The names in use by the two dominant political parties in the U.S.A. today are remnants leftover from the rhetoric of past political campaigns. If we look closely at the history of our country’s political parties, we find these remnants have been pieced together to compose two allegedly opposing views of polity that bear the labels of Republican and Democrat.
For all the apparent thrashing about during campaigns, actual policies are still decided in back rooms by those holding the largesse cards.
The spirit of liberty is neither Democrat nor Republican. It predates the founding of this country by thousands of years, arising from the depths of the innermost Being of the many who are belittled and demoralized by the few.
If polity is pursued in this spirit of liberty, we can move beyond the politics of the “haves” and “have nots” toward inclusive processes designed for broad input to policy decisions.
Campaigning often seems to be little more than a form of entertainment. Less bloody, but still as grisly as gladiator matches in ancient Rome. The more money spent, the more entertaining the campaign.
That U.S. American households spend far more out of their budgets every year for entertainment than for education is telling about the value our culture places on being entertained (U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey for CY 2005, PDF).
Included in the clicks “A” list reading, links to resource sites that demonstrate how political images and cartoons have entertained the U.S. American masses since 1770.
