Congress is Obsolete, or How I Would Change America Into a True Democracy.

The car made horse and buggy obsolete.  The airplane made cross-country trips and intercontinental travel faster and safer.  The computer made working environments easier and more time efficient to manage.  The microwave has given the world a faster way, albeit not a more tasty alternative in my opinion, to eat meals.

Congress has been around for hundreds of years now.  The world has changed in leaps and bounds since it's inception.  Congress was initiated in a time when traveling around the country was very difficult for Americans.  The leaders of the new nation decided that in order for the people's voices to be heard in all decisions for the country, they would vote for and elect representatives from their area of the country and send them to Washington D.C. to represent them and their views as best they could.  They were elected for the people, by the people, and to vote on issues with how the majority of those people in their district would vote on different bills presented to the American people.

Representatives were sent from all corners of the country to this city of Washington D.C. and congress was born.  The people of the time put their faith in these people to represent them as best as they could.  Americans read what was going on in the world in newspapers and by word of mouth.  The people of the country relied on these elected officials to keep abreast on world issues, national issues, and to represent the local issues of the people that supported him back home.

While this idea of how a democracy could be run was effective and functional back in it's day, the very idea of having a congress today makes no sense and needs to be overhauled dramatically.  The new millennium has made way for an amazing array of technologies that make the very existence of congress non-essential.   If it is on a strict look at the reasons alone for why their is congress in the first place, there are a couple of important reasons as to why the theory of it was put in place in our system of governance to begin with.  One is what i explained earlier, the people needed to be represented according to the majority of what people in certain districts believed.  These people could not all be in Washington at the same time, and thus, needed to send somebody there to be their voice of reason.  Secondly, congress was a part of a three system checks and balance system that was to have no more or less power than the president and the supreme court.

Times have changed and both of these conditions can be preserved in a system of true democracy.  A system where all people will be represented fairly and the corruption of single individuals who are influenced by big business and lobbyists would become a thing of the past.  I am disgusted at the way that my vote is being represented in this country.  I am sick of turning on the news, or reading an article online, and hearing about a congressman who is being investigated for doing this, or how a congresswoman has done that.  I am sick of seeing how much money is required to run a political campaign, and since there is not term limits on congressmen, most of them take large amounts of money from corporations and usually return this favor throughout the course of their term.

I am sick of how i hear stories of how much a member of congress is worth before and after they arrive in Washington.  I am sick of how many of them end up afterwards being a member of a lobby group in Washington, or take high paying jobs at the corporations that contributed to their campaigns during their political days.  I am sick of how members of institutions were bailed out with taxpayer money and they continue to get money to this day as a means to stay viable and to be able to stay in business, but the leaders and executives of these companies receive bonuses given out to each other while nobody in congress pays this much mind unless it is just a soundbite on some tv interview where they are only on there for the publicity, and not to truly create action into the wrongdoings because they have been bought.  I am sick that nobody stands for anything anymore.  We have nobody to trust.  It doesn't matter if you are Republican or Democratic:  almost all politicians in washington are in washington for two reasons and that is to stay in Washington and make money.

Power and greed, power and greed.  It is who represents us today.  The sad truth is, is that the power and greed that those in power represent aren't even directed towards the people in their districts.  No, they are solely for themselves and the people are the ones who are suffering on a daily basis.  The very rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer, and the middle class is drifting into becoming new members of the proletariat.  When the congressmen that we elect are in the rich getting richer category, why should they really care about the rest of the country?  Do we really expect that morality would be something that these people have?  Where does this notion come from that so-and-so is a great leader and cares for me and the american people?  Can we really trust in someone we don't know that much and be that apathetic?

America has grown by leaps and bounds since she was born.  How can we put this much faith in those we vote for when so much is at stake and so much money can be made?  We don't have to anymore.

Congress is obsolete.  It is unnecessary.  It was a way to get things done.  It is not the only way to get things done.  Not anymore.  All voices can count.  The American people can be that other cog in the checks and balances scale on a much more intimate level.

