Refocusing Our Governments

"IF THE PEOPLE become inattentive to the affairs of government, the legislators and magistrates will divide society into two classes: wolves, and sheep". Thomas Jefferson had a way with words, and his quote about the dangers of popular apathy is perhaps the best on the topic. Time and again the American people have been warned not to ignore the nefarious deeds of those with power, lest they find themselves reduced to helpless oppression. Well, guess what? We the American people didn't listen, and now we find ourselves hopelessly oppressed by a government which spies on said folks with impunity, sends the military rampaging around the world on fool's errands, and bankrupts us all with out of control spending. All this, because we the American people, who want none of it, are silent, seduced by the frivolous culture spoon fed to us by our corporate masters. The good people of Russia are faced with something similar, albeit with perahps a bit less corporate cultural seduction. President Putin appears to be expending more effort consolidating his own political pwer than improving the economic health of Russia. What is this business if Mr. Putin restructuring, all by himself, the news media in Russia? Hoeping to eliminate negative press? That's a dangerous, oppressive action for any leader to take. The highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg is a desolate wasteland, and the Russian government ignores opportunites to attract foreign investment while paranoically keeping its boot heel firmly upon the necks of the Russian citizenry. May the glorious day come when the American people, the Russian people, the Chinese people, the teeming masses of the entire world join hands and say to their repressive governments; we have had enough oppression. The time has come for healthy economic expansion, expansion into the lives of the world's billions of poor.