I,
Drew Kopf, am running for President; and here is what I say:
1.
Will the Party System Ever Be Over? When I listen to people running
for president or read about their activities, I am always reminded of how
folks starting a new business talk when they are trying to develop marketing
plans for their products or services. I believe that is what most everyone
would say politics has become: the ultimate exercise in marketing.
There are
surely those of us in the electorate who invest the time needed to learn all
about the candidates and to select the very best as their candidate. There
are also the hard-line party-line voters who vote the ticket offered by their
party. Why they do it is probably as varied as anyone could guess. But, I
am jaded enough to believe that the thought behind most party-line voters
involves a certain amount of what might be called an “investment”
for the future; with the hope, if not the outright expectation, of receiving
some kind of special help, or appointment, or advanced notice of something,
and the recognition that comes with being big in the party.
There is
an underlying corruptness that forms the very foundation of party strength.
It is “one-hand-washing-the-other” to the nth degree. And, I must
say it bothers me deeply that it is and has been at the core of our country’s
political way of life. There seems to be simply no room for outsiders in the
political forum. Candidates independent of organized political parties are
looked at as “having a screw loose” or, if they are spending their
considerable fortunes to make their run, they are criticized for that.
My wish is
for someone who is just a terrific leader to arise on the scene, without necessarily
wanting to run for the office, but still having his or her name placed on
the ballot and elected as our president because he or she is needed and is
willing to serve that need. There is no doubt that there is a great need for
great leader in our country. I would say, however, that the best and the brightest
are not usually the ones we see on our ballots. We are not moved as country
in the selection of our presidents; but I wish that we were.
I believe
the party system can only be supplanted by the vast majority of us who are
effectively if not actually unaffiliated with political parties, who will
share with each other the names of the real leaders among us until a ground
swell of interest results in the election of not only that person but, at
the same time, of a full field of leaders selected by the voice of the people
for every available public office to the exclusion of the candidates put up
by and to serve the will of the political parties. If I were running for president,
that is what I would say.
2.
The Middle Class Myth. The existence of a Middle Class is a widely
accepted and no one wants to admit that it is nothing but a myth. The reality
surrounding this myth is that there really are, and always have been, only
two types or classes of people: The Mega Wealthy, who have been called the
Power Elite, and the Powerless or Poor underclass dependant class. Let us
face it squarely: If you are vulnerable, you are at risk. The myth that Middle
Class people believe in is that they are safe and secure and better off than
what we are loath to term Low Class and rather use other terms to describe
those less fortunate souls, such as: Poor, or Disadvantaged, Deprived, Underprivileged,
Needy, In Need, Neglected, Unfortunate, and any of a number of such nice words
that help us distance or selves from the reality and to enable us to continue
our belief in the myth of the Middle Class.
If your are
only several paychecks away from having to sell everything you own to stay
alive and to hold your family together, then what kind of Middle Class person
are you? You are, what is referred to in the board game Monopoly as “Just
Visiting” and the that means you are easily held in check from rocking
the boats of the Power Elite so as not to sink your own little craft. The
underlying motivation, which keeps the Middle Class in line, is the hope to
either get to the promised land of the Elite by striking it rich, or winning
a lottery, or at least flying beneath the radar long enough to get through
life and retire to some kind of dependable situation and a level of happiness.
Our Party
System allows the Powerful to control every one else. Independent candidates
are almost non-existent. Mavericks showing any kind of success get ridiculed
at least, discredited at best, publicly derided and made into a scapegoat
by being blamed for everything bad that is affecting or might affect the lives
of the Middle Class, and if those treatments do not work, they are framed
and jailed or assassinated to keep the Powerful in Power.
Can the Powerless,
both those who are clearly without power and those who still believe in the
Myth of the Middle Class, ever smooth out the playing field and make one class
of people a reality? If there is any place and time on earth when that might
happen, I have got to believe it is here in the United States of America and
soon, while the freedom of information is not yet reigned in again by those
who wish to and are surely planning to control the Internet and access to
it.
The only
way it will take place will be through the election of people who are not
under the thumb of the Power Elite and who can use the system to truly free
the slaves who think they are safe since they are Middle Class. Independent
people who can vote in independent leaders, and judges and law makers can
erode the power structure of the Ruling Class and move towards living lives
of security beyond the Myth of the Middle Class. You may not like hearing
this. But, I believe this is what is and needs to be said.
