Eliot Spitzer's New Gig

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(Thanks to the folks at Capitol Confidential)

5 Parties are better than 2

My opinion of John McCain changed after reading this New Yorker article, "The Fall", by David Grann. McCain in 2000 was his own man seeking reforms through force of personality and conviction. On the political spectrum, he was not too far from the more conservative leaning democrats.

For one, he doesn't want to dismantle the federal government:

"We have had regulatory agencies always to curb the abuses or potential abuses of the capitalist system. This is not a totally laissez-faire country"

For another, he complied with campaign finance reform.

For the 2008 election, he had to appeal to the conservative base, and that was the beginning of the end for him. He had cozy up to the folks who elected Bush, twice. This was not easy. In fact, McCain's top political strategist had considered running on a third party ticket, but he

"quickly concluded that the American political system made it all but impossible for such a party to win. 'This system, as it's presently set up, automatically pulls good people to a darker side of politics'".

Why are the American people left to choose from only two parties? How are two parties supposed to represent all of our interests from Brooklyn to Berkeley and all the vastness in between?

I agree that a three party system will not work because a viable third party would take votes from both sides of the spectrum. The Republicans and the Democrats would not allow that to happen.

We need 5 parties.

In a multi-party world, McCain could support campaign finance reform and all of his core beliefs without sacrifice and changing his message.

Voters would have the choice to vote based on issues important to them without being forced to clamber up on a campaign platform straining to accommodate the masses.

Granted, the federal level will be the last level to change.

The "parties" reform must take place at a local level.

Imagine, Democrats and Republicans in our city councils and state legislatures being replaced by candidates from the Green Party, Working Families Party and Libertarians.

The result would be twofold:

1. A more representational government could eliminate the lock hold that special interests have on our political process
2. Individuals will become more engaged in civic endeavors if they feel their specific interests are represented

You see, the more we are engaged, the more we know, the more we know, the more powerful we become. Who knows? With some hard work this nation could move from being a corporatist state to a democracy with a strong moral core. Capitalism with a conscience. The conscience being we the people, of course.

humanNATURE

Surprisingly, it begins with a biologist. E. O. Wilson.

In his book, Creation, he lays out some goals of present day biology:

"Bridge, if not outright unify, the natural sciences and humanities by exploration of the biolgocial foundation of mind and human nature. In the process, unveil the co-evolution of genes and culture". (emphasis added)

Can we change the course of the evolution of culture?

Genetic changes abound: There are fish genes in our strawberries. Monocultures of corn and soy threaten to harm irreparably the environment and local agriculture.

Let us dissect some of our modern cultural DNA and blend it with past cultures, bringing back our appreciation of our place on the earth, and our recognition that we are part of the food chain. We do not have power over the earth and the earth's inhabitants - plant, human, animal, insect - but we are part of the earth.

Again, E.O. Wilson

"The place of humans on the planet has been misconstrued. Humans are not conquerors, humans are part of the ecosystem".

Change our culture. Save the planet.