Rant by MSNBC Reporter

Saying something louder and with more feeling doesn’t make it right.  It does make it worth looking into, getting facts, and forming our own opinions.  ”I” think the problem with America is too many people following “party lines” without doing any independent research or putting the time and effort into creating any independent thought.

Money in politics buys stupidity – the dumbing down of the American voter.  That’s what the money buys.  Guns aren’t the problem – it’s what people do with them.  Money isn’t the problem – it’s what people are willing to sell in exchange that’s the problem.  In the case of politics, we sell our futures when we let them buy our brains.  We let them buy our brains when we listen to their rhetoric with preconceived notions and preformed opinions.  I buy Tide because periodically I buy other brands.  They don’t work so I come back to Tide.  We listen to the twisted half-truths the political party we lean toward tells about their opponents.  We don’t demand that politicians tell us honestly both sides of the story.  We don’t require them to do a study of unintended consequences.

When people stick “Vote Democrat” or “Vote Republican” signs in their lawns they’ve been bought and paid for.  The old political system isn’t working.  So long as people buy into the labels without examining the content, we, as a country, are screwed.  It’s a whole lot of work and it takes a whole lot of time.  Our best defense is probably to do a better job of supporting fact finding organizations that dedicate manpower to finding truth and facts – impartially – so we can each interpret those facts in ways that allow us to vote for what we think will make our own lives better.  When we “buy” Democrat or Republican, we’re buying one thing we like and supporting a hundred we don’t because we voted for that one thing that was just a bit more important than the others.  I’m not sure exactly how to get around that but I think having a better understanding about the contents of the bottom 90% of the barrel is a start.

What I’m realizing is that governments and publicly traded corporations have a lot in common.  Nobody owns either one.  People move – even into other countries. Don’t like the taxes, roads, schools, move.  Corporations – don’t like the profit, the way the company handles environmental concerns, what they make – sell the stock.

Governments are run by people who get elected – come and go – depending upon what “the voters” decide.  Corporations – Board members come and go as voters decide.  The little people in government and the little people in corporations are the ones who create the real value – but no one creates much – it’s all collective – and the pieces come and go.

Corporate governance and political leaders are both guided by short term interests since all interests in life are self-interest and theirs is in getting re-elected until a better job comes along.  (Phoebe from Friends did a very cool analysis of this although I’m sure in those philosophy books I haven’t had a chance to read yet I’ll find far more and more sophisticated.  Phoebe got the job done though.)  Add to that the concept that people rise in life to the first job they can’t do right.  They get promoted out of all the others.

Personally, my choice would be to hire Asperger’s people to write computer programs to run the country – and no, I’m not kidding.  I’ve given it a fair amount of thought.  You still need human intelligence infused into the process but we need to start analyzing the population and doing what’s best for the country – not using tax code to shape the gene pool on both ends while balancing the entire burden on the back of the working middle class.

Above all, we have to re-establish ethics, truth, and morality in society.  Being permissive and understanding is fun, and all, but this is the mess you get.  Big banks don’t get prosecuted because what they do is not illegal – just highly unethical.  The people who run their businesses under the table, cheat on their taxes, steal your sales taxes then never pay them over to the government, lie on their mortgage applications, misuse support funds, and lie, cheat, and steal in a hundred other ways, do break the laws but they don’t get prosecuted either.

When people break laws but don’t get prosecuted, it breaks down the morals and ethics of society.  When morals and ethics of society break down, you end up with Enron, and the banking crisis.  The “big guys” are smart enough to cheat on the legal side of the law.  The “little guys” don’t bother learning or trying to cheat on the legal side – they just flat out break the law.  Either way, society degrades.  You can’t create laws that control everything and still have a free society.  Therefore, the core of what keeps a society whole and well-functioning is it’s moral and ethical fiber.  You don’t have to be a card-carrying member of any particular religious faith to understand that “do unto your neighbor as you would have them do unto you” are words we should all be living by – and if we were, none of this crap would be an issue.