CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL: A New Independent Third Party Could Be the Best of Both

A positive connotation of the word “conservative” is being careful, taking care of one’s home and land, trying not to waste anything.

A positive connotation of the word “liberal” is generous, wishing well to all, overly kind, helping the poor.

Yet both words have come to represent the worst possible meanings. Conservative now means “stingy” “depriving the poor” “degrading the earth with permanently toxic enterprises” “racist” “hypocrite”. Liberal is now often spoken to mean “big government” “taking away freedoms” “intervention in religion” “creating a lazy lower class”.

The reality is that no matter how these words are understood, politically speaking, BOTH types have proven themselves to support Defense and Military spending above all other promises.

Our members of House and Senate do not represent the people of America. They represent the corporations who bribe them (a/k/a Lobbyists). Yet they speak eloquently when election season rolls around. And because of the two-party duopoly, in which people are invested as they are in sports teams or religions, people vote time and time again based on their political affiliation.

We are indeed taxed without representation in Congress.

This mindless, deceptive, at times murderous, political system has brought the US to its knees. Who is trustworthy in Congress? Which government agency is operating as it was originally intended?

The FDA gives licenses to pharmaceutical corporations who pay the most. They have held back cannabis, which is medicinal and harmless, for decades. Because people have found they can get better relief or healing from cannabis than chemicals, hormones, addictive pain killers, pharma has already begun to lose money in states where cannabis is legal. Do we really need the FDA if this is how they operate? If so, what would it take to make a change from pay-to-play government policies?

The DOD. Do we really need military bases all over the planet? Who are we really protecting? American citizens or big corporations? Do we really need a drone-making factory in Nigeria? Do we really need a behemoth NSA storage facility in Utah, to keep records on every single American citizen? Are we that afraid of our neighbors and friends?

And if we ARE afraid of our neighbors, might it not be due to them barely keeping their families alive on the current low-wage policies of so many big employers in the US?

So, which government agency regulates the minimum wage rate? None. “Conservatives” are opposed to welfare but they do not connect welfare with “low wages” - how much less welfare would be paid if employers paid a liveable wage? “Liberals” are in favor of welfare for all but they too do not connect welfare with “low wages”. No one dares to discuss the elephant in the living room! While the value of property and food increases constantly, America’s minimum wage workers cannot afford to purchase the most basic necessities: shelter, food, clothing. When Bernie Sanders stated these common sense facts, he was ignored by the media (despite rallies that blew everyone’s minds!). We all know this is true yet no politician has dared to address it.

The Department of Education has only one goal and that is to perpetuate itself. They mandate “tests” which take up valuable learning time and force students to develop test-taking skills rather than following intrinsic learning paths that will lead to valuable, happy lives. And who profits from the designing of tests, correcting of tests, storage of test data throughout every child’s school career? Indeed, who? If some states have lesser school standards, then there might be more private schools or more dedicated teachers might go there. The DoE has not solved that issue either, despite “liberal” spending in at-risk areas.

Our federal banking system nearly destroyed the US one decade ago. Banks that regulate themselves will tend to allow crimes to go unnoticed, unpunished, and to continue ad infinitum. Again, Bernie Sanders repeatedly promised to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act. To draw a firm line between customers’ money and shaky investments, a tighter ratio between people’s savings and allowable loans. And again, this seemingly disrupted the status quo, that Bernie would dare to expose dangerous investment policies of banks to US citizens.
So, what, exactly does the Federal Reserve do besides order the printing of paper dollars and then charge the government (hint: taxpayers) for the pushing of buttons to raise and lower interest rates which our great, great, great grandchildren will still be paying? Is this a legitimate debt? Should we not question why we need a Federal Reserve, which is, in fact, not even a branch of the government but private individuals who have only profit and greed as motivators?

The EPA. So many people are under the illusion that this agency actually “protects” our “environment” when they have not done so for decades. Sadly, this is yet another “bought” government agency which exists for the sole purpose of licensing polluters who are able to pay the most for their licenses. The EPA has repeatedly approved Monsanto’s genetically-engineered products and accompanying highly-toxic pesticides and herbicides. These products were not scientifically tested by independent laboratories but rather, by Monsanto’s own “scientists.” Likewise with oil corporations and fracking. The “secret” solution that is used in fracking has neither been disclosed nor tested by independent laboratories. Big Oil calls fracking “just sand and water” which is a blatant lie. The oil corporations pay the EPA to approve their risky drilling, even though countless spills have created dead zones where nothing can live or grow for centuries to come, and there is growing consensus that fracking causes earthquakes in many areas. “If we don’t receive government subsidies and if we aren’t allowed to explore for more oil, we will have to begin charging more for gasoline,” threatens Big Oil. “Okay, say the Senators and government regulators.”

The US desperately needs a third political party (or even more) to break the stranglehold of lies and corruption that is destroying our country. I suggest the third party be simply called “The Independent Party” (TIP). The platform might be broad and not so much based on specifics as on certain moral values. Values such as:

1. Physical, countable, verifiable paper ballots throughout the US, no exceptions;
   2.Candidates are vetted for honesty and integrity based on their records and coworkers’ testimony, (young,inexperienced candidates are also welcome but they must agree to a probationary status until they prove themselves);
   3.Audits of the Pentagon budget since 1998 and across-the-board income tax holiday and debt forgiveness until such time as the government can account for the missing $6-22 Trillion (if the government cannot be responsible with money, then they are not entitled to our hard-earned dollars);
   4.Nationwide “open primaries” in which all voters may vote for any candidate of their choosing, not by party affiliation;
   5.Candidates must have the courage to affiliate as “Independents” and all that implies (I.e., non-partisan, no “super-PAC’s,” considering all sides of any given issue and refusing bribes of any kind from opposing lobbyists);
   6.No “Super-delegates” or high pressure monetary tactics used in order to secure nomination.

In other words, an Independent is just that: free to choose his/her position and state their case without chastisement from a committee. Don’t most Americans care more about honesty than platforms anyway? A political party can promise anything to its constituents but cannot be held accountable afterwards, it seems. But an independent individual can be studied, observed and dismissed quickly when not operating honestly, or promoted to more powerful positions as they gain the public’s trust.

The United States, under the illusory two-party system, is developing into a mob-ruled, gangster economy whose chief export is weapons, a third world country. We are moving backward, not forward. Our children deserve a clean, safe future, balanced by conservation and abundance for all. This could be achievable if enough of us re-register as Independents to show our protest and support for new ideas, new faces, new solutions to persistent problems. The economy cannot wait. The environment cannot wait. Children throughout the world cannot wait.