Holly,
In America, just as in the UK and to some extent, in Australia, there has been a slight-of-hand enacted upon all of us by the extreme right. Sliding discretely at first, into position, the wealthy have placed themselves in power and rule to suppress freedoms for the average joe or Jolene. Stealth has caught us off guard, by actually believing that those in small business and in lower middle class, would benefit from a right-wing government. After all, they are the money managers, right? Yes, they manage money for themselves.
If you look at US politicians they are all millionaires and billionaires. The same can be said in the UK and in Australia. One could be forgiven for thinking they are there to give back to society and we would be way off track. They are there to increase the gap between the rich and the poor and to hell with tomorrow, because, they believe, with wealth and power, they can avert the worst for themselves.
However, with that wealth and power comes a sort of complacent numbness, which will be their downfall, because money is a token of shared wealth generated by those who produce and currently held by those who don’t. When those who produce take their labour from the equation the money becomes worthless and the rich fall into hardship. Unfortunately, the worst will have happened long before that to most of us.
The answer is, of course, to vote them out but with the changing of laws, which enable them to win elections, by changing the rules, it may not be that easy, especially when there are those who still believe the government is there for their wellbeing; sad but true.
As you so aptly pointed out, the Democrats lack the balls to stand up and defeat this onslaught on humanity, just as Labour in the UK are split between conservative light and extreme left and Labor in Australia are, in some cases, further right than some Liberals (Aus).
What is the answer?
Well, we in Australia pushed towards Green and a few years back, a coalition or shared governance between Green and Labor politicians, with some independants, proved to be both Federally and by State, the hardest working governments ever, at least since Whitlam. We passed so much good legislation to benefit the vulnerable, such as the disabled and the mentally ill. We introduced childcare so that working people could work and started the dialogue against climate change, with a cap and trade and carbon tax.
What happened next is that a coo in the Labor party caused the public to loose faith and with your/our Rupert Murdoch driving the media, the tide turned and the Libs (Aus) got in again. They spent the next term dismantling what gains we had and introduced draconian policies that increase their personal wealth and decrease any gains to the rest of us.
I believe in something that one independent here, Rob Oakshot, said during his campaign. He said it is time to forget ‘red team/blue team’ politics and to govern on policy alone. Dismantle political parties for individuals and reset the rules of democracy. There needs to be a salary system in place and an administration, which is bi-partisan or independent to act as a civil service and the whole parliament be populated by individuals. I am not sure how that would work and I strongly believe that lobbyists should be banned from politics altogether, if it has any chance of success. Keep money out of the equation completely.
I suppose, if a policy is decided upon and an agreed budget is calculated, the administration could administer the funds and keep the house informed of the financials. If the politicians are kept away from the till it might at least keep a float.
You have raised a few important issues and this needs to go further.
As for surviving another Great Depression, most people would go under to the banks because of mortgages and would lose thier homes to the top end of town. We will then have an under class of homeless, unemployed families, who are desperate enough to do whatever it takes to feed and give shelter to those families. I don’t believe the police, no matter how many guns they have, will be able to quell the riots and bringing in the armed forces, against the very people they were raised by, is not an option for the bourgiuosy (need a new name because the middle class has now grown).
Certainly an area that needs engagement and food, literally, for thought.