The Power of Independents: Reviving Human Initiative

Independents decide national elections. But it is rare that independents actually get involved in a national cause. It is rare for independents to take the time to examine an ongoing problem deeply enough to want to take a strong stand. Voting is one thing, political activism, rallies, and active political networking is quite something else.

Can independents grab enough power to put the big political machines on notice?

The rise of new political forms across both Europe and America reflects some of the new realities of contemporary media. With the rise of the Internet, the ability of large parties to use the press as their obedient propaganda corps has been greatly diminished. Similarly, establishment consensus on issues—for example, on climate change—is no longer easy to enforce. The Internet is too protean and easy to penetrate to be corralled by either the power of money or lobbyist influence-peddling.

The current political unrest also reflects a growing sense among the middle class in advanced countries, particularly those employed in the private sector, that the dominant parties are simply not interested in their fate. In the U.S., this view has been reinforced around the two biggest issues facing Congress this year, health-care and financial reform. _NewGeography

There is a lot more to it, of course, depending upon the country in question. A growing number of Americans, for example, are convinced that Obama - Pelosi wants to take America so far away from the country's basic roots as to be unrecognisable -- and unlivable.

Every nation and every region within every nation have their own issues that drive them. But the big political power machines that run most western nations all tend to be badly out of touch with the average citizen who makes it possible for the power brokers to run their power scams and rackets.

This may be the beginning of something quite amazing.

H/T NEWS Alert