I have a rhetorical question, ” who runs the United States of America?” We live in a democratic society, By saying that, the premise is that the people, (citizens) of the USA vote to elect our leaders. We choose our leaders according to our beliefs, whomever comes closest. Somewhere , somehow, the people, (us) got replaced by lobbyists. Our leaders (President, Vice President, Congress, and Senate) are backed by PACS and Super PACS consisting of big business (lobbyists) that influence what laws will be enacted. We have witnessed this time and time again. Sigh, what can we do?
As it is, there is not much we can do. When our forefathers wanted freedoms from England and its rule, they started the American Revolution. Should we do that now? I brought this up to my son and he called me a hippocrite, (because I’m against the insurgency of January 6). He could not see the difference. I won’t get into that now. A new revolution is not the answer, therefore again, I don’t have an answer. Until our politicians stop taking money from lobbyists to finance their campaigns, and enacting laws that the people want by selling their souls for the money, nothing willl change. It is the age old problem of power and greed.
I’ve been able not to tlet this bother me too much, since I have no control, but recently I read an article in the Richmond Times Dispatch that got me all fired up. A congressman had submitted a bill to ban plastic bag use in Virginia. Lobbyists killed the bill. The actual headline for the article was, “Lobbyists kill bill.” What!!!! I know for a fact, the people in Virginia want to stop the use of plastic bags. I volunteer in retail, (we use paper bags). The customers don’t want any bags. We are behind here in Virginia. I go to NY and there are no plastic bags. Their reasons are backed by big oil and the companies making the bags. They stated that all you have to do is take the plastic back to the stores and recyle them. Really? WalMart and Target were just on the news for accepting plastic bags for recycling and then throwing them out!!!
It is a fact that most Americans want stricter gun laws, only repeatedly being knocked down by the all powerful NRA. They resort to scare tactics, “They’re coming to take your guns.” As much as I dislike, (abhor, hate, detest) Trump, I will never forget that he was willing to sit down with the NRA when he first came into office and talk about stricter laws. One meeting with the NRA and it was all over.
Another example, most Americans want term limits for Senate and Congress, no such luck. Where else can you vote yourself raises and have the perks they have.
Lobbyists, big money, big corporations, big donors, this is what runs our country, The United States of America
There is a TikTok video explaining all of this: https://www.tiktok.com/@bethechangeyoudesire