How we can end cronyism.
1. cronyism
noun
the practice of favoring one's close friends, especially in political appointments.
To end cronyism we have one simple resolution: allow citizens and their lawyers to directly present bills to congress and pass them into law.
Capitalism is the superior economic system in the world and America is the example of it. The problem is that it allows cronyism and our political system has allowed it to spiral out of control. We don't have a democracy, we have an oligarchy.
1. oligarchy
noun, plural ol·i·gar·chies.
a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.
Right now the most important factor in selecting a candidate is their voting history. The politicians simply refuse to present bills that would sniff out corruption and refuse to vote on them at all. This means only the political and economic elite are allowed to have their voices heard.
Corporations succeed in getting their favored policies adopted about half of the time, and in stopping legislation to which they were opposed nearly all of the time. Mass-based interest groups, meanwhile, had little effect on public policy. As for the views of ordinary citizens, they have virtually no independent effect at all. (“Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” Gilens and Page, 2014.)
What allows for cronyism: Campaign contributions keep grassroots politicians from being elected; government bailouts that avoid punishment in the market for major mistakes in management and technology; overwhelming regulations and criminalizations that keep small business from starting; and no-bid government contracts.
Right now, for a citizen to propose a bill, they have to go through all the work and expense of writing a draft, then go to their local representatives, and hope that they will sponsor and lobby the bill. Which they simply don't do most of the time.
If instead citizens could write their bill and have it voted in by their zip code, then their county, then their state, and finally presented to Congress: politicians would have no choice but to show their true colors by casting their votes. Eventually politicians who are actually for the people instead of for themselves would be voted in. Ending the oligarchy and having the democracy we have all been promised and deserve. Imagine how many people would go out to vote if our voices we majorly heard instead of the economic elite.
Campaign contributions could be drastically reduced and we could require that Youtube and TV give smaller politicians air time for free before they can play paid for advertising.
Government bailouts could be ended or drastically reduced by Congressional votes presented by citizens. They are necessary to keep from thousands of employees suddenly losing their jobs and chaos when a business or service we rely on disappears over night. However, if they are more limited it would allow for a corporation to die slowly, giving the market time to create an alternative with superior management and technology.
Regulations and laws could be repealed. Products like hemp would be legalized and small companies could invest in construction of mines and pipelines. High taxes on products like nicotine and oil could be reduced. This would all allow small businesses and corporations to finally compete. It would end the legal consulting industry which is a huge burden on new businesses.
We could vote to have old government contracts entered back into the market to be bid on. Allowing technology and medicine to progress. The market could discover better and cheaper solutions.
Of course, none of this will happen unless we can get this system voted into place. What politicians will vote against their own power to take advantage of the system? The only way is to get outside players like Trump elected. If we have new politicians like celebrities become politicians it isn't the biggest risk in the world. Just pay attention to their voting history and whether it helps the people or not. Right now, this will never change with the elitist politicians that dominate the playing field today.
Except it might end in bloodshed.