A common problem?

[gadget9901]

Now as an American living in the UK. I aim my observations toward the political landscape here. Thought I believe that much of what I see here is common between the countries.

We have a problem that is not really hard to understand the root cause of.

Here the old aristocracy has been replace by a political aristocracy. The political elite are holding positions as a career and now act as an aristocracy. Forget the concept of least and right in this for a moment. The truth is that all sides in this aristocracy hold personal interest in power at the forefront of their thinking and actions.

The concept of left and right is a tool used to manipulate the populace into divisions in society. Deflecting any public sentiment towards each other and the sides they take on issues. This allows the political elite to feel secure in their positions and safe from critical scrutiny by the populace. This is nothing new. It is an aged old paradigm. At some point things break. Though not before a great deal of pain inflicted on the populace.

Now here is me hoping for a rare occurance of the populace waking up just a little and coming together to hold their political representatives to task. Yet this is rare.

I work very hard at not allowing this political elite class from convincing me that those around me in society that believe differently from myself are evil.

I may be wrong. Yet I do get sick of people trying to divide us in the service of their own selfish goals of position and power.

Cheers all


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[Jackalope]

     I guess the best long term solution would be eliminate all the political elites.  But that may produce unwanted results, like anarchy.  There's something to be said for true libertarianism, as depicted in the novel Alongside Night.

     A large part of the problem in the U.S., is the government has strayed so far from the Constitution.  As the English historian Lord Acton stated, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."  We have a case where those in power firmly believe that they can do as they wish and the Constitution and any other rules do not apply to them.  The recent Trump search and the lack of prosecution in the Hunter Biden case both illustrate that the ruling power can do as they wish.  A similar scenario in France during the late 18th century resulted in the invention and the application of the guillotine.  It is a little more complicated here in the U.S., as the political parties have their loyal adherents.  What we will see here is the balkanization of the country, with the liberal/leftist cities on one side and the rural conservative areas on the other side.

     Like the Wizard of Oz, those in power attempt to keep their adherents doing their bidding.  Hopefully, at some point, citizens will wake up and realize that those folks pulling their strings are the problem.  Throw in economic decay, supply line interruptions, food and energy shortages, the result is a potential cataclysm.

     Personally, I don't see how all this will be settled peacefully.  We can hope for a peaceful solution, but those in power have tasted the nectar of power, which produces the ultimate addiction.

[gadget9901]

     I guess the best long term solution would be eliminate all the political elites.  But that may produce unwanted results, like anarchy.  There's something to be said for true libertarianism, as depicted in the novel Alongside Night.

     A large part of the problem in the U.S., is the government has strayed so far from the Constitution.  As the English historian Lord Acton stated, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."  We have a case where those in power firmly believe that they can do as they wish and the Constitution and any other rules do not apply to them.  The recent Trump search and the lack of prosecution in the Hunter Biden case both illustrate that the ruling power can do as they wish.  A similar scenario in France during the late 18th century resulted in the invention and the application of the guillotine.  It is a little more complicated here in the U.S., as the political parties have their loyal adherents.  What we will see here is the balkanization of the country, with the liberal/leftist cities on one side and the rural conservative areas on the other side.

     Like the Wizard of Oz, those in power attempt to keep their adherents doing their bidding.  Hopefully, at some point, citizens will wake up and realize that those folks pulling their strings are the problem.  Throw in economic decay, supply line interruptions, food and energy shortages, the result is a potential cataclysm.

     Personally, I don't see how all this will be settled peacefully.  We can hope for a peaceful solution, but those in power have tasted the nectar of power, which produces the ultimate addiction.

You have me thinking a bit here.

I just realised that I have been a fan of a few things that could help the situation.

Strict term limits across the board and Strict limits on lobbying.

Yet I might be wrong.

[RB in GA]

There will always be political elites-power abhors a vacuum. Remember, the French revolution only led to the Napoleon's French Empire.

When we look at the US, the expanse of federal power comes from interpreting the constitution in ways it was most likely never meant to be.  For example, the general welfare clause (see https://constitutionstudy.com/2018/10/26/general-welfare-clause/  for a good example of what I mean).  Those that view the constitution as a "living document" capable of being twisted to their means are the problem. They dont see the Constitution as a set of rules, but more as a set of loose guidelines.

The best possible answer I see to this central problem is the appointment of strict constitutionalists to the courts, in the vein of Justices Thomas and Barrett (the ones we have we lucked in to). I've always believed that the best judges would be liberterians, as it is inherit in that worldview to limit government.

This would have to be coupled with a President (as the chief executive, therefore the chief law enforcement officer) who actually enforces the rulings of the court.  I believe that was what the US Marshall's service was designed to do.  (i.e The offices of U.S. Marshals and Deputy Marshal were created by the first Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1789, the same legislation that established the Federal judicial system. The Marshals were given extensive authority to support the federal courts within their judicial districts and to carry out all lawful orders issued by judges, Congress, or the president.)

The method to end all this current madness already exists, there just isnt, and hasnt been a recent President (or Supreme Court) with the courage to use it (and yes, I'm talking Trump here- for example, sanctuary cities? He should have arrested every councilman and mayor that declared one so, as no city or state has the right to do so (ref https://lawblogs.uc.edu/ihrlr/2021/01/17/the-source-of-the-federal-governments-power-to-regulate-immigration-and-asylum-law/).

[gadget9901]

Wow.....

Great conversation thank you for contributing.

[JohnyMac]

Interesting discussion gentlemen. Thx for starting it Gadget