We live in the age of technology.  Everyone can be anywhere in a click of a button.  The internet has changed the way the world thinks, reacts, and learns.  News is instantaneous.  Opinions are generated within seconds of something happening 10,000 miles away.  All of our thoughts and feelings can be expressed to the world if they want to see it on various social networking sites.  We can harness this power into creating a congress of the people, represented by all of the people.  There would no longer be a need for congressmen and women to clog the throats of democracy with stall tactics and filibusters.  There would be no more need for political campaigns, except for the president who represents us in foreign matters, which means that there would be no more abilities for corporations to buy into campaigns, and thus, be able to buy into laws that would benefit them and hurt the American people.

What i propose is a daily voting social website.  So far this year, the Senate has voted on 206 bills.  206 bills in 320 days.  That may seem like a lot of bills but it is less than 1 bill a day.  Some of these bills are to confirm politicians in different states, or in Washington.  We can truly make it the law of the land if we can manage to translate onto a social website that can be accessed by every television, telephone, computer, or wireless device in America.  Everyone has one of these in their possession.  If you don't then we can make hotlines available in any public library or school.  It isn't that hard to get to one of those devices.  The people would have the ability to vote on all issues presented and be able to present them themselves.

People would be able to vote by registering on the site by using their social security number and PIN number.  They could research any of the votes up for debate and vote on what they have knowledge on.  they would not have to vote on every bill presented and they don't have to vote at all, but they would have the ability to do so.  Any matter that they deem as important to them, they can have a voice and have a vote that mattered and know in good faith that their vote was not diluted in corruption or backroom handshakes.  If a vote is to confirm someone as a judge or what have you in certain states, then that vote would be just for people in the state that would be effected by the outcome.

Bills would be presented to the people by action from the people.  Bills would be written by leaders voted on by the people who would have term limits to no more than two terms of two years each and these leaders would present bills to those in his/her state first.  This will ensure that the country would not get flooded with bills and have too much information for them to process.  If a bill is deemed worthy to continue, the people in his/her state will pass it and it will go on to the national stage where all would vote on it.  The person elected to make these decisions will not be able to run their campaign with any political contributions from corporations and they will make up only bills that deal with national/state issues.  The president will enlist the help of cabinet members to keep an eye on foreign policy and present bills to the American people as to how we want to take action overseas.

All the bills would be presented to the people through the internet, television, and newspapers.  People would either go to the website and clear the security checkpoints that would be built for authenticity and vote, or they could call the voting hotline and speak to a representative, or an automated system.  All the votes would be recorded and you could see your voting history if you chose to.

This is my idea.  I am open to suggestions on how to make it better if you don't agree with all of it, or how things could be made better.  I believe that it would end corruption.  It may need some tweaks, but I believe that the basic premise of the plan would be groundbreaking and instrumental in changing the world and the face of American politics where everyone has a voice, and it would matter.  Why do we have to put blind faith into someone we don't really know when we can trust the one person we know better than anyone else?  The one person who we know will represent the people with dignity, honor, and honesty is the answer.  Ourselves.

history repeating...for who?

history can't repeat what it hasn't even witnessed.  history can only be studied when there is actual facts to go off of.  history isn't a judgement of what could potentially happen in the future when based off of fear.  history is pretty straight forward.  history is repeating itself as we speak...

let's take a look.

once, there was a girl.  she was a very pretty girl.  she had the world at her fingertips and she wanted to do all that she could to make a difference in the world and in the lives of others.  she was also very smart.  she went to a really good school in the big city and had it made.  or, so it would seem.

growing up as a child, this girl grew up in a family with a brother and sister and she was quite different from them.  she was often teased that she was not even a part of the family and this girl even questioned this as an adult.  she was taller and had a different nose and complexion from the others and that fueled her sense of being an outcast in her own family. 

and then there was dad.  what a man.  what a great example on how not to treat your children.  he was an abusive mess that squandered money and treated his children like crap.  the abuse that he spewed upon his children struck the girl at the very core and imprinted the girl with the image of what a man should be.  she carried this into adulthood.

