Issue 52.15
People (including me) complain that the stores are putting out Christmas even before Halloween, and Black Friday is now weeks long. I agree that commercialization of Christmas is sad but how about the commercialization of our electoral process?
Strangely I guess, I am in favor of political policy debates that are occurring over a year before next year’s presidential election. In fact, I wish we could have public debates between people of many parties on substantial issues on a regular basis. The people and ideas brought forward in those types of debates could be considered as we move towards the next elections, but should not be seen as the defining actions in choosing the candidates. The current debates are seen as a part of the election process which has some positive and negative results.
The positives are that people are watching and thinking about the policies that are being debated. About 24 million watched a recent Republican debate and around 8 million watched the Democratic debate. The Trump factor probably had a lot to do with the difference, but at least people are thinking and talking about the direction we should be going. We are also being introduced to the public skills of some of the people who would like to lead the nation which is worthwhile.
On the negative side are two issues. The first is that the debates are necessarily exclusionary – they only include the party (republican or democrat) people that are supported by a significant segment of the respective parties. If these are actual policy debates (which I give them credit for) and not personality shows (which they sometimes devolve into) there are many more people who are not being heard that hold innovative and bold ideas. Many of them are not from the major parties because they choose not to be controlled by those parties in what they can or can’t say.
Secondly, the exclusions are created by money. Money is also the key ingredient in the actual election. He or she who has the most money almost always wins. There is a problem in that equation. The biggest part of that problem is the way we fund those elections. Our current system gives massive power to corporations and what are called PACs or Super-PACs (Political Action Committees). The contributors can remain anonymous and help the candidates without transparency or responsibility. This allows corporations and special interests to fund and elect candidates that are to an extent controlled by them and their agendas. It is not good for the general citizen or for the country.
I believe the solution is to change the system. First, debates can continue to be early or even ongoing on a regular basis, but they should involve experts in the fields being debated as well as politicians. They should include people regardless of party affiliation but should be true policy debates rather than political. I know this would lead to lower ratings unless real personalities were involved (like Trump) but there would be a public record of where those who later run for office stand on the issues. I think the debates should be done on public radio and television. We already are funding these with taxes and they should be non-partisan and involve moderators from differing political leanings. I feel that doing it this way could also involve people that are interested in governorships or Congressional seats as well on the local level.
Finally, I believe we should get rid of anonymous PACS of any kind and simply make public record the contributions of all who contribute to any political campaign for office or concerning bonds, service districts, etc. Businesses and corporations or special interest groups of any kind should not be able to contribute to campaigns – but should be allowed to lobby the people directly through advertising they pay for and are identified by. Representative government should represent the people, not faceless corporations.
Lynn West is a thinker, a teacher and a patriot. You can reach him through email at forgingthefuture2021@gmail.com or through this newspaper. Liberty is a state of being which must be continually created. These articles can help all of us discover the ways we can contribute to that outcome.