Forum Post: COMMON SENSE BY THOMAS PAINE II

Common Sense for the Modern Era We need fundamental reform to our Constitution via Amendments to the Constitution in order to permanently write-out the unchecked corporate influence on our government. But this first requires a new understanding of the nature of our government. We no longer have 3 branches of government (judicial, legislative and executive). WE HAVE FOUR BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT. The media is the fourth branch of government because, as we have seen, it is capable of directing the public opinion of our Republic. These problems have arisen because the main stream media that the majority of the population gets their information from (i.e. TV programs) is being monopolized by capitalist ideology. This is not a Democrat vs. Republican (both of which are capitalists), Liberal vs. Conservative issue. This is about fixing a problem that has arisen in our government and governments around the world with the increased modernization of our society. This is an issue about guaranteeing citizens a true voice in their own government. As long as the media is monopolized by a capitalist ideology that crushes the chance of beneficial innovations that would come with even considering other economic systems, then our society will be the slaves of a capitalist system (whether that benefits a particular individual or not does not matter) that maintains its hegemony by mass manipulation of public opinion. The censorship of the popular and peaceful movements for reform occurring around the world is evidence enough that this process of manipulation is already in full effect. How this reform will best take place is hard to say, but it will not take place until the American People realize that there is a 4th branch of government and that that 4th branch of government is being monopolized by an ideology that epitomizes human greed.
Capitalism itself is not bad but it must be controlled in order to prevent the evils that occur when a few individual capitalist elites manage to amass enough wealth to control The People’s government. Our government is the only thing that The People have which is capable of ending the uncontrolled greed, manipulation and exploitation which results from the uncontrolled concentration of mass wealth (and therefore power) into the hands of a small handful of successful capitalists. The capitalist elite do not need to be destroyed, nor can they be destroyed. Any attempt to do so would only result in class warfare or a repeat of what led to the collapse of the Roman Republic; the privately owned armies of independently wealthy tyrants such as Sulla and Julius Caesar were turned against the Roman Republic for personal gain in the form of Imperialism. Both of these potential results of attempting to destroy those who have all the wealth and all the power are not good for humanity as a whole, especially considering that the next major war may be a nuclear war. Instead we must appeal to the humanity of the capitalist elite so that they will consent to taxation for purpose of funding reforms that will guarantee HUMAN RIGHTS, even if appealing to their humanity requires allowing them to keep enough of their wealth to always remain the wealthiest humans on this planet. What we can never consent to is allowing the capitalist elite to control our government, our media or our military. Those are for The People and only The People because only our government, free thought and military backing can guarantee that The People have their Human Rights: Food, Shelter, Freedom of Thought, Freedom from Censorship, Affordable Healthcare, and Affordable Education. All of these Human Rights should be guaranteed by our Constitution in the form of new Amendments. The capitalist elites who willingly submit to these reforms for the good of The People, even if they keep a fair amount of their wealth, should be honored by humanity by being recorded in history as the Greatest Philanthropists to have ever serviced the United States and the human race. Nobel Peace Prizes should be awarded to these Great Philanthropists and good will shall likewise be shown to all of those who have shown good will and a concern for the Rights of Humans. In order to free our government from the ideological monopoly of capitalism for the purpose of guaranteeing these Human Rights, we must rethink another important aspect of our government. Since the passage of the 1st Amendment our country has had the freedom of religion because the 1st Amendment guaranteed the separation of church and state. The separation of church and state in the United States of America is what made us the freest country in the world at the time of Nation’s birth. We now must realize that there is another ideology that must be separated from the state. We need the passage of an Amendment to our Constitution that will guarantee the three tiered SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE AND ECONOMIC IDEOLOGY. No longer will people be persecuted in this country for having Communist or Socialist thoughts. The persecution of these groups throughout the history of the United States, especially during the Red Scares, was fueled by capitalist fear mongering that only led to the increased radicalization of their ideas. By allowing Communists and Socialists to voice their opinions freely while still allowing Capitalism an equal voice will naturally lead to the best possible mixture of the three systems. It will NOT lead to pure Communism or Socialism since Capitalists will still be represented in the government. The previous 4th branch of government argument goes hand-in-hand with this new separation of church, state and economic ideology. The newly recognized and reformed 4th branch of government, The Media, must allow candidates of every economic ideology who are running for office to be heard by The People. No longer will a candidate need to appeal (and sell-out) to the Capitalists in order to have his voice heard. No longer will American people be trapped into choosing between Capitalist #1 or Capitalist #2. Finally, those who are concerned that this will reign in Communism (which is distinctly different than Socialism) do not need to fear. People will always remember the historical examples of how pure Communism will fail. But by using the law to guarantee that the Communists and the Socialists will have a voice, instead of manipulating the law to silence them, the Right of Freedom of Speech in this Nation will be augmented and the Freedom that America was once known for will return again.