They just don't get it . . . .

If you're anything like me (I know no one wants to readily admit to it but there are people like me) you've come away from recent elections shaking your head and thinking, "They just don't get it . . ."

No matter what happens in an election in recent years, it comes back to party politics. Like a fight - the fighters retreat to their corners where the same 'experts' and advisers whisper sweet motivations in their ears and the same fighters come out swinging in the same fight over-and-over-and-over . . . Like tired boxers they no longer know what they're fighting for but they keep fighting because the bejeweled experts in the corner are paying them to get into the ring. The fighters become tired and entangled and throw half-hearted punches until the bell tolls again and they retreat to their corners where the same . . . Imagine a Rocky movie here but instead of the old gravely voiced manager, there is Bernie Madoff or worse. Meanwhile, we in the audience are reading our magazines or napping because the fight doesn't really matter, we don't have any input because no one is listening to us and we feel powerless to change the way the fight is fought. We know we should care but after awhile well, we don't.

I could get carried away with that fight analogy and maybe I already did. My point being, we no longer have influence on the results of the elections. We vote but once someone is elected, our influence may very well end. It's become a pay-to-play system and I don't have enough cash.

We're lulled into thinking we have influence in the party-political game - but most Americans are not just one party or another. As a matter of fact, I think most Americans could care less about the labels given by party politics. I heard an interview with Robert Frank on his book, "The Darwin Economy; Liberty, Competition and the Common Good" - and I thought - that's exactly what I think is wrong with politics today!!!!!! (I've included a link below to the show and book).

Going back to the fight analogy, we as an audience need to get out of our seats and demand equal time whispering in our fighters' ears. We need to remove the 'experts' - in this case lobbyists from ringside seats and demand they move to the back of the line or get out of line altogether. Because until that happens, our politicians just won't get it because they're not listening.

Robert Frank: "The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good" | The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR:

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