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Do I believe they will? Alas, not really; I would be surprised... We, the people, have not truly held power in this country in the several decades since I became aware; though the illusion was once stronger. Alas, given the shape we're in, I don't see us taking it back.
Then again, if the dollar does collapse and even if it just continues to weaken, the people's share of the pain will increase proportionally. However, given enough suffering, the motivation to change things will grow. It's just possible, when the time is ripe, that if there are enough people highlighting our collective lack of control/power, the motivation will be directed in a way that actually brings back government of, by and for the people.
Right now, I'm tempted to say that's all we're missing. Alas, there's something else going on as well, some kind of weakening of people's sense of truth/honesty, integrity, justice, fair-play, tolerance, empathy and compassion. A kind of egotistical laziness or corruption. Interestingly, it's most commonly and severly affected victims belong to a (religious) group that claims to prize honesty, compassion and the golden rule--yet they've largely given in/given over to their baser emotional instincts (dishonesty, bigotry and selfishness come to mind--but that's just the tip of the iceberg). It's astonishing really, to see so many Americans behaving so antithetically to what were once considered to be American "Values". Yet these same people are loudly taking pride (another one of their seven deadly sins) in having pure/proper "values"... but what are they? Intolerance of, bigotry and hatred of Liberals, Gays, Muslims/Arabs, Foreigners and Immigrants. They hide behind other "values" such as Patriotism and Personal Responsibility. Yet the mis-define these things and equate them with illegal war/violence and their own ability to obtain money/income or wealth (which is more based on luck of birth or circumstance than only any special personal hard work). The real definitions would involve supporting the Constitution, Freedom and Liberty and being Honest and bearing the consequences of one's actions--all things they eschew (though they might claim otherwise--which would either be a lie or they're simply mistaken).
So, I've managed to all but convince myself that even if our government was working as it should--and our "representatives" actually bothered to honestly "represent" us--we'd only barely do much better. That is, I think the forces of rationality, honesty and goodness, if you will, do hold the majority--but it's not very big (as evidenced by the fact Bush managed to come within striking distance of winning in the last two elections--we all know how he got from there to actually occupying the Presidency). Sadly, I begin to wonder if we, as a people, even deserve better than we have. Yet, somehow, I know that the corruption of the people's minds and values is really mostly a result of some mostly covert effort by the wealthy power base (whoever is really behind the Bush Administration). One related result is the "consumerization" of the lives/lifestyles of Americans by the Corporations (which are just the "fronts" for those unidentified wealth-corrupted power elite (elite has nothing to do with "liberal")). It's insidious. They've mesmerized most people such that everything they think and all that they know comes from Corporate controlled media (be it video/audio/text or TV/movies, radio, newspapers/magazines); we hardly think for ourselves anymore. Many are influenced to think as the rest of the mob by hearing how other's think according to the ubiquitous "polls". Education has been eroded through the poor funding of schools/teachers, but even moreso by the distraction of young people/students through multi-media, cellphones, gameboys, xbox, cable/satellite tv/radio, and even the internet... 25% of the population is 'functionally' illiterate (estimates vary from place to place from 10% to as high as 50%)! A population that can't understand what it reads is in deep trouble, but when they don't even get a basic understanding of our Democratic Constitutional Republic and know what Congressmen do or are supposed to do, or what the "rule of law" is and why it's important, or what's covered in the "Bill of Rights". Say goodbye to our so-called "Democracy" (and few even understand why that is an inadequate way to decribe what's important about our form of government, much less why a "Pure Democracy" is a terrible form of oppression--one we seem to be working towards).
We have to clean up our own house before we can "spread Democracy". That means, somehow reminding people of what made America great--and doing so before it's too late. As soon as the generations of people who experienced even a modest sense of what was great begins to retire, it's either too late or very nearly too late to remind anyone--since the younger generations won't know what you're talking about. They already believe people should subjugate their rights to 'Authority' in exchange for 'security'. (Remember: "He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security" --Benjamin Franklin) So, we "might" be able to bring back the power of the people--if we get enough liberals/progressives (disguised as Democrats) elected to have enough power to even participate in Congress. But it's going to be a long road and hard line to tow in order to restore the proper values to our culture. The first step to do that is to disband the Media Oligopoly and apply pressure to create quality programming and demand the "Truth" be provided by the new News and Information companies (ideally, give PBS control over all programming--a sort of Propaganda (joke) of Truth and Education--it can ensure "Free Speech" as well; a "free market" whose final evolution is monopoly is not the only source of free speech in programming, we would just apply quality standards on the free speech provided via 'mass' communications to the entire populace, and it's needed and acceptable because such communications are 'special' in how powerful they are--we currently see it's corrupting power, and that must be avoided in future).
Oh, and lastly, in order to win back that desperately needed power in Congress, we have to ensure that our majority--and we are "the" majority--barely, demands/ensures our votes get counted. To do so is simple and yet complex. Simple in that all we need are paper ballots and supervised hand counts the like of which are used in Germany, Spain and many other "advanced" countries! Complex in that we have to organize to implement this in thousands of precints across the country--against the will of at least that many who would oppose any such change. Will we do this? Alas, no. We're stuck trying to follow the rules which are designed to prevent such outcomes. Thus, the only way to win will be to achieve political wins by such a majority that we exceed the capability of Republicans to fraudulently shift the vote (by everything from dirty tricks to ballot stuffing and electronic fraud). Will we win. I'm not nearly so confident as most others seem to be. I'll believe it when I see it, at which time I will celebrate.
Egad, I wrote an article sized response again... sorry.
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