Every Four Years

Every four years we endure sycophant politicians who will use every divisive tactic to tear the heart of this nation apart in pursuit of power and money. They tickle the fears and ego anxieties of a populace easily swayed by racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and all round xenophobia to ends that they may assume power. These people are not interested in serving the people of this nation. There are too many governors, senators and congress persons who seek out the most toxic platforms and build upon the shadow sides of their constituents; repeating lies with such ferocity until their target audience actually believe in those lies. (This political tactic is not exclusive to the US, we see it played out throughout the world, Europe, South America, Middle East, and Asia; seeing a rise in ultra right wing nationalism, blatantly forgetting the genocides of the last century. Presuming the history of their own suffering immune them from wrongdoing, yesterday’s victims becoming today’s perpetrators).

Americans in general do not understand that their votes do not determine election outcomes, the electoral college determines that: the enforcers/representatives of the multinational global industrial interests are fundamentally elected officials with no term limits, whose campaigns are funded by those multinational global industrial interests. We are made to feel like they represent us because we theoretically elect them but the available candidates are predetermined by those whose money backs them; these elected officials will not vote for term limits for either themselves or the supreme court, nor will they vote to abolish the electoral college which has on four occasions overthrown the will of the majority (in 2016 Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by over 2.865 million votes). Furthermore, it is important to note that “We the people” are extended the right to vote for regional local and federal judgeships but we are not extended the courtesy of voting for supreme court justices.

The framers of the constitution (a wealthy ruling elite many of whom were slave owning white men) created the electoral college to empower them to have the ultimate say. The Electoral College system emerged as a compromise between the framers of the Constitution, who debated whether to elect the president by popular vote, Congress, or state legislatures. According to Benjamin Ginsberg, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University [1 the framers of the constitution viewed the Electoral College as,

"an actual decision making body that would reduce the uncertain impact of popular participation and increase the likelihood that only well-qualified would be elected to the presidency,"

There have been four such events in US history: D. Trump (R) in 2016, George Bush (R) in 2000, Benjamin Harris (R) in 1888, Rutherford B. Hayes (R) in 1876.

For sure all politicians and other servants of the people have degrees of self service in their intentions but I miss those who served with integrity like Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, John McCain, and Barack Obama.

People rail against Ai technology but the technology is merely reflecting our input; it is being used to create ‘deep fakes’ and false narratives which appeal to the prejudices and proclivities of specific targeted audiences. Unfortunately, unlike the film industry, these Ai generated stories do not have disclaimers or advisories informing people of their fictitious content and they are hungrily consumed by constituents who want to believe the narrative being pitched to them by their chosen party/candidate. Lobbyists and party partisans distribute these fictitious narratives with impunity; there are no laws preventing this conduct, nor ethical guidelines compelling restraint from such practices. Guns don’t kill people do, and yet we refuse to implement measures to restrict access to guns by those who lack the reasonable mental wellness to be entrusted with them; it’s like handing car keys out to persons chemically impaired and rebuffing accountability.

We the people act like self-centered petulant children, tantruming to get what we want regardless the cost to fellow global citizens, or our planetary home. Anger is a stimulating drug and it is distributed wholesale during elections, it incites people to act driven by their fears and internal rage which has been triggered by the exploitative campaign rhetoric. Neither party is without culpability, but the party that succeeds does so by assuring their narrative is more engaging and thus compelling.

In the original biblical texts (authored approx. 3500 years ago) the wording directed that humankind be entrusted with ‘stewardship’ of the earth (not dominion as proffered by the King James interpretation, which for centuries has been misrepresented as a translation). With self-righteous confidence we pillage our planets resources, presuming we can remedy environmental issues before we cause our eventual annihilation: we mindlessly ignore the fact that though human beings and many other species of life form will realize extinction, the planet earth will endure, habitable or not. (It does have one consider whether or not prior human-like beings inhabited Mars and caused their own demise similar to what we are doing on earth.)

Consciousness used to be a quality celebrated but this century has seen a backlash and canceling of consciousness, because it has been weaponized by the self-righteous ‘woke’ elements of society who shame and condescend those who ‘don’t get it’. Bullying rather than persuading, transforming potential allies into enemies; a tragic ego indulgence rigidly perpetuating transcultural and trans-generational suffering and unhappiness through violent social conservatism. (I respect people’s right to choose what they believe so long as they do not try to impose their beliefs on others: they ascribe their behavior as devotion to deities of their choosing giving themselves license to cause untold suffering to others with callous indifference. Their moral compasses are irreparably broken, and ethical behavior is terribly absent.) I am

neither a liberal nor conservative, I hope I am a moderate able to be considerate of diversity without pretense, without feigning acceptance but being mindful of unequivocally advocating for the rights of all people who wish to live in peace and equanimity.

*The Electoral College is the process through which the president of the United States is elected to office, as outlined in Article II of the United States Constitution. In this system, each state receives a number of votes equal to the total number of their delegation to the United States Congress. The vote casters, known as electors, are chosen by rules differing in each state, but many are elected during each party's state conventions. Electors have traditionally cast their votes for president in December, following the general election in November.

The Electoral College system emerged as a compromise between the framers of the Constitution, who debated whether to elect the president by popular vote, Congress, or state legislatures. According to Benjamin Ginsberg, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University [1 the framers of the constitution viewed the Electoral College as,

"an actual decision making body that would reduce the uncertain impact of popular participation and increase the likelihood that only well-qualified would be elected to the presidency,"