Welcome to episode four of We Don’t Talk About P-word. 

Remember when I said, “you might like what I have to say when I start and think I’m an idiot by the end?” Well, if I haven’t ruffled your feathers by now, today is that day. Today, I anger everyone. 

Remember when I said that I despise our political parties? This isn’t an arbitrary hatred. This hatred has grown through study and experience. Even if hatred is too strong of a word for you, there are many reasons to dislike our political parties. Today, I flesh out the enemies of the state—the enemies of the Constitution. 

As I have pointed out, the Constitution is a near-perfect document. Where it lacks, the Founders designed the amendment process to compensate. If you feel it still lacks, it’s because it needs amendments. If it lacks amendments, the blame lies with political elites. It’s not the Democrats. It’s not the Republicans. It’s both. It has been 30 years since Congress passed the last amendment. Ten of those years were under a unified Republican government. Seven were under Democrats. Ironically, that amendment was first proposed and introduced to Congress by James Madison. Yes… that James Madison.

The founders gave us the best Constitution they could, knowing it was flawed. They gave us the amendment process to bridge those flaws. Over time, we have fixed some of them, but not all. I would have to say the biggest flaw left is that there is no way for the People to set the amendment process in motion. Instead, we are reliant on state or federal political elites to do what needs to be done. The state elites having never even attempted it. 

Our political elites do not want the People to believe the amendment process is easy. They want us to believe it should be used only in the direst of circumstances. They want us to believe that a hasty amendment would be detrimental to our nation. To do that, we’d have to forget our history. They hope we forget the prohibition amendment and its repeal thirteen years later.

Thomas Jefferson believed that laws should expire every generation. I’m not proposing we sunset laws every 20-30 years. Well, not all laws anyway. But we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. 

The Constitution gave its power to the People. We have that power so we can make laws to affect our safety and happiness. We are also guaranteed certain unalienable rights…

Unfortunately for the last 246 years, we have been told that this isn’t true. We’ve been told that we have no right to privacy in this country. We’ve been told that our security only matters when spending billions on a new fighter jet. We’ve been told that the American Dream is alive, but only if you are born into the right family. We’ve been told that we are a nation of equals where justice rules, yet people of color fear the police. We are told that providing the necessities of Life is welfare for the lazy… 

They say this while providing billions to corporations. Corporations that make billions exploiting working Americans... Then they claim it’s good government. We are reminded every day that the pursuit of happiness is only for the wealthy. We are told that if we work hard and get an education, we will have a promising future. In truth, we only fall deeper into debt. And that’s their plan…

The wealthy believe they have a right to rule for no other reason than their wealth. They have worked against the People from the very beginning. Their names and tactics may change with the times, but it’s always the same goal. 

If you can’t enslave the people... If you can’t indenture servants... If you can’t exploit your workers... If you can’t control the populace, how do you maintain control of the system? 

You disenfranchise their votes. You make education prohibitively expensive. You tailor laws to target the most vulnerable. You keep them in a state of poverty so they can’t challenge the corporate order. The most important piece (and the only way to do it all) is to maintain control of the political parties. That way, politicians can’t remove you from the equation. 

Here's a little bit of historical trivia for your next bar trivia night. Do you know why the first Congress didn't want to take up the debate over the Bill of Rights? They believed discussing Hamilton's financial plan was more important than the People's rights. Coincidence? I think not.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, there is only one reason for our political parties. It is to ensure the corporate elites maintain control of a government; in which they should have no say at all. They do this by doing almost nothing. They do this by speaking out both sides of their mouth. They do this by keeping the real power in the country at each other’s throats. They keep the People squabbling and fighting about what the 'other' side should be doing. That way, we’ll never realize that neither side is doing anything. 

Healthcare... Voting rights... Minimum wage... The last time we got anything accomplished on any of these was on a technicality. And no, I don’t believe a 70-cent raise in the minimum wage in 2009 was a real accomplishment. It was another example of giving working Americans just enough crumbs to shut them up.

On the right, we have the “party of No” and on the left the “party of condescension.” Bottom line: both are full of shit.

