Originally posted by OCA
People,
When did America get so fucked up?
When our political system started getting so fucked up! I would say, around the early to mid 70's.
I cannot recommend this book enough, so those of you that are tired of hearing me praise it.... screw ya!
Anybody that wonders what has happened to America needs to read Fareed Zarkaria's book, "The Future of Freedom". This guy really has analyzed this subject to the core and, I believe, he has hit the nail on the head.
Now, I must warn you, the book is a difficult read, especially the first 100 pages or so. I like political books, so for me, it kept me interested. But he really doesn't start talking about modern America's politics until about page 161 (Chapter 5). He also does a great analysis on what is wrong with the Muslim (mostly Arab as he points out, as some other Muslim countries really are quite liberal politically speaking - Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, etc.).
I only have about 70 pages left but it is getting more interesting as I read along. At this point, he really is delving into what is wrong with the USA. To sum it up for ya, he says (and after anybody - republican or democrat reads it, I am sure they will agree) that in America, we now have too much DEMOCRACY. We have opened our system up to so much scrutiny, that no longer are decisions being made that are in the best interest of the county. We are deciding too many policies, etc. by polls, referendums, etc.
I know most of already realized this, but he puts it in a way that lets you see the entire picture. When this subject is discussed today, the public generally only gets a sound bite on the subject and they don't fully understand how much this has truly hurt our country and our LIBERTIES!
Here are a couple of passages of the book I found quite telling and on target....
On the decline of political parties and their importance in selecting who will run for office:
In December 2000, a few days after the Florida recount battles had ended, I asked George Stephanopoulos, the broadcast journalist and former political strategist, whether he thought the Democratic Party would nominate former vice president Al Gore to run for president in 2004....Stephanopoulos's answer was clarifying: "There is no Democratic Party", he said, "If Gore wants to run, he has to raise the money, get good publicity, and move up in the polls, which will get him more money and better press. What party elders think is irrelevant because there is no party anymore. Those who style themselves as 'elders' are just old pols looking for something to do."
On subsidies:
If a group of farmers got together to petition the government to give them $10,000,000, the benefit to each farmer is $100,000. The cost to the rest of the country is about 4 cents per person. Who is more likely to form a lobby, them or us? Multiply this example by thousands and you understand the central problem of American democracy today.
On the problem with referendums and special interest groups combined:
... the [California] legislature has no power over funds either, since it is mandated to spend them as referendums and federal law require. Today 85 percent of the California state budget is outside of the legislature's or the governor's control - a situation unique in the United States and probably the world. The vast majority of the state's budget is "pre-assigned." In California today real power resides nowhere. It has dissipated into the atmosphere, since most government is made via abstract laws and formulas.
Finally, a quote from Historian Richard Hofstadter,
"was the Man of Good Will. . . . He would think and act as a public-spirited individual, unlike all the groups of vested interests that were ready to prey on him. . . . Far from joining organizations to advance his own interests, he would. . . . address himself directly and high-mindedly to the problems of government."
WOW - that pretty much says it and it applies to both parties!
:alco: 
