It has been a long time since Americans got out of our election system, what we need to preserve our democracy and set the country up for success. As it is presently designed, the system lacks the three essential features that sustain any healthy organization: innovation, accountability and competition.
Other than that, shit is working just great, thank you very much.
The first thing we need to do is restructure how people are elected to the House and Senate, two legislative bodies also known as the Most Expensive Clown Shows in the World. What we have learned is that it is impossible to govern effectively when there is only one thread of ideas that voters in the primary elections agree on: “Whatever you do, do not work with the ‘other side.’ Do not work to reach consensus.”
Do not work with “them.” Do not negotiate. Do not deal effectively with complex trade-offs involving our country’s and the world’s supremely complicated problems. In other words, do not do the job that taxpayers deserve. But we’ll pay you anyway, not to do your job out of our pockets through the tax system. And we’ll cover your health care and all costs related to not doing your job.”
Wow, what a deal it would be to have that kind of… er… job! In contrast, I have never held a position in a for-profit company or nonprofit organization where I was paid on purpose not to do the job I was hired to do.
Most people agree that choice is good, and the more choices, the better. Choice works in cereals and running shoes but doesn’t seem to exist in elective offices. In this country and across the globe, Americans have been champions of a free market economy and full representative democracy. The benefits of this twin system program have been widespread, with some exceptions, due to how well these ideas complement each other.
One-half of the twins, the free market system, continues to contribute results, innovation and accountability. Restaurants that suck go out of business and are replaced. Bad products disappear quickly. Bad leaders and managers also disappear, for the most part. We get all those online and text-based surveys because businesses know that the price of a shit reputation resulting from poor performance is that the business dies, sure as hell.
Not so in politics. In the next clever installment, we will explore ways to clean up the mess and rebuild democracy.
Craig Corsini lives and writes in San Rafael.
