The ruckus over health care is calling "we the people" to awaken from our collective slumber and ask if this is the best we can do?

No, I'm not talking about the contents of the bill, or whether we should or should not have some form of universal health care, and whether this is the approach to accomplish that. Rather, I'm referring to our system of government, the way it functions, and those we've elected (and who they have hired) to make its decisions and carry out its operations.

As I see it, for a long while now it's been used as a vehicle to allow different constituencies and interest groups to pursue their desires -- for control, for benefit, for power, to right perceived wrongs, to impose their vision of "social justice," or whatever.

Rather than a government of the people, by the people and for the people, we've allowed them to create a government that serves a ruling oligarchy that is so far removed from ordinary life that it's no wonder they walk hand in hand with big business, big money, big unions, or big community power brokers who can get out the vote or give the appearance of a public outcry for this interest or that.

That's the only thing they've known throughout their public lives, so it's natural they're continuing that practice now. It's just that we're really seeing it up close and personal now -- and many of us are getting sick watching it.

The problem is, we've let them do it. We bought into their power games and use of the media to manipulate us through one policy or another. We're the ones who allowed them to buy us off with entitlements, and now want even more with health care so we can have our piece of the pie, too (or at least avoid some of the harshness of the system that we've allowed to develop).

So I guess if we don't like what we see, we should look in the mirror. For the buck stops here.

But that isn't my purpose for writing today. It's more to articulate a perspective forming within me on whether and how we can move beyond this situation into something better.

There are basically two forces at work within this health care debate by those trying to manipulate the system for their own ends. The first uses power to serve their own ends and impose their vision (or those of the powers behind the throne) on the country. These are now the Democrats, even with deep divisions within them as to how to do that. The second is the resistance of Republicans who want that power for themselves and those whose interests they advance.

Both are part of the same system of musical chairs to see who will hold the reigns of power, all trying to advance not only their current benefit but also to stack the deck in favor of those who will follow in their footsteps.

On the other hand, there is a growing voice of those who see that our system has been usurped by these carpetbaggers and want to scale it back to limits imposed by our Constitution to restore basic freedoms and opportunity, as well as hope for future generations that this republic will still be here for them as well. These are the libertarians and other groups.

Still more see only conspiracies and abuse across the board, and think the whole thing is such a mess that there's no hope for it and we should bring it all down. These "anarchists" can be found on both left and right, without consensus as to what to do to fix the problems or what to replace the current system with.

Beneath all these competing views are core values and beliefs that often remain unstated.

Some feel that the inequities and abuses of human activity must be fought at every turn, and will stop at nothing to use the government to do that.

Others are in pain when they look at their fellow citizens' struggles with life, and often are in conflict what to do about it. They are quick to use the power of government to try to ease their pain (at least that of empathetic bystanders), even though they know a hand out does little to provide a hand up out of the problems they want to address.

On the other hand, there are those who so value freedom and self-determination that they are willing to accept that some will succeed in such an environment while others will fall, and to preserve it are willing to stand by (at least from a governmental perspective) and allow them to do that.

Still more are caught up in the pursuit of money and see its acquisition as the key to developing the life they want. And they are prone to accept the hazards of a capitalist system that rewards success and punishes failure to acquire and use money effectively, knowing that if they are skillful they have a better chance of "winning."

And of course, there are those who simply want power or influence. We don't have to look much farther than our TVs where politicians and media vie to see who can outdo the other.

It is within this cauldron of perspectives and competing interests that our system must somehow function. And somehow for over 200 years we have, zigzagging our way back and forth as various groups have fought to impose their wills on the course of human events.

The question, though, is whether continuing this approach is going to get us to a place of greater peace and plenty for all? Or is it going to relegate us to such internal conflict that we stumble and fall while other systems like China's take hold, no personal freedoms other than an ability to use plentiful capital and cheap labor to see what extremes they can achieve with their new brand of state-controlled capitalism?

It remains to be seen whether the American people will demand more of their government, or even be able to arrive at a common vision of where they want to go.

Our heritage is certainly a resistance to control by central authority where individualism is worshipped above collective action or benefit, set aside only in times of crisis to meet circumstances or peoples who would deny it.

But the last 150 years have seen forces at work within our midst to change that, and we're getting to the point now where such individualism and self-determination may very well be at risk of extinction.

So we the people need to decide where we want to go from here, and how we want to get there. Maybe what we're seeing in the news is truly what we want. Or maybe it will serve as stimulus for us to work for something else.

Each of us must answer it for ourselves, and then find a way to speak that truth for others to hear and consider. If enough of us do -- in a civil way -- perhaps we can at least set the tone for a better way to conduct our affairs.

Maybe one day we can get some change we can believe in. Right now, our best hope for the future is that we get clear on what we really want from our lives in this country, for ourselves and for generations to follow. And then, to get on with the business of creating it in a way that will serve all (hopefully even those who want something else).

Until then, let's give thanks for the fight that's going on now, even the shenanigans of those who don't espouse our particular views. For they all are helping to give us the chance to decide what kind of change will best serve to create the lives we want.

It is, in essence, a gift of expanded consciousness their actions offer, and they're triggering the responses in us that will help bring it.

And that is a valuable gift indeed.