“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” – Sir Winston Churchill –
A successful democracy has always rested on two fundamental pillars. The first is compromise; the ability for even the most intractable of political foes to sit down at a table and hammer out laws that neither of them like, but that both of them can live with. The second is the exclusion of extreme elements. Simply put, government cannot function if the lunatics are running the asylum.
So, what happens when one or both political parties become hopelessly ideologically entrenched and overrun with extremist elements?
So long, Democracy, and thanks for all the fish. Welcome to Democrazy.
I guess the real question we need to ask ourselves is that now that we’ve left Democracy behind and have collectively moved on to Democrazy, what’s next?
Assuming that we manage to avoid default, the most likely economic outcome is for a slight dip. If the law happens to be particularly shitty, it could trigger a second recession. If it’s anything like what’s coming out of the House of Representatives, it’ll be a full on Depression. Bread lines. Tent cities. The works.
By the way, I hope you all like weird pig parts, because we’re going to be eating a lot of them in the form of some incredibly shitty laws in the near future. Those of you in Florida, New Jersey, Maine, Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas, and Indiana are already getting sandwiches with extra chuckle.
I wouldn’t recommend talking about politics with anyone, because as we approach the Presidential elections over the next year and a half, you’re gonna find that anyone that’s not on your side appears to be so incredibly incompetent that you’re amazed they’re able to breathe, much less vote. If you happen to be liberal, people on your own side may be appear to be incredibly incompetent as well.
You’re going to hear quotes on the news like “I didn’t sign up to go mano-a-mano with the President of the United States.” from people like Speaker of the House John Boehner. Nevermind that being the head of the House of Representatives has “occasionally going mano-a-mano with the President of the United States, especially if he’s not in your party” in the job description. He picked a fight with the leader of the free world. If this doesn’t make your brains liquefy and leak out of your ears, you may want to check and see if you have any left. If you don’t, I understand.
Oh yeah, you will hear and read things so incredibly stupid that your brains will occasionally liquefy and leak out of your ears.
This is a new and exciting time for America. For 224 years, Democracy has been kind of our thing. Rule of the people, by the people, and for the people. Now that we’ve decided to move on, I’m looking forward to watching this next chapter of the Great American Experiment unfold. We’re just gonna start throwing forms of government at the wall and see what sticks. Socialism, Fascism, Anarchy, Communism… Really, it’s all on the table at this point!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I think my chuckle sandwich is done and I have some brains to mop up.
(photo: Cartogram of the 2008 election results)