The role of the political party is not to represent the People. The political party's role is to shill propaganda for their corporate benefactors. Both parties are good at spreading that propaganda. It is their job to do just enough to stay in power, but not enough to lift working Americans up. No matter what they are doing, you can be sure they are fulfilling the corporate political agenda. How else do they stay in power without corporate money?

If you want to understand how good, they are at the propaganda machine, it's simple. Look no further than our last two presidential elections. A septuagenarian, who spent the better part of 50 years as part of the problem, wins the Presidency. Same headline, two different Presidents. The only difference? One preyed on American politics, and the other on working Americans.

They are the same person. Sure, one comes off like your senile uncle and the other like your racist grandpa, but they are the same. One took advantage of politics to gain his status. The other preyed on employees, contractors, and customers to gain his. Both stood firmly on the backs of working Americans.

Need more proof? Over the last 50 years, Democrats have had complete control over the federal government for a total of eight years. During that same 50 years, the Republicans have had complete control for… wait for it… eight years. Nothing has changed. What have they been doing with their unchecked power? What have they been doing to earn their pay? What have they been doing to earn reelection? 

Promoting the Corporate-approved Political Agenda is all they need to do. 

Over the years the names may change: Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, DuPont, Walton, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg… But the agenda (and who’s holding the leash) is always the same: corporate interests.

Corporations do not care about the needs of working Americans. In fact, they barely consider us people. Corporations view working Americans as fungible assets to exploit. They do not see us as equals. They have the money, so they get to make the rules. How dare we question the order of things? We should be grateful for the jobs they "give" us. We should thank them for the blood, sweat, and tears we are allowed to shed for their wealth. They ignore the goods we produce and the services we provide. 

Not once do they stop to think of us as individuals. There is always another to replace us. They keep us in a state of need to ensure we can't quit. They never let us gain financial security, because that would cost them control of the system.

This is true whether you want to believe it or not. History doesn’t lie. It took passing laws to ensure safe working environments, install a minimum wage, end child labor... and enforce overtime. America also has a jarring history of murdering people who stand up for labor standards. 

They can no longer intimidate through state-sponsored violence. So, they had to devise new ways of control. That’s why we have been plagued with years of lies about the efficacy of trickle-down economics. It's nothing more than political propaganda disguised as a legitimate economic theory. They want us to believe they are doing more for working Americans than they are. In truth, they are doing their best to keep money and power in their own hands. If money wasn’t an obstacle to getting elected, they may not be able to control the people that get elected. 

They tell us that providing welfare to struggling Americans causes prices to go up. They don’t consider the mental and physical impact on those Americans which cost more in the long run. It costs America in lives, medical services, and crime. 

We are led to believe that raising wages creates inflation. The fact is the corporate profit-driven mindset causes inflation. 

We are told that universal healthcare is unsustainable. We never talk about the billions that would no longer be spent on insurance companies. 

We are told that it’s better to let 16 million homes sit empty while half a million Americans are homeless. Millions more are looking for affordable housing. 

We complain about the government helping millions of Americans in crippling education debt. We ignore the predatory prices of higher education and don’t bat an eye at $700 billion spent to bail out banks. We overlook the wealthy, like Tom Brady and Kanye West, receiving free money from PPP loans. 

We complain about minimum wage workers getting a raise. We disregard that the incoming tide raises all ships.

This is all bad, but that isn’t even corporate America’s biggest coup. What is? They’ve convinced Americans to sympathize with their loss of profit. It is like we all suffer from STOCK-holm MARKET syndrome. I see this argument all the time: "But they are a business, they have to make a profit." Sure, the point of owning a business is profit. That doesn't mean that profit at the detriment of the People is appropriate. 

Why do you think there was such a push away from pensions to 401Ks? It wasn't for the benefit of working Americans. It was so the People would root for the stock market even when we have little to no stake in it. It was so employers could take less responsibility for their long-term employees. It was so they could treat us like fungible assets rather than people. It was to save corporate America money so they could make more profit. The stock market measures the financial health of the wealthy, not working Americans.

