Our Federation is in crisis.
In 364 days American voters will get the chance to
choose our nation’s next President. As
usual, nearly half will not vote (the US is now 120th in the world
for average voter turnout – well below Tunisia, Yemen and Iran). These ‘not political’ players have several
reasons for not casting a vote, and few care that not voting is actually a vote
‘in favor’ of the status quo.
But, just doing the math, they
figure their one vote in 150 million doesn’t really matter. So why bother?
And, while it can certainly boost one’s pride (stepping out of voting
booth, even knowing your favorite might lose) having done your civic duty, it
is astronomically remote that your vote will make any difference outside of
your own emotions. Some know the
Constitution’s electoral college system effectively cancels every vote for the
most important person in our land.
Some potential voters have become
so jaded by their party, or disgusted by dirty politics, they rationalize ‘why
bother? It only encourages them! Then there are the spoilers who know their
favorite independent candidate won’t win, yet cast a vote for them simply out
of principle. And now, with so-called ‘independent’
voters out numbering voters in both major party’s independent voters could
actually be a game-changer. But only if
a truly independent candidate appeared with enough appeal to draw independents
who have defected from the extremes or moderations of both parties. Don’t hold
your breath.
But there is one other increasingly
valid and monstrous reason why voting for any Presidential candidate is a farce. Our federal government is not only
dysfunctional. It is fundamentally, broken
and even fatally flawed.
Dysfunctional?
It goes beyond the extremist party’s refusal to compromise, and the lack
of civility between parties. A recent
survey of US national security experts were asked to rank the top threats to
our National Security. They put
“government dysfunction” second only to terrorism. Russia, China, Climate change, North Korea,
Cyber attacks…all less threatening.
Broken?
Some have claimed that since 9-11
the US Constitution has become a suicide pact.
Keeping Americans safe from another mass casualty terrorist attack or
even a series of smaller mass murders, is no longer deemed possible without
infringing on our prized Bill of Rights.
Even Obama’s recent decision to put 50 special forces troops into Syria
is a violation of our Constitution and international law. But how else can he
demonstrate a commitment to fighting ISIS and/or gain a negotiating lever in
dealing with Russia and Iran in ridding Syria of Assad?
Lethally flawed:
The monstrous reality is that the US government, regardless of who is
President, or how much money it spends on the Department of Defense, Homeland
Security, the NSA or CIA it is incapable of stopping or preventing some
increasingly likely (some say inevitable) catastrophic consequences that will
come from beyond our borders. Or even
some of those within.
A pandemic? A flu strain comparable to the Spanish flu
that killed nearly 500,000 Americans during World War I. A comparable virus today could kill several
million healthy and productive Americans and destroy an already sluggish
economy.
Collapse of our Electrical
Grid: For a society dependent upon
communications, refrigeration, lighting, and electrical security systems the US
is immediately vulnerable to solar flares, nuclear Electro Magnetic Pulse
Events, cyber destruction of our electrical grid, or covert conventional attacks
on multiple power stations. A commission studying this issues predicts that a
worse case scenario could result in the deaths of up to 200 million Americans
in a year. Those who study the sun,
believe there is a 10 percent chance that in the next ten years the US will
take a serious hit by a coronal ejection that could take out some of our
electrical grid or communication satellites.
A bioweapons attack or accident.
An intentional or accidental release of weaponized smallpox would change
civilized life on earth as we know it.
Natural small pox had a 3% kill rate and killed more people in the last
century than all the wars and revolutions combined. Weaponized smallpox was designed to kill over
90% of those infected. Other
bioengineered pathogens are plentiful and increasingly easy to manufacture…and
very difficult to control.
A cyberattack on our financial
system could send the world into a recession that would make 2008 look like a
cake walk.
And continued CO2 emissions are
moving us into a world of historically unprecedented climate chaos and weather
extremes that will have a variety of national security impacts from floods, to
floods of refugees, to the spread of deadly diseases. The Syrian civil war was
sparked by protests of hungry farmers in Damascus who had left their farms due
to a 4 year draught that left them hungry and poor.
The one thing all of these
interdependent threats have in common is the incapacity of any one nation, let
alone any one person, to stop them from catastrophic consequences on our nation
and most Americans.
The Millennial
generation is shifting conventional wisdom on political engagement. They are
more skeptical of institutions and less likely to identify with political
parties but they are also more progressive then previous generations.
Unless the Baby
Boomers and Millennials discover the value of effective global institutions,
and even more important, the need for these institutions to focus on the global
protection of human rights, humanity will face these and other increasing
threats to our freedoms, security, prosperity, and most important our
sustainability.
So no need to get
all wrapped up in the 2016 US Presidential election….unless you find one
individual willing to tell the American people the truth. They won’t be able to handle the truth…but at
least you have voted your conscious and did what was needed.
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