Health Care may seem to some to be just a pesky domestic social issue but it is more than that. It is a very clear example of our democracies failure to do what the founding fathers envisioned this nation would be capable of doing. On closer examination the issue of health care highlights the flaws in our political system. The issue of Health Care transcends every other issue that is plaguing this Nations democracy of the people. It also is a prime example of how large corporate interests have penetrated our government and the difficulty the people will have to take it back. This is a call to action. Get informed, get involved, get angry and put the government back in the hands of the people.
Health Cares issues demonstrate how “the People” have been replaced by “special interests” and how this is an issue that has been plaguing our nation for a century but recently getting far worse. The issue of Health Care and its related threads through our democracy demonstrate everything that is wrong with our system of government and demonstrates how all of the checks and balances are failing the people. It also demonstrates how powerful special interests influence our government and corrupts the people’s vote. Corporations have become super powerful and they their needs to be some kind of super check to balance them out so they do not continue to penetrate the people’s government.
Health Care has it all; corrupt politics, big money, campaign finance issues, special interests, and a media that cater to those interests all rolled into one issue. These are issues that weaken our democracy; they corrupt our government and weaken the people’s power in the process. Politicians take the votes of the people but do not act in their interest once they are elected. They act in the interest of those that have financed their campaigns. They move to the middle to get elected making statements about the issues that are so vacuous that it is impossible to know where they stand. Health Care shows the problems that have evolved in the media. The health care industry spends an enormous amount of money influencing our purchasing decisions through the Media. Reporting becomes biased or weak on the issues or has a perspective that benefits the status quo. It has stopped representing the people. Pharmaceutical companies and Health Care companies are major purchasers of advertising.
Theoretically democracy shifted power from the hands of the few into the hands of the many. It balanced power. It shifted power from the wealthy into the hands of the working class. The great equalizer was the vote. The problem is that system has become incredibly corrupted by money issues. It has shifted the power from the people back to corporate interests that heavily influence the government through financial contributions and media influence. It shifted power from the wealthy into the hands of the working class all of this power equalization took place through the power of the vote. To strengthen the people’s power even further, a carefully crafted system of checks and balances were put into place and the freedom of the press was guaranteed through the bill of rights.
Health Care is a great example of how all of these systems have failed the democracy of by and for the people.
The people go to the polls and vote and then for the most part they are ignored. The great democracy has become a sham. There is hope however. The constitution guarantees people the power. They need to band together and organize for their collective political wills. Grassroots organizations made up of the people need to keep special interests in check. Regardless of political affiliation, we need to rally around individual issues, put pressure on our Congress people and protest their offices around the country when they fail to act in the interest of the people. Congress needs unrelenting pressure on the issues and they need to be exposed when they take money from special interests. We need to watch them 24/7/365 - that's how the corporate superpowers work.
