Burn It All Down and Start Over

A Radical Grammar Op-Ed

The American political system is broken, and we’re long past the point of just trying to fix it from the edges. We’ve spent years watching the people in power turn the government into a private club. While regular folks struggle to pay rent, fill their tanks, or keep their businesses running, the people in office are busy chasing cameras and collecting checks from people who don't live anywhere near their districts. They aren't serving us. They are serving the wealthy few who paid to put them there.

The biggest problem is that the people we need to hold accountable are the ones who get to write their own job descriptions. In any other job, if you fail or cheat, you get fired. In politics, the people in charge make the rules to protect themselves. They draw the district lines so they can't lose, they write the campaign laws so they can take all the cash they want, and they keep the lights off so we can't see who is really pulling their strings. They have rigged the game to protect their own seats. Because they benefit from this setup, they will never vote to fix it. We are waiting for a change of heart from people who have no reason to change.

The rot runs deep. Lobbyists act as the ones who actually write the laws for the people they are paid to influence. Our campaign system is a total disaster, fueled by court rulings that let money talk louder than people. We have a tax system that protects the people at the top, media outlets that get rich by keeping us angry at each other, and a government that focuses on foreign problems instead of the ones we have at home. The wealthy have bought a seat at the table that should belong to you.

The current system is built to keep things exactly as they are. They will tell you that what you want is dangerous or impossible, because it threatens their grip on the power they have taken from the public. But the most radical thing you can do is refuse to accept a system that has clearly and consistently failed everyone but those at the very top.

We need to stop looking for better politicians and start looking for people who are willing to tear down the current walls and build something that actually answers to the public. This means we have to stop playing by their rules entirely. We need to stop trusting the people who have been there for decades. We need to stop voting for the same old faces and start backing people who know what it’s like to work for a living and who are ready to dismantle this mess.

Taking the country back means stopping the yelling and starting the real work of burning down the current setup so we can build something new. It won’t be a polite transition. It will be a confrontation. It is time to stop being spectators and start being the ones who decide that the current house is built on a foundation that simply doesn't hold. We have to be ready to scrap the whole design and draft a new one, because the one we have is not working for us.

We need to stop yelling at the news and make some news. Burn it all down and start over. America was a successful startup before the hostile takeover. Let's take it back.