Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville

Below is a dynamite quote from Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville; it was written a couple hundred years ago.  It's an amazing prediction that generally sums up the way things are in the USA (& pretty much all of the developed world) today.

"After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting.  [Emphasis added.] Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, [Emphasis added.] till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."

I would change only the very last clause to read as follows: 
"...of which the government and the Oligarchy are the shepherds."

The situation cannot be blamed only on the Republicans, or only on the Democrats; both are responsible, and equally so.  To blame one or the other, which it seems most Americans do, is to fall into the Divide and Conquer Trap that was well executed by the Oligarchy.  It's important to realize, however, that the whole thing is not a "conspiracy" of any kind...at least, no more a conspiracy than AT&T "conspiring" to make as much money as possible.  The Oligarchy uses the word "conspiracy", or the words "conspiracy theory", to eliminate further discussion of a topic...no one wants to be thought of as a "nut".

The problem is not only at the national and State levels.  Unfortunately, most counties, cities, and towns have adopted "International" property and enforcement codes.  My experience has been that because their codes are international, in the minds of the government officials, that makes everything OK and unassailable by reason and common sense.  I hate to say it and see it, but this is almost everywhere---
"...covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting.  Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people,  till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."

All the elections in the world will not change any of that, and violence is not any kind of option---it would be completely & brutally crushed in short order.  Guaranteed.  Massive, peaceful boycotts are not viable options either...only because most Americans do not have the will for such things and we are totally Divided and Conquered.

Sad to say, but I see no effective solution on a large scale.  People are resisting in small ways, passively.  That's about all one can do.  All of this is why I've (for the most part) given up on politics and rarely post on this blog anymore.  I've turned to Art, and what a joy!  Despite that, every so often I see something like the quote above and share it.  I do it mainly because it saddens me to see most of my fellow countrymen still stuck in the anachronistic Repubs v. Dems political paradigm.

Happy Trails