in the continuing series of counterTCMeme posts, I would like to address a recent TCMeme on the subject of government. TCM asserts that the president and congress have absolutely nothing to offer american citizens, that any attempt to deal with them is a total waste of time. I generally agree that our democratic system has degenerated over the decades, to the point of being scary and dangerous in places. however, we can ask, why did it get to that point? I believe it is not because of an inherent impracticality of the government or congress. rather, it is a failure of the citizens to maintain the authority over their congressmen and president. once upon a time, citizens saw congress and the president as their servants. it led to a particular kind of ideology reflected in the policies of the country. over time, people gradually gave away this authority. they saw the president and congress as having authority over citizens, instead of vice versa. TCM's idea of telling congress and the president to f*** off is actually, in my opinion, an extreme case of people giving away their authority. it is more of the same problem, not the solution. it is failing to address the root of the problem-- that the president and congress must be put in a subservient relationship to the desires of the citizens. citizens are failing to exercise their ability to remove and replace those in power. TCM quotes De ToqueVille, "the american experiment in democracy will last until people begin to realize they can pick each other's pockets at the voting booth". there is a fallacy and a truth in this at the same time. the truth is that the citizenry is beginning to discover that the government is the greatest pickpocket of all. if it redistributed its wealth, our economy would be better off. but instead the government ties up vast amounts of wealth into (1) social programs that redistribute only a fraction of the wealth they take in, the rest caught up in bureacracy (2) weaponry that sits idle, and is so horrific that it should never be used, and (3) a national debt of borrowed money. so people are no longer trying to pick each other's pockets at the voting booth, in my opinion, but realizing that the government itself is picking everyone's pockets at tax time. everyone who pays money via taxes to the government is the employer of those in government. when was the last time you exercised some control over this money? or do you just sign it off? there are many ways that individual citizens can create leverage over their government, and increase their power over it. it is the opposite of the process by which they have given their power away. it is reversable. but to unplug oneself from the monster one has created is not possible as TCM is always campaigning. the monster will run around some more. one must uncreate the monster in the same ways it was created. I commend CDT and all other online groups for their organizational motives and drive, and condemn TCM for his pissing on them. what is he doing? he is just unplugging himself and asserting that the monster will no longer exist if he refuses to believe in it. the road to greater power is greater organization and unity while preserving individuality. the individualism that TCM promotes is actually ultimately disempowering and dangerous. the individual has no power. the solution to an oppressive society is to fix the society, not to try to find increasingly ingenious ways of hiding from it. the society will always has means of becoming more orwellian and surmounting whatever obstacles individuals place in it. if something is broken, do you fix it, or abandon it? or shoot it? TCM is always advocating the latter two. it's not a solution, and he knows it, and everyone else here knows it too.