she would pick guys to be in her life that imitated how her father treated her growing up and she would breakup and get back together constantly with these men that treated her like crap.  they would get drunk and they would yell.  they would talk down to her and they would make her feel like she wasn't worth anything that was worthwhile.  she was a flower that had bloomed in the beginning of spring, but a flower that was so beautiful and yet placed in a closet, in a basement, and never showcased by those that she cared about.  she was placed in these places to wither up and just get by on the occasional good word or two that would be given to her.

and she almost gave up at different points.  she spent time in hospitals and she lost her way here and there.  she ran to other places to start over and she travelled to forget the past.  she tried therapy because she could see what she was going through was killing her and she wanted to find a new way to live.  she never stayed in therapy for very long though.  it's tough to face the past, especially when she thought she had the answers and knew which way to turn next.  controlling her own life, she moved on.

and she met a new guy.  he was a nice guy she thought.  he worked out and had a nice smile.  he treats me nice and means well.  he just gets angry every once in awhile when he drinks, but he's working on it.  he'll be okay.  i love this man that has yelled at me for no good reason in the past.  that is behind him now.  i know it.  i'm so good, he will change his ways with me. 

there was a guy too that was a really good friend of this girl.  she and him shared all their secrets about the past to one another and told each other how they truly felt at any given time.  sure he liked her, loved her even.  they shared a kiss one time in the very beginning of knowing one another.  he tried on multiple occasions to start a relationship with this girl.  he wanted to treat her the way that she should be treated.  he knew she was special.  he could talk to her about anything and could laugh with her about the world.  at the same time, he could enjoy his time with her without having the relationship and looked forward to chatting with her whenever it happened.

he looked forward to her on a daily basis because he felt alone in the world.  he was going through his own things too and one night he started to plan the end of it all.  he reached out to her and she helped him through this time of trouble like he had in the past for her.  they always looked out for each other.  she asked him to come and stay with her for awhile to get away from his problems for a bit.  he went to his family and they agreed that it would be a good idea. 

she told him that she was not with her man anymore when she originally told him to stay with her, but that they were working things out.  this is the guy that was treating her poorly before, but she thought that he was really trying and she wanted to work things out.  she ultimately decided that the guy she had shared so much with throughout the years shouldn't come because he would obviously want to be looking for a relationship again and she didn't think that would be fair for the ex that she wanted to reconcile with.  she cited the fact that history repeats and she doesn't want that to happen. 

and now she is back together with him.  just like how she got back together with the boyfriends of the past.  she sees that he has really tried hard to change his entire way of being in the last couple months and that he is going to be on the straight and narrow now.  history surely doesn't repeat for people like him, or like her.  she isn't trying to find someone like her dad.  she isn't living over and over again with a relationship where the guy treats her like shit.  no, no.  that isn't repeating.  no, what is repeating is that this damn guy i have known for so long, who actually cares about me and has never treated me like crap keeps saying that he wants me as a girlfriend.  what nerve!  i got this guy right now who treats me like shit occasionally, but he is turning it around.  you'll see.  i will fix this relationship because i owe it to myself because i couldn't do it with my father.  that's what i am gonna do.  i won't just accept someone who cares about me and that's it.  that would be too easy.  i don't deserve that.

things may be good now, but she believes that history repeats.  her friend hopes she is prepared then for what she has done to herself again.  it's gonna happen.  it may not be now, next week, or next month...but, it's going to happen.  she says so herself.  and then what?  who's next?  who can fix her? 

as the sun sets

he grabbed his iced tea and walked out onto the porch.  sitting down in the fading sun, he heard the voices of crickets in the fields around him.  the rocking chair creaked as he started to sway.  he had surely seen his fair share of sunsets.  grey now, his hair had receded back from it's once youthful abundance.  his face and hands were seasoned and wrinkled from a life spent living and working like anybody else.  he took a sip of his drink as kids rode by his rancher on the dirt road that his house sat next to.  he waved and smiled into the sky.

