Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Dirty Words

The Republican Party has done everything in its power to make compromise a dirty word. It has gone from describing the process of negotiation, for the sake of the greater good, to a pejorative of the worst kind. This certainly is not news to anyone, but it is also not the only word they have moved into this category. Profit is also now among the more despicable words in the English language. By associating profit with healthcare, education the environment, and the justice system they have endangered the capitalist system, diminished our republic, and made the word profit just as much of a pejorative as compromise.

In education for profit schools have turned into marketing machines that overcharge for an inferior product and provide such poor support that their dropout rates are exorbitant. In healthcare the United States has the most expensive healthcare on the planet and one of the lowest measures of quality. For profit prisons are becoming more prevalent everyday and have already been involved in scandals including unjust incarceration. They have waged war on science by denying global warming to protect profits regardless of the damage to our environment and the long term consequences.

Profit is a good thing when it comes from honest effort, good products, and excellent service. Monies that flow from the hardship inflicted on others are better described as unjust enrichment. Our system of government is also a profit center for the majority of the elected representatives now in office. For the most part they are more interested in the pursuit of power, riches, and prestige than in public service.

The trust, as measured by polls and popular acclaim, between the people and the politicians has been destroyed. They no longer represent our best interest, but rather those of the corporations and special interest with the money to fund their reelection and retirements. The system has been broken, and if the republic is to survive it must be fixed. We are just as oppressed, just as bereft of representation, and just as unjustly governed as we were in the days of our first American Revolution. It is time for the second American Revolution; time and past time.

The constitution gives us the tools to conduct this revolution peacefully and without bloodshed, deaths, and tears. It does not give us the courage and determination to lock arms and join in the good fight to reclaim our freedom and prosperity. That must come from within. It will require the majority of the “people” to rise up, read up, study up, stand up and be heard. We can restore the American dream by making our voices heard at the polls, and calling a constitutional convention to make the changes necessary. We can make profit and compromise intelligent and meaningful words again too.

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