Profit is the only goal of an unfettered capitalist system. It is not the only goal a nation Of the People and For the People should entertain. When is enough profit enough? Should we let it keep going until only the one percent can afford to live? When do we stop capitalism from preying on Working Americans? When do we start regulating them to promote the General Welfare?

Capitalism is an excellent tool to foster a strong economy. But even a perfect system in an imperfect world can be dangerous. And capitalism... Well, capitalism is far from perfect. Capitalism (in its current state) is in a parasitic relationship with our nation. Consume resources; consume workers; enrich the wealth and lives of the one percent. Rinse and repeat. 

This relationship deteriorates Domestic Tranquility. It hinders our pursuit of Happiness. It denies the General Welfare and erodes our Blessings of Liberty. Capitalism without regulations is despotism with oligarchs instead of kings. We must build a symbiotic relationship between corporations and the People. Otherwise, we are in a slow steady death march. We will transition from a Democratic Republic to Plutocratic Fascism. 

Don’t believe me when I say that corporations don’t consider us people? Look no further than the record profits companies continue to reap. Yet, we suffer from high inflation. Chevron and Exxon Mobile had 12% profit margins in the first half of 2022. That’s two percent better than they were before the Covid pandemic. That margin has only grown as the year has progressed. Two percent may not seem like a lot. Two percent of $50,000 is $1,000. Two percent of a billion dollars is $20 million. These are companies making many billions a year. Working Americans suffer at the hands of rising inflation. Corporations rake in millions more in profit than they did 3 years ago. How many working Americans are doing better today than 3 years ago? 

I know what you are thinking. These companies must pay billions to buy Congressional obedience. Right? Right? Let's take a look at a few of the lowlights of 2021... Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of American spent $30 million. Meta/Facebook spent $20 million. Amazon spent $19 million. That is money going to campaigns, Political Action Committees, and expensive dinners wooing Congress. No, it’s not billions, Congress sells the People out for a pittance every year. The bottom line is... 

We can never be a nation OF the People, BY the People, and FOR the People while money plays a leading role in our politics. 

For 246 years the corporate elites and their political lackeys have worked against us. They have been keeping Americans at each other’s throats. Americans fight over race, while the elites laugh at the distraction. Political parties demonize each other knowing their end goals are the same. Corporations tell us they can’t raise wages, while raking in billions in profits. 

They want us to believe that giving to one takes away from others. They want us to believe that fighting climate change is cost prohibitive. Why? That’s a future problem and it would affect their profits right now. They want us to believe refugees are nefarious infiltrators. The truth is they are simply looking for a better life. We fear migrant workers, when they make up nearly 20% of our workforce. We already have more jobs than workers. What would the loss of 20% of our workforce mean to farming? Manufacturing? Construction?

Corporate America and our political parties have spent years lying and pushing propaganda. They want to make us fear and hate people who think, look, or live differently than we do. Corporate and political elites defy domestic Tranquility to benefit themselves. They have ignored the general Welfare through their inaction and greed. They have perverted religion to their own ends. They have manipulated Justice to ensure they maintain power. 

Every time they say something isn’t possible you can be sure that it is. It just doesn’t benefit them. Corporate America does nothing unless it affects its bottom line. Their political lackeys follow their orders. They reject legislation that is not part of the Corporate-approved Political Agenda. 

A cancer plagues our nation. That cancer is the relationship between corporate America and the political elites. This cancer keeps Congress from doing anything to benefit the people. It stands as a roadblock to a cure for actual cancer and many other diseases. It’s not profitable to cure anything. If we aren’t careful, this cancer will dismantle American values. If we are to survive the coming storm of political, social, and environmental issues, we MUST excise it.

The distrust of the “other” has placed us on separate sides. We are fighting a constant battle constructed by corporate and political elites. The only way they remain in power is to keep those that have the real power feeling ostracized and in a state of anger. It’s to do nothing and blame the other side. It's to make us believe the wealthiest nation in the world will go bankrupt if we pass laws to make our lives better. It is to make us believe that the system is out to get our party. 

