Democracy? Think again.

In a healthy representative democracy, politicians who represent only 1 percent of the population should represent 1 percent of Congress in Washington. This is not the case today (even in state politics, with very few exceptions). The health of a representative democracy depends on the electorate being engaged in every election, local and national, and turning out in large numbers to vote (without being turned away by politicians with a political agenda). Good/truthful information and lack of deception are critical. This is not the case today. In addition, a significant amount of the electorate lacks common sense and suffers from political ineptitude.

What we have today in this nation is a political cake made up of a mix of “capitalism” and “socialism,” with a healthy topping of oligarchy.

I never believed in the two-party system and am convinced that the future success of our “represented democracy” depends on “representation,” which can only be achieved, in my opinion, by the presence of at least a third political party.

This story was originally published June 19, 2017 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Democracy? Think again.."