Do American Citizens feel that they have the power to change things

Hello ATSers,

I have just read many posts in regards to an American who is not content with the state of his country and his desire to leave. In those posts there were alot of people with the opinion that if he had a problem with how things are, he should stick around and try and help fix the problems. This started me thinking and I have a question:

Do you feel that you have the power as an American citizen to change the way your government operates? Or in a more general sense, do you feel you have a voice that is taken into account when decisions are made on behalf of the American people?

reply to post by Gargamel


Nope. We lost the right as citizens to govern ourselves after the Civil War when 'these united states of America' changed into 'The United States of America'.

If this were High School Student Council, I would say that we do indeed have the power to bring in new vending machines to the cafeteria. However, given the vast darkness of our carefully crafted political system, I would say change does not have a snowball's chance in hell. Sadly, I think that we are currently living a chapter in a well written book.

We could change things IF enough people would take the time to do so. But most people dont even want to talk about it must less do anything. So what can only a few people do?

if we all decided to stay home, and send emails, phone calls, Singing telegrams to congress and MSM Im sure we could,

The real question isn't can we change things, Its Can we United to Change things!

[edit on 10-11-2009 by 10001011]

You have to remember that the Citizens of the US voted the present administration into office...and the ones before that.

The biggest problem we have is not that we cannot change things but that we vote for the wrong changes.

You have to realize that over half of the voters in this country actually wanted what is going on right now. Mainly because they thought it would get them something for nothing.

We can change things. We just can't agree to make changes for the better.

Power to change government? Ha, not bloody likely. Earth has become one big giant slave planet.

The rich, wealthy, elite, for them, Earth is like a utopia. They have everything they need. Big fancy mansion, all the toys anyone would want, money to come and go all around the world as they please. Their only excuse in the world for not accomplishing something is motivation. Meanwhile, as they go about having nothing but fun, it's all the little sheople slaves that make it all possible.

Why do the sheople slaves put up with this? It's because your government has turned ya'll into a bunch of helpless little sheep. It's become so pitiful that the slave masters don't even need to keep you all on the end of a leash any more. Look how helpless man has become today. If one looses their JOB, they suddenly become like helpless lost little sheep, unable to provide for themselves, begging for another slave JOB so they can be housed and feed by the machine that keeps them enslaved.

The governments of the world are built upon the need for slaves, and the slaves have been crafted into little sheople that needs slave JOBS now in order to survive. You can't change that. Governments purpose is to keep the sheople down, down on the farm. Poor little sheep, lost in the field, because the establishment hasn't a place for them, a JOB to keep them busy with something to do. Sheep work for their master, and their master gives them paper pieces so the slaves can get food and a place to live. Pitiful. Makes me wonder if they woke up tomorrow to discover they were the last human on Earth, would they starve and die because there is nobody left on Earth to give them a job? LOL.

The only way to fix government is to eliminate government. Kill masta! Ya'll should have never allowed yourselves to become so dependent, like pigeons in the park looking for substance to stay alive from those that feed them in the park. Oh woe is me, the dumb slave, set free by masta, and now I don't know how to feed and house myself any more. Please masta, give me another slave job, put me in the fields to pick cotton for ya, for without you I am a lost little helpless sheep that will starve and die.

Government is responsible for this mess. Fix THAT? Nah. Fix nothing! Get rid of governments. Lets go back to the days when it was everyone for themselves, the strongest survive, communal living where we depend upon ourselves to survive, and not this world where all the sheople need masta and jobs and money. How did humanity ever survive before they became so damn dependent on government, the nanny state, to take care of all their woes? And now that we have a slave society where everyone needs masta and his funny money in order to survive, are we really any better of than back when men and women had to depend upon themselves to take care of themselves?

I can picture a human 20,000 years ago sitting on a mountain top .. crying .. because they don't have a JOB, ha, and thus their life now sucks. Man, has masta sure wussy-wiped humanity into a bunch of weak little crybabies. Fix government? Nah. KILL GOVERNMENT DEAD .. and free all the sheople to fend for themselves. Governments are like that old man sitting in the park feeding the pigeons .. bash that old man over the head so pigeons don't become so helpless and are forced to take care of and manage their own lives and so we don't becomes such a weak helpless species ever again.

we totally have the potential to change, but not one person on their own.

what we need is a political group that gets elected into public offices across the country.

a group of 10-20 righteous people who are willing to fight for the people, and not get corrupted by those already in power.

we need a revolution from the inside out.

and they need to have a plan. a careful, well executed plan, because that's the only way.

they must seem to be playing by the rules, and hell, they probably could until they reach the highest power, and then, with one of them a president, the others on the peoples side, then change would come.

but what are the odds that THAT many people would stay uncorrupt.

