I'm going to bed but I would like to expose something important here.
Everyone has stated "The People Have The Power" (except one smart person who noted Corporations DO)
If the people have the power, why are we fighting each other? If the people have the power, isn't it opinion based? Where did this "You are stupid" line of thinking come into play? EVERY PERSON has the right to their own opinion on individual topics! It doesn't make them stupid and it shouldn't distract you from verbalizing your opinion.
Media bias has us pointing at each other when the Corporations shake hands and bend us over. Politics 101.
I love threads like this who claim people are powerless. We're not powerless in the first place. Every one in Congress (practically) is there because they received a plurality (if not a majority) of the vote of their constituents. They were not installed by a corporation. If you feel different, I'd like for you to support that with evidence; not anecdotes.
Furthermore, as for your rant about corporations...get serious; will you?
Gallup reports that 52% of Americans own stock (in corporations):
U.S. Stock Ownership Stays at Record Low
Equally reputable Salon.com puts the figure at 35%
Stock ownership Who benefits - Salon.com
So lets call it 40%. Four out of ten Americans own stocks. And this isn't including the holders of 401k and the like.
In the next calendar year, every CEO of these publicly traded companies could be voted out by the shareholders.
I'm not sure what your beef is with the world or society or whomever but apparently you're not happy with the status quo and wonder why "we the people" don't rise up and change things. The simple truth is that Americans generally fall into one of two camps with several smaller camps as well.
The first general camp is those who are aware but won't risk the time and attention it would take to devote a life to becoming so politically engaged that you'd have to forego a normal life. And the reward for that would be what exactly? A more "just" society where your personal likes are accommodated maybe 1/2 the time? The truth is that these folks may not be happy with society 7 days a week but are happy enough on 3 or 4 of the days to not wish to give much thought to demonstrations.
The second general camp is the politically disengaged and disavowed citizenship. In our nation, nothing makes involvement compulsory so many choose to simply not take part. These are, perhaps, the true threats to our society. To think that you would be just as happy in Mexico or Morocco as you would in Milwaukee and to dis-engage oneself from what was given to you by the engaged and yes the armed brutish men who provided you your lifestyle (War is politics by different means says Von Clausewitz).
The truth is that these folks are happy with life the way it is.
There are smaller camps with threads of each. The supposed "experts" you see here are several degrees removed from the actual political wisemen in the first camp and the "I show up for the big election" creeps are the same distance from the center of the apathetic core.
Where as the latter is probably the ones that require counseling and a stiff pop in the chops as to what it means to be an American, the former are the ones who are here and, sadly, one the ones whom you see represented in the TEA party and are taken somewhat seriously by the voters.
If people were 5% as discontented as you hear on this forum, you'd see a bloodbath outside your window.
