Problem One

The rich are skimming off our labor while offering the American people no real service. I want to pay my boss, he does the paperwork and buys new chairs for the lounge room. I don't want to pay a person to jet set around the world and play golf. We, over time, as a society, have chosen to pay a small group of people billions of dollars from the fruits of our labor. [0] Some billionaires, literally, make over a million dollars per hour. [1] We need to pay people like our teachers, caretakers, bridge builders and disabled veterans substantially more. These labor forces are the backbone of our country, they make America run.

“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”

― Thomas Jefferson

Problem Two

The large corporate groups are closely intertwined with our government. [2] Politics should not require large bank accounts for participation. A citizen should not need corporate backers to run a campaign. It requires a certain amount of money to inform citizens about the different platforms and candidates. We need healthy mediums for informing the public, but we don't need to have advertisement wars. The operation of political campaigns should be a function of government. I would prefer we max political contributions from individuals and organizations to zero. If this country can't operate a democratic election without my money, I just don't understand.

“Like sex in Victorian England, the reality of Big Business today is our big dirty secret.”

-Ralph Nadar

Problem Three

We lack transparency. We don't really know what is going on behind the closed doors of our government. The real decisions are made in private meetings and dinner parties. I still have trouble believing how the National Security Agencies mass surveillance program barely bothered the American public. [3] I want more access to government and corporate surveillance activities. I am not asking for Coca-Cola's secret recipes or the United States Military plans. I want federal oversight of their operations at all times, not just when there is a problem.

“There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example of transparency.” - Edward Snowden

Problem Four

The media is not controlled by the citizens. It is operated by people who want me to buy things and I don't like commercials. More seriously, I think the news media is not telling me about the issues I want to know about, not answering the questions I really have, and basically, a waste of time. The alternative medias aren't getting out unscathed. The alternative medias across the spectrum are appealing to their base, not reporting both sides of the story in a fair way. I rarely see any disagreements in opinion from the left or right alternative medias. There is no dissent in political opinion among those which subscribe to being of a particular political identity.

“The press is a gang of cruel faggots. Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits—a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.”-Hunter S. Thompson

Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh, but I couldn't resist.

Problem Five

We collectively refuse to compromise ideologically. We are not going to agree on morality. We are not going to like the results of every election or democratically made decision. We must decide to put down some of our differences. We need to live and let live, while remembering not to tread on our fellow citizens. I don't think you must love thy neighbor or turn the other cheek. I say we need to have a little more respect for the opinions of people who disagree with our personal beliefs. We need solutions that give everyone an opportunity to live in the America they choose, without infringing on the rights of others to live in the America they choose. It is difficult to define what this actually mean, but that is why we have a democracy.

“If one does not understand a person, one tends to regard him as a fool”

― C.G. Jung