The real question in this primary season is how do you make change. There are three methods being proposed. Trump, I'll change it because... I'm Trump. I'm the boss, I'll tell them and they'll have to do it by God. Authoritarianism
Hillary we'll change it because I'm drinking buddies with the Republicans especially John McCain. We'll get together in the White House, get faced together and work everything out. Work within the system, make friends etc. Collaboration.
Okay, I’m being a little flip here, but below I’ll get more serious.
Bernie's approach is different. It is to change politics by changing the incentive structure for politicians. Right now, the constituents of politicians are the contributors to their super pacs. According to Bernie we have to change the campaign finance system AND motivate the public to speak. At that point the constituents are the voters, not the funders.
As you can probably tell from the above, I am feeling the Bern, but not because I am a socialist. I don't agree with everything Bernie is saying on the policy level, but I believe his approach is the only one that can bring real change. Unless one believes that we are at the dawning of the age of Aquarius and all politicians will become fully enlightened beings, fully self aware and able to see their own frailties in time to prevent their manifestation in action, then one has to believe, as flawed beings, politicians will continue to act in their own self interest. And, IMHO, politicians are at least as flawed as the rest of us.
So, what do you do? Bernie’s approach, as I understand it, change the incentives, change the constituency. Politicians want to get re-elected. Why? I don't know, maybe because they didn't have enough love in childhood, or they are constitutionally insecure. They may want to be re-elected because they think it means they are loved, or they think it does. Or, maybe because they're just power hungry monsters. Whatever the reason, we are stuck with them and their pathological desire to get re-elected. That's a given.
Citizen's United creates the impression and possibly the reality that the way to get elected or re-elected is to get the most money from the people who have the most money. Politicians become modern day Willie Suttons. To get the people who have the money to give you money, you have to sell out... do their bidding. As Justice Scalia pointed our, it is not a crime to be a kept congressman. You only run afoul of the law if you do piecework. (Which is a strange interpretation of the Constitution by Scalia, since one of the founders’ main complaints was about rotten boroughs, but that's another subject.)
The subject here is how do we change this without turning politicians into fully enlightened beings, or, in James Madison's words, angels? Bernie's answer, change the incentives. First, change Citizen's United. Then, activate the public to become engaged in politics. To vote, but more than that, to hold politicians accountable if they fail to produce results.
So, in Bernie's new politics, what happens? Do we become a socialist utopia? Not necessarily, not if we do it right. The new system will force politicians to talk to us, not to the money people, and perhaps become leaders, which means talk to the public not in 20 second sound bites or 140 characters, but explain the depth and complexity of issues. We don't have a deficit because of welfare mothers or welfare cheats, and it is equally true that women are not making 23% less than men solely or even largely because of unequal pay for equal work. In both cases it's more complicated than that. The slogans miss the point and will not lead to lasting solutions or even correct identification of the problems. Perhaps the biggest loss because of our current system is the discussion of the nuance of our problems. IMHO, only Bernie's approach can solve that.
But Bernie's solution will not finally solve the problem. There is a book my Matt Ridley called the Red Queen. It describes the development of sex as a way of defeating the microbes who evolve faster than larger animals can. By shuffling the immune system deck every generation, the larger animals keep ahead of the hordes of microbes. The name of the book comes from the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland who was running as fast as she could just to stay in the same place. Democracy is always in the same kind of battle. We need to run as fast as we can to keep our country democratic.
So we need to keep running. Bernie’s approach is the next step but not the final step. As soon as it takes hold, the microbes of money and political power will find another way. Our Red Queen can never stop.
BTW, there is an interesting book on international politics and finding the real constituents which is the Predictioneer's Game, by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita for those who are interested.
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