Nope, many of my family members don't even want to think about what is going on. They don't watch the news because it depresses them. Just hopelessness all around now a days.

If everyone stayed at home and didn't buy gas for a whole day we could get the point across. And get gas prices probably down to $0.99

A nationwide strike could most definitely change the tempo. They need us to provide them money. Just think if everyone in the nation didn't pay their taxes. They couldn't imprison everyone!

[edit on 10-11-2009 by OpenYourHead]

one person alone cannot change the state were in, BUT a million + with the same mindset can.

if only there were a way to anger the American people, and get them to storm DC, and a demand a full reset of the system were in. IF NOT were always going to be in the heap of crap that were in.

I think we do have the power. People just need to get off their rear ends and realize that they can make a difference.

Here in my state (NJ) the people achieved a great victory over the corrupt politicians running the state government. We managed to vote out the Goldman Sachs crony Governor Jon Corzine even though he out spent his opponent 4 to 1 and had Obama campaining for him. This was not easy since NJ has always been a Democrat stronghold.

We were tired of the lies, corruption and endless tax increases so we kicked him out. People got together and got the word out through alternate methods since Corzine had all the money and owned the MSM in the state. We made a difference and it gave me hope.

reply to post by Erasurehead


Oh man, when Corzine was voted out, i was happy as hell!! (from NJ TOO!!!)

we need to see more of these guys do this...



.. getting rid of one corrupted political idiot at a time.

The problem is that SOCIALISM when written down and spoke about can be a prettier painted picture that Capitalism and Free Enterprise could ever be. I read about a time when the crop harvesters were required to not harvest crops in 90 degree patterns leaving behind patches of crops for the poor and they weren't just given hand outs. They had to go pic thier own food for themselves. Now a days its oh my back hurts, give me free money; so SAD. I have a customer come in just today telling me he is on disability and collecting from the government and he does nothing but play games all day long at the little Casinos at the mini mart of the road. SAD. Atleast he is donating to society; yeah right. We are all on the right track, so why not put together a PARTY to make a stand in America. WHY !?!?! Because you are all to lazy to do anything other than to log onto your computers and type about what we/you SHOULD DO. Instead of doing what you need to do to make sure what our forefathers did stands here in AMERICA.

No matter how bad things may get, or may seem to be, it is never too late to change them.

Nothing can become so ingrained and entrenched that it cannot be reformed.

Even the Framers of our Constitution understood this and provided a means to change the very Constitution itself, if needed.

It is just that for many it is far easier to give up than to try.

The only problem with change is that it isn't immediate enough for many. Like it or not, change takes time. In our society of instant gratification, it is difficult for us to think 10 years, let alone a generation or two, into the future and work towards bringing about significant and lasting change.

Racism, for instance, did not end when laws were passed to outlaw Segregation in the 1960s. It still took over 40 years before Racism became almost a relic of the past. Yet even today, with an African-American as POTUS, racism is still not gone from our society. Change, in regards to Racial Equality, has been happening but it is far from over. It still may take another 40 years before racism is truly a thing of the past.

Part of the Democratic idea of government (even with a Representational Democratic Republic) is that it is slow (albeit not as slow as it would be with a Direct Democracy), and it will never make anyone truly happy as it works (in theory) to fulfill the desires of the majority not for those in the minority, or for the individual. It is not the most efficient form of government and changes and reform take inordinate amounts of time, and even then, when changes do take place, there will always be a sense of disenfranchisement by the People as it cannot possibly cater to every individual perspective and desire.

It takes devotion, dedication, and continual effort to bring about change, and even then, those changes may not be seen in lifetime. Verily, the majority of the problems we are facing as a Nation are not due to the decisions of the current Administration, nor the previous Administration (although they both played their respective parts in perpetuating or acerbating those problems) but rather are from decisions that were made in another time, between 80 years ago and 144 years ago. Cause and Effect are rarely immediate and easily discernible in our form of government where Insight, Vision and Attention Span are generally limited to 4-8 years at the maximum.



[edit on 10-11-2009 by fraterormus]

Our voices fall on deaf ears, we are no longer a real part of our government.
Each person making decisions in the govt. is only a person and can be removed one way or another; but their plans and those behind the scenes will continue on but only with some delay. Figure-heads each and every one nearly.
I'm not saying every single politician has a secret agenda to hurt the people they represent but it seems that those type are far and few.

We are, if not slowly, losing our freedoms with loopholes and political correctness. The govt. trying to tell us what is right and wrong, and say that they are protecting us from other threats or ourselves when they are just securing their financial gains or positions. Dirty lil rats I say. We should set some traps to catch them...