oh, to be young again he thought to himself.  to be able to do it all over again!  how he wished for those days again when he could carry maggie lee's books home from school.  he remembered his first car and taking it downtown the first chance he could to show it off to his friends.  he was so athletic back then.  picturing himself running down the field during high school football games and hearing the crowd scream as he crossed the goal line  he closed his eyes and relished in the memories.  he opened his eyes and looked all around him.

and there was nothing around him.  his house was out in the middle of nowhere with about a mile in between houses.  his wife, nicole, passed away from cancer about four years earlier and he was now just waiting for his time.  he thought of his time left on earth as a precursor to his time to come in heaven.  he questioned the lord for a time about why he took his beloved first, but that time had come and gone now.  he knew that the things in life happened for a reason and he would just relax his soul in his final days of life.

yes, he took a sip from his perspiring glass and brushed the drops off his shirt that fell from the bottom of the glass.  he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and let out a sigh.  the sun was coming down the sky now at a good pace and he anticipated the color show to pick up at any moment as the ball of fire made it's way toward the tree line in the distance.

it reminded him of his days as a truck driver.  he would take his loads across the entire nation and he sat back in his chair and rocked away while thinking of all the magnificent sunsets he had witnessed.  all the colors he had seen painted across the most beautiful canvas ever created.  the pinks and oranges mixing with purples and blues set his mind into utter awe as he kept his motor cruising down the highway into the unknown.  driving was a time of peace for him when he was out on the open road with nobody around.  he was fine being by himself for long stretches of time.  he remembered how he used to sing out loud in his cab while the sounds of the day filtered through his ears.  oh, how that brought a smile to his face.

he remembered that feeling he had as he walked back through the door, of the very home he sat in front of now, to see nicole turn from prepping dinner in the kitchen and how she would run to him and kiss his lips.  it was the best reward for a job well done he could ever had asked for and she gave that gift to him every time he came back home to her.  she was all that he could ever had hoped for in life.  she had a smile that only god could have provided him.  she was a dedication from god to him.  how he missed her.  he kept her voice running in his head all day long now.  he longed to hear her yell to him that dinner would be ready soon and could he set the table.  one day soon it would be again he thought.

he gazed off into the distance.  he practically was looking through the distance now and into what was to be.  he was content with his life.  he didn't do much to improve the world, but the people around him improved his life and he liked to think that he helped the people he knew as much as he could.  he raised a good family and his children were parents now themselves doing the best they could for their own.  this put a smile on his face.  what more could he have asked for?  by no means was he rich monetarily, but his life had been a landslide of royalties that made him the richest man in the world.

he had loved.  he was loved.  he appreciated.  he was appreciated. 

now, as the sun set underneath the horizon, he got up slowly from his chair out on the porch and stretched his back and arms.  he turned towards the door and made his way.  he turned the knob and pushed it open.  he heard his kids scream daddy with huge smiles on their faces as they ran to him.  he picked them up.  one in each arm and kissed them on their heads as the dog barked and wagged his tail frantically beside them.  his wife peeked around the corner and walked up to him with a smirk on her face.  he set the kids down and took his best friend in the whole world into his arms as she welcomed him home.

What Are Your Demands?

Today was my first public demonstration. I, like many others, have felt that my government has failed me. I am not too sure if it ever was succeeding for me in the first place. Sure, I have had an education given to me through high school and I live in a free country that gives me the ability to write what I am about to write, but I feel that the ability to grow and to become successful in our current environment is hard at best. That is why I believe in the Occupy Together movement and stand in solidarity with those around the country in Occupy demonstrations. This morning, I had to become a part of the solution as opposed to just complaining about the problems.

I walked up to the park in front of the Selby Library at 9:30am to find a group already assembled and we talked one at a time to each other about what we were so against. It was a group of about fifty or so and the people came from all facets of life. There was young, old, rich, and poor. We all came from different angles of the social spectrum, but we all had a common voice. That voice spoke out to the fact that there is something fundamentally wrong with America, we have little say right now in how things are being handled, and that we wanted to find a way to empower ourselves again. After we all greeted each other, we took to the streets with our signs and our voices.