Over the past 165 years, we have lived under unified government for 91 years. Forty-four years were under Democrats, and forty-seven years were under Republicans. That distribution seems fair to me, but facts rarely cooperate with propaganda. 

Washington warned us against the corrupting influence of political factions. Jefferson warned us against removing the wall separating church and state. Madison warned us against noting specific personal rights to the detriment of others. Eisenhower warned us against the military industrial complex. 

We chose to ignore the warnings. We allowed the Corporate Political Agenda to gain a foothold. We allowed the corporate elites to take possession of our government. We allowed them to weave their propaganda into our culture. 

We believe them when they say our nation can’t afford to help Working Americans. We believe them when they say Democrat and Republican are our only choices. We believe them, even when they keep banks afloat and leave Working Americans to drown. We believe them when they blame the politics instead of their own greed.

The good news is that Madison provided us a failsafe. Corporate and Political elites do their best to ignore it. Purchased judges have spent most of our history trying to discredit it. But it exists.

After eight years it was obvious that the Articles did not form a strong government. Our Founders understood a nation subordinate to the states was not sustainable. The American experiment was failing. The answer was a nation subordinate not to the states, but to its People. From this, our Constitution was born. The People formed a more perfect union than had existed under the Articles. 

It guaranteed all Americans, present and future, the Blessings of Liberty. It promised to uphold the American values instilled in the preamble. 

Madison believed these rights were inherent to the Constitution. But he also understood the People's desire for a bill of rights. Because he feared naming specific rights at the expense of others, he created a failsafe:

“It has been objected also against a bill of rights, that, by enumerating particular exceptions to the grant of power, it would disparage those rights which were not placed in the enumeration; and it might follow, by implication, that those rights which were not singled out, were intended to be assigned into the hands of the General Government, and were consequently insecure. This is one of the most plausible arguments I have ever heard urged against the admission of a bill of rights into this system; but, I conceive, that it may be guarded against. I have attempted it, as gentlemen may see by turning to the last clause of the fourth resolution.” – James Madison in House debates June 8, 1789, (pg456)

The last clause of the fourth resolution

Written to be added into the Constitution not as an Amendment:

“The exceptions here or elsewhere in the constitution, made in favor of particular rights, shall not be so construed as to dimmish the just importance of other rights retained by the people, or as to enlarge the powers delegated by the constitution; but either as actual limitations of such powers, or as inserted merely for greater caution.” – James Madison House debates, June 8, 1789, (pg452)

Or… what became the Ninth Amendment:

“The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” -- Ninth amendment to the Constitution

For a long time, political elites have claimed the ninth amendment doesn’t mean anything. Politicians tell us this. Judges tell us this. It’s all part of the Corporate Political Agenda. 

The fact is that the Constitution confers ALL rights to the people. It is the right of the people to alter or abolish government. If this is true, the government has only limited power to restrict the rights of the People. Guess what? The founders told us when that is too. The restriction of rights is only constitutional when it is necessary and proper. It must only be to ensure the Blessings of Liberty for all Americans. 

It’s easy to see why the Corporate Political Agenda would want us to believe that amendment holds no power. 

We must realize that we are fighting the wrong people. We fight ourselves to the delight of the political and corporate elites. They know that keeping us distracted ensures their power stays intact. We must realize they have their boots on the back of all Americans. Not just white or black Americans. Not just Americans living in the city or the country. All Americans. 

The only way to shove them off is if we all work together. Whether you agree with everything I say or not, you must see that our nation is in crisis. The government under the control of our political parties is not working For the People. We MUST remember what the Constitution says. Our government is replaceable, but the people are not.
We the People Are the Power!

If you still doubt the motives of James Madison, I’ll leave you with this. He proposed what I guess we can call a PRE preamble. It is recorded in House debates as follows:

“First, That there be prefixed to the constitution a declaration, that all power is originally vested, in and consequently derived from, the people. 
That Government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their Government, whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purposes of its institution.” – James Madison House debates June 8, 1789, (pg451)