Random Thoughts Of A Genius

As I sit on my chair in my living room watching the news & pundits talk about the healthcare debate and this whole town hall mess, I’m stricken by a nagging feeling that something doesn’t quite seem right. What can it be? To say that people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dick Armey, and Glenn Beck are douchebags doesn’t cut it. To say that the ill-informed people who are shouting members of Congress down at these meetings are stupid doesn’t explain it, either.

Consider for a moment a few universally agreed-upon facts:

1. The top 1% of our population accounts for a disproportionally large amount of the wealth. This is of course nothing new.
2. The other 99% of our population (a reasonable person would assume) accounts for a similarly disproportionate amount of the actual work done in this country. Also, nothing new.
3. Our current political system requires elected officials to almost constantly campaign. In order to do so, they need campaign contributions.

Now number 3 is the newest factor involved in this equation, at least as it applies to senators. Most people probably don’t realize, but senators weren’t always elected directly. The 17th amendment to the US Constitution enacted this policy in 1912 (see Wikipedia). I will return to this point later. Right now, I want to focus on numbers 1 & 2.

As I stated in my brief list, the distribution of wealth in this country is nothing new. For nearly as long as humans have gathered in societies, there have been a few “elites” who held much of the money and power. What’s different in my opinion is how it’s done in the US. In monarchistic societies, the royals were held to be above reproach, mainly because they convinced the populace that they ruled by divine right.  But as more and more “commoners” became educated in logic and science, this was no longer sufficient. The spread of capitalism and liberal democracy around the Western World must have been very frightening to the rich, and the number of revolutionary wars and civil wars fought over this bears that assumption out.

The United States is a unique case, because it was founded as a liberal democracy from the start. How would the rich maintain their control? The richest families and individuals in this country are nothing if not vigilant. One could point to slavery, and the subsequent battles fought over admitting new states (slave state or no?) to the union, and of course the literal battles of the civil war. As they realized that slavery would no longer be tolerated in name, they had to find another way.

And now I will make my main point. Allow me to perform a short theoretical exercise (I promise, it’s useful to my point!). Let’s go back to my estimates, dividing the population into 2 groups: the top 1%, and the rest (99%). Let’s take this one step further, to simplify the numbers (once again, simply to illustrate). Let’s say there are 100 people. What are your chances of being that 1 person who is rich? The rational person says 99 to 1. If you’re a betting man, those aren’t good odds. But wait, it gets better! That 1 person most likely inherited much of their wealth (or opportunities) from their parent’s station in life. The other 99 people have to start from scratch.

Now, here’s the rub. These other 99 people are told since their childhood that if they work hard every day, they too can be as rich as that 1 person. But that is a pipe dream. Not only is that 1 person privileged from birth, but there’s only so much wealth in the world. Once a family or individual becomes wealthy, do you really think they want to share? Of course not. So they control us, not by slavery, not by claiming divine right, but by beating it into our heads from birth that all they did to get where they are was work hard. I have a saying that I use often, and it goes as follows:

“In my experience, nobody ever got rich without 2 things: luck & hard work.”

The problem is, the deck is already stacked in their favor. If your parents had money, chances are you will, too. If they didn’t, well tough luck kid. Work hard.

So why in the world do all of these people at these tea-bag protests and town halls keep shouting? Are they rich? Most likely not. But they’re convinced that someday they may be. They believe what the top 1% has told them. I don’t want to be the one to burst any bubbles, but that is most likely not going to happen. So what to do? We are lucky enough to live in a country where the majority holds the power. All we have to do is wake up and take it. No matter how much someone contributes to a senator’s campaign, they still can’t win unless WE vote for them. If they aren’t going to do what’s best for the vast majority of Americans, we have the power and ability to find someone who will.

This brings me full circle, and now I would like to touch upon point #3 listed above. The passage of the 17th amendment basically created the “perpetual campaign”, where senators are encouraged to campaign constantly. It used to be, senators kept their jobs because they did a good job, and they didn’t need to campaign because they were appointed by their home state.  Now they keep their jobs by outspending their opponents. This opened the door for lobbyists and special interest groups. After all, if you owe your office to a group who gave you campaign money, you better believe they have your attention.

Comments? Observations? Please do!