The Sancrosanctity of the Balance of Power

I'm sure I'm not the first to think most important thoughts, I simply hope that certain ideas, put a multitude of ways, will eventually reach a critical mass of believers before it happens that they will arrive too late to do us any good.

My 'thought du jour' occurred last night after reading how many applicants for the position of Freeholder in Clark county, WA wanted the new county charter to establish a balance of power.  Having run across  a Russell Brand interview last night in which he gently suggests that a revolution is imminent could have put my mind in a place more ready to see things in a light I, perhaps alone, had not noticed....that we Americans have been trained, by schooling and society, to think of our system of government as, more or less, perfect.  We are taught, or I was, in 7th grade government or 8th grade civics (in about 1962) that our 'balance of power' concept guarantees that government power will not be abused, that our founding fathers in their wisdom, predicted all possible dangers and acted to safeguard the people for all time.

Now, post 9-11, in the midst of some of the worst divisiveness our country has ever seen, everyone on both (or all) sides, likes to lay claim to defending the intentions of the writers of the constitution.  I, not being part of 'everyone', would like to suggest a hitherto heretical idea, that our perfect idea of the balance of power is fatally flawed and incomplete.   Again, I am not the first to notice.  Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "Beware the military-industrial complex."  He, likely many before, and certainly many since,  recognized that along with balancing executive, legislative, and judicial powers, there existed another power outside the usually accepted constraints of government responsibility, that of economic power. 

Although the government has adopted many monetary functions and made some attempts to instill a certain amount of morality into business practice, the rampant growth in the amount of money required to enter the political arena, the stunning amounts spent to influence legislation, and the literally insane amounts that go into influencing public opinion have left our government defenseless when trying to maintain any semblance of balance between the desires of the corporations and the needs of the people.

The subject leaves open nearly endless rambling as to what might be done, how it is being done, what is right, what is wrong, and where are we going.  We allow corporate pollution, corporate welfare, corporate abuse of employees, just about anything denied to an average individual is allowed corporations in the name of profit. 

Rather than ramble, I'll just stop by saying that until we see economics as an inescapable part of government, every bit as subject to abuse as the other branches, and incorporate an amendment recognizing the economic arm of the government, and subjecting corporations to the same limitations on excess as we impose on individuals, we are still looking over the fiscal cliff, and continuing to face the risk of Mr. Brand's revolution.