If enough of us decide not to play this game any longer, real change can begin to occur. Perhaps a system that is open to other parties or where other voices get equal time to be heard will result in better candidates. Any businessman knows that competition makes the product better. There is so much negative propaganda being thrown around between all the current candidates that if it were even half true, why would we want these people as our leaders.

A law degree and time in congress doesn't guarantee a great candidate and neither does being a preacher or a CEO. Candidates should be required to have certain skills and character traits that I believe we could collectively agree, contribute to making a potentially great candidate. We talk about athletes or actors being role models, how about our leaders being great role models first and again recognizing that that alone will not make a great candidtae either.

I also realize that greatness varies from county to country and we need to select a greatness based on what we are as a nation. We need to recognize certain inalienable rights as the founders of this country stated and that we are "endowed by our Creator".. This does not exclude anyone. An atheist can participate but should also recognize this foundation, his views may vary but the foundation exists.

We also need to understand our freedom, which is of highest priority but that doesn't mean changing rules or laws to favor one group over another. It does mean that everyone is free to choose how they want to live within our system of laws and be able to do so without persecution.
As with anyone that complains, the question will come…what would you do? I am not a lawyer, a preacher, or a CEO. I am an average American citizen that knows we need a change. I don't have all the answers nor the experience, perhaps, to even ask the right questions but I do know our system is broken. So as not to be a coward and refrain from answering or dodging the question, the following ideas are suggestions from my humble place that, I believe, would have some merit.

1) Education: Education should be at the top of our priority list by far. Excellent education will help solve some of our problems on its own and can take care of parts of other issues along the way. While we should not leave anyone behind, "No Child Left Behind" is only teaching to a lower common denominator and we deserve better. The current of idea of adding 100,000 new teachers is simply a start. We need to go much farther than that and there are many small successful programs that we can take pieces from to have a positive effect on a larger scale.
2) War: The war needs to stop or at least be minimized immediately. There is no reason to lose life and waste resources the way it is currently happening. Pointing fingers at guys like Musharraf for wasting billions, and that is billions with a "b", is ridiculous. Where is the accountability on our side that gave him the money in the first place? The 100,000 new teachers is already causing budget concerns but if the war machine was in check, the 5-10 billion dollars needed annually for the teacher program is not an issue at all. We are spending that much for a month in Iraq.
3) Taxes: The average person pays more than enough taxes. I believe we should have an entertainment tax. This would be for athletes, actors, musicians, celebrities, etc. that make above $5 million per year. Above $5 million, there would be a 50% tax that would be paid directly into the communities where the person lives or works to pay for education, the homeless, healthcare, or other social programs. CEOs would also fall under this tax too, unless the total annual compensation didn't exceed some reasonable multiple of the lowest paid worker. People would still be free to make as much money as they can, but when athletes are making $10-15 million a year, actors are making $20 million a picture, or a CEO that does a poor job walks with a compensation package of $40 million, something is out of whack!
4) Health Care: Health care must be available to everyone. Perhaps some of the entertainment tax would help in this area. Mostly though the legal and insurance systems must be revised regarding health care. Costs skyrocket because of insurance and litigation.
5) The Environment: We are at a critical time here. Maybe you believe in global warming, maybe you don't. If we do something about it and it happens that global warming is not true, we simply end up with a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable planet. If we do nothing and global warming isn't true, then no big deal. But if we do nothing and global warming is true, then we have a catastrophic situation for the planet and a questionable future for our children. Doing something seems like the only reasonable option. Steps such as mandating 35 mpg vehicles by 2020 are a joke. We have the technology to do this tomorrow if we want!
6) Our Sovereignty: As our nation developed, did we make mistakes? Sure we did but we can't look back. We will never not have slavery as a part of our history. It's important to understand it, learn from it, and make sure it never happens again and think about a current context "...of all men created equal with certain inalienable rights..." Now we are the United States of America. We are an English speaking sovereign nation. Why is it so hard to say we want to have English as our national language? We have our own borders and our own laws and we do welcome everyone here. Yet, if you need a picture for your driver's license, you can't wear a burkha. If you need a social security card for a job, you must register in this country properly. This is not discrimination; it's our country's laws. We all must abide by them without distinction. We don't require anyone to speak English or take off your burkha but we shouldn't change our laws to serve the few and we shouldn't be forced to do things in other languages.

Finally, these issues seem like common sense and I know many people in my circle feel as I do. They really shouldn't offend anyone either but somehow they always do. I believe the reason is because our government has failed us. It is no longer of the people, by the people, and for the people. We have given our country over to career politicians and corporate interests that have self serving agendas and not the agenda of the American people first. I believe this has happened because our current system forces us to choose our leaders based on "the lesser of two evils" idea and not on a selection for greatness. Until I have a choice for greatness, I won't vote!