By Thomas R. Cuba, Ph.D.
In 2012 I warned people about the coming oligarchy with this passage about power:
Power has also centralized outside the halls of government. These external Power Centers derive their own power from either money or votes which they can deliver to a candidate and will often have their own power bolstered by special favors from Congress. Among these are Unions, the Media, Banks, numerous other industries, certain non-profit organizations, and last but certainly not least, the Political Party.
Examined independently, the Political Party has none of the safeguards to the accumulation of power that the Constitution gave to the government. The party, however, holds a great deal of power over who is nominated and who is elected and how that person acts or votes once in office. Any office-holder is subject to this pressure.
The result is that the Power Centers evolving outside the government are serving to assist in consolidating Power Centers within the government. The government, along with the election process, is devolving into a spectator sport consisting of an ongoing series of games between only two contestants (the major Parties). As the sport evolves, the “players” write new rules designed more to enhance the playing of the game, and less to preserve the responsiveness of the government to the governed. When that struggle ends, when one “team” wins time after time, we will lose our Republic and be subjects of an as yet undefined oligarchy.
During the last few election cycles, more and more evidence accrued in testament to the crescendo of power within the parties. The most evident was the solicitation for campaign contributions from candidates running for offices in states that were several states away!
I personally was solicited for campaign contributions for candidates as far away as Arizona. The only reason given was that the party had to win that seat to maintain balance in Washington or the state capitol. The candidate no longer mattered.
In the flurry of new solicitations that I’m seeing now, the trend continues. Several of the more recent fliers and emails don’t even include what district the hopeful representative or senator is running in. The only thing that matters is that one party have more players in the game than the other one.
If that’s the future oligarchy that you want your children to live under, then sit back, relax, and watch Rome burn once again.
~ Excerpt is from POWER AND FREEDOM; Thomas R. Cuba, 2012.
About The Author: Thomas R. Cuba, Ph.D.
Raised a simple Missouri farm boy, Tom managed to attend a British Prep School before commencing a college career that would culminate in a Doctorate Degree in Marine Ecology. He also served as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy, and as a scoutmaster, SCUBA instructor, Wilderness Survival Instructor, and Firearms Instructor.
Tom has worked as an ecologist in both government and private practice, as well as a freelance nature photographer and computer programmer.
Now, a father and grandfather, Tom offers life lessons in the form of stories about the challenges people face and conquer as well as socio-political essays. To that end, his first lesson is always his favorite quote. “Failure is the whetstone of success.” ~ T. Leith Rettie, 1884.
You can read more from Tom on his site by clicking here.
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