Thoughts on the State of Our Political System

In an ongoing discussion with a friend of mine regarding the politics of the country, he asked, in response to a statement I made, whether I subscribe to Marxist or Communist beliefs.  I spent a day or so thinking about it and came up with this response.

Would that it were that simple.  Marxism is an economic theory and one which has never been implemented anymore than pure capitalism, and for the same reason: neither takes into account humanity.  And the political Communism bears very little resemblance to Marx's theories anymore than conservative Republicanism actually embodies pure capitalism.  When it comes down to it, though, it isn't an either/or situation.  That's just something that we've been sold as a country so we'd have a united enemy that wasn't the actual enemy.

What I meant when I said what we have isn't working is just that.  Our political system isn't working.  It's product is a nation in decline.  But saying that the system we're using now doesn't mean that I'm saying we should switch to the system that others are using, because there are flaws in all of those, as well.  Chinese Communism does an exceptional job with prioritizing public education and social awareness, but allows for virtually no freedom of the press or personal expression.  European socialism does an exceptional job of taking care of its people's health and well-being, but keeps them isolated from one another and, as a result, has led to flagging economic systems which are only interconnected enough to drag one another down.  And American Republicanism allows for unprecedented levels of personal freedom, but limits those very freedoms by placing a higher priority on economic growth and the health of business now than it does on investing in the future.  So, as with all things, there's no black and white.  In order to grow and succeed, we need to learn from one another's successes and failures, take the good, leave out the bad and create a system that works, admitting when parts are broken, and fixing them.

The founding fathers intended the country's government and legal systems to be organic, to grow and change as necessary to reflect the needs of the country and technological growth.  Hell, Franklin and  Jefferson both speculated, pretty accurately, a lot of modern technology, but you can't base a government on speculation.  Look what basing our financial system on speculation has done.  Plato was right in that we ought to be governed not by politicians, but by top scholars and thinkers working as a council, for the betterment of the people, plain and simple.