The people have known something was wrong in Washington for a long time. Their longing for change has even brought a superficial shift in the political climate.

Two candidates were nominated based on the promise of change -- McCain to stop earmarks and corruption, and Obama to change from the policies of Bush -- without addressing the underlying lack of control by the American electorate, nor what can be done to reform the system that has allowed things to spiral to such depths.

We each are born into these physical bodies to experience life as the center of our respective universes, totally immersed in the experiences life brings. In other words, I'm born to live my life, while you live yours.

Unfortunately, such egocentrism is the reason our world is in the state it is in. Most are out to get what they can to serve their own interests, even when others are hurt or disadvantaged in the process.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the conduct of our public affairs.

Egos in Action

How can we take back our government from those who abuse their positions of trust to serve the will of the people, without turning it over to others who wait for their turn to feed at the public trough?

How can we insure that new stewards will not continue with more of the same, surreptitiously serving their own self-interest at the expense of fundamental freedoms and equality?

I thought that I would post a copy of the Bill of Rights here for anyone's reference for future discussion:

THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Amendments 1-10 of the Constitution

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This is an excerpt of an April, 2006, conversation at WhisperZone on our political system, rewritten for stand-alone reading here.

Many people are unhappy with the workings of our government. However, a large portion of those think that all we need to do is change the face of who is in power.

Perhaps they're right. But I see it a different way.

For simply handing over our responsibility for our affairs to another set of leaders without transforming the system won't restore us authority over our affairs, much less recover our freedoms eroded over time.