When a Country Stops Working: Can We Rethink Democracy Before It’s Too Late? | Evan Jaqua

Thank you for those beautiful answers, the election practices stood out to me.

I think it's a different culture you're experiencing.

You notice that people, regardless of where they live, tend to want similar things like freedom, prosperity, security, and a promising future for their children.

Yet countries persuade these goals into different ways and achieve different results.

What do you believe people fundamentally need from the society they live in? How can we judge whether a political system is actually delivering on those needs, rather than simply defending its traditionality?

Yeah.

You see, our politics, like in the United States, we have the Democratic Party and we have the Republican Party.

And the idea that, well, voting for Democrats, things are going to really change for a voting for Republicans, things are going to really change.

They're not going to change.

That's like saying that the solution to the Titanic is switching the curtains from blue to red or red to blue.

What we need is fundamental reform on how our politics