And we marched. We took our voices up and down Main St. We parked our campaign in front of major banking institutions like Bank of America and Suntrust Bank. As we walked and chanted slogans like, "WHO GOT BAILED OUT? BANKS GOT BAILED OUT! WHO GOT SOLD OUT? WE GOT SOLD OUT!", people not involved with the protests looked on in the beautiful Florida sunshine. Others in cars and trucks that drove by put there windows down to hear what we were saying. Most of the people that went by gave us the thumbs up, or smiled, and others honked their horns as they drove by. And yes, a handful of people yelled back at us to get a job, or that they disagreed and that we should go home. All of these were acceptable answers to us because even if you were displeased with what we were saying, our message was getting out there to the masses and that message would stick in the minds of those that saw and heard it.

We made our way back to the park around 12:30pm and we gathered to chat to passerby's who had questions for us. A lot of the people that had questions about our movement had similar questions and seemed to have been misinformed by the media as to what we were doing out there. Someone that I was talking to made it seem like the only goal of our operation was that we were looking for some kind of handout from the rich. This is far from the truth.

I can tell you what I was there for, and what a lot of others there would agree with. The government is corrupted by corporations. The corporations run today by the 1% of our nation have a stranglehold on our entire country and all that inhabit it. My goal in my life is to see that corporations are no longer allowed to be viewed in this country as a person and should not be allowed to donate a single penny to any political campaign or party. Politicians in this country are bought figures who do only as the corporations say for them to do. This country is for the people, not for the business of the elite. Politicians are put into office to represent the people and to accurately judge what the majority of people in their district want so that their lives become better. It is not to institute zero regulations on major businesses and help them to create a monopoly over the lives of the American public. Maybe if we instituted campaign finance reform to eliminate businesses from being able to influence politicians, and also create term limits for Congress, we can start on a road to what the people need again.

I read earlier in the week that the average politician is worth half a million dollars. Half a million dollars. How on Earth can someone who is worth that kind of money, who spends all their time in Washington D.C. know what it is like to be poor? To have debt up to their ears from college loans, or unethical credit card companies? To have to drive to work and have a job, if they are lucky, which has paid them the same wage over the past 5 years or so, while in that time span the average income for those in the 1% has gone up over 200%? Politicians don't know what it's like, and they don't care. What they are worried about is staying in power and continuing to stay in power and doing whatever it takes and shake whatever hand is necessary in order to maintain the status quo. Politicians in office today are parasites and they feed off the poorest of Americans, which is turning out to be more and more everyday, the 99%. Me and you.

People asked us, "What do you want? What are you goals? How do you plan on fixing all this?" It is a hard question to answer as we are in such a stage of infancy of this movement that the conclusions are unclear. What I can tell you is that this movement is not going away. Eventually, a consensus as to what actions need to take place will be made, but for now, voicing our concerns and our unhappiness will have to do. This displeasure is popping up more and more everyday all across the country from major cities like New York City to smaller cities like here in Sarasota. The goals of the movement are simply to affect change and to bring about social reform where the rights of all people are taken into account based on our Constitution and not based on the boardroom of a company out for itself and it's top shareholders. We are hear right now to let it be known that this is not going to take place on our watch anymore and that something has to give. And we can do it. And we will do it. There are more of us than them and all corrupt empires fall. We represent all of those that are oppressed: unemployed, employed, black, white, red, brown, teachers, policemen, firemen, small business owners. Anyone who has felt the backhand of our government over the past few decades. It is time to wake up and we are ready to go.

I had an extremely educational day. I have learned that for the most part, the media has gotten this wrong. There is no savagery. There is no unsanitary conditions. This was a peaceful day that promoted a message that we are all Americans and that as Americans we need to look out for each other because if you really think that the ones that we elected have our best interests in mind then you need to look up the word naive in the dictionary.

Finally, I heard many great things on my walk around Sarasota today, but one of the best things that I heard was when someone I was protesting with was asked what his demands were. He replied, "I am not a terrorist. I have no demands."

We are seeking true freedom and a true democracy in a peaceful manner.