Forum Post: Call for Constitutional Amendment

I'm suggesting that Occupy Wall Street focus its energy on a few issues and I suggest that one of them be a constitutional amendment. Please read the following. I think that the Occupy Wall Street protests are a very good sign. But I think that protests and marches do little to change America. The reasons are many but to name a few: they require a lot of resources, money, time, people, and must be sustained over a long period of time. These are commodities we don’t have a lot of, especially middle class or working people.

I think the rich and powerful have figured out that, with organizations, they can multiply their influence and control over the political process and government. Some of these organizations have very few or no members. Yet, they can wield a lot of influence and inject large amounts of money into the political process. The powerful not only have their individual voting rights, they have organizations designed to win elections, buy political influence, and dictate the outcome of legislation and regulations. These may be legal entities, but they're artificial and are not real people. The rich and powerful want to give these artificial entities as many rights as they can to help them continue their hold on political power in the USA because, in the end, it means more money for them.

Their underlying belief is a total “free-market,” which for them includes the government and the political process. They believe that political influence and power can and should be bought. This concept distorts the democratic principle of one person, one vote and government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The belief of a total “free-market” is a myth, but to explain this would make this a long narrative and the myth explanation will have to wait for some other day.

Middle class and working people generally don’t have the time and resources to organize as well as the rich and powerful. If we want the US government to be of the people, by the people, and for the people, we need to think out of the box. I think the best way to break the power elite’s hold on power is to ratify a constitutional amendment prohibiting the participation of artificial entities, legal or otherwise, in all elections local, state, & national, unless they're registered and disclose all their members’ names and where all their money is coming from. This is the same principle as having individual citizens registering to vote to ensure only legal citizens vote in an election or a politician registering to run for political office.

I’m suggesting a constitutional amendment to guide us only in the political process and something like what I’ve written below:

Government Of the People, By the People, and For The People:

"Only individual human beings shall be allowed to participate freely in local, state, and national government elections. Any and all organized groups of individuals, legal or otherwise, for profit or non-profit (such as companies, corporations, associations, churches, agencies, or other organized artificial entities) are prohibited from participating in any local, state, and national government election, unless they register and disclose all their members’ names and where all their money and resources come from prior to any election."

In summary, these organized groups of individuals (OGOI) must be allowed to participate because individuals have a right to assemble. But they must not dominate our political process at the expense of the rest of the individuals of our nation. The OGOI’s must not have more political rights, power, or influence than individuals in our political process. The main political issue is the rights of real individuals vs. the rights of artificial entities.

As I see it now, our political process has become a multi-billion dollar industry and more corrupt than ever because of the amount of money involved with many artificial entities vying for power, influence, or a piece of the pie. If we want to maintain our democratic principles of one person, one vote and government of the people, by the people, and for the people, we must restrict the influence of artificial entities.