We have this feel good public relations campaign called an election where politicians promise you whatever they think will get them elected. And this gives people the illusion that they are taking part in determining the nature of their own society. But you don't win your rights because some Congressmen rights it down in a law, & you don't lose your rights because somebody writes it down in a law. You win your rights by struggle & you maintain your rights by struggle. Political rights do not originate in the halls of Congress; they are rather forced upon them from without.
Many people have tried a variety of ways to bring about change to our two-party system. Some of those ways have been unproductive, while others were even counter-productive:
Marches/rallies: have never stopped a war & before you can have a protest you must first ask the governments permission & they will tell you when you can protest, where & when to go home.
Call/write your elected officials: even meeting with your Congressmen or Senator has never worked, just ask anyone who pleaded with the Keating 5 Senators (Sen. John McCain included) only to investigate Charles Keating before they lost their life savings in the Saving & Loan scandal. The one exception was when so many people called to protest the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act that it shut down the senate switchboard. (The Z-Visa & Comprehensive Immigration Reform was signed & is still supported by: Senators John McCain, Hillary Clinton & Barack Ombama. This legislation was wrote by corporate lobbyist to get around the Constitution & make legal what is now illegal, at a cost to this nations security. Crooks like these should be ran out of town, instead their running for president).
City Hall: you can go to your city council meetings but they'll only give you three minutes to talk & nobody listens.
Riots: Tom Morello tried to re-create the Chicago police riots of 1969 at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California by holding a free concert within walking distance to the D.N.C. where the unarmed concert-goers were incited to violence against the well organized heavily-armed police force. While Tom was safely whisked away by his body guards & limos to his posh Beverly Hills suite, where he could watch the carnage on his over-sized T.V. Even spontaneous riots only have a three-day life-span.
Unions: unions offer us no power in this country either because even when unions were powerful they were corrupt, making them ineffective.
Impeach Bush/Cheney: Bill Clinton was impeached, but it couldn't pass both houses. So why waste time trying to impeach either Bush or Cheney if it won't pass both houses?
Voting: voting out one party & replacing it with the other party has not worked. Politicians are forced to raise large sums of money each election. The 2008 presidential contest is projected to cost $2 to $5 billion. To raise this kind of money quickly, candidates recieve donations from commercial banks, lobbyist, corporations, etc. which in return get to set our Energy policy, Economic policies, Immigration policies, etc., etc. making voting useless/pointless.
Third parties: (Ross Perot/ Ralph Nader) have never & will never work in this country either.
Unions, corporations, & the major parties have failed to deal with pressing matters of war & peace, income inequality, & the meaning of citizenship itself, it has fallen to the American people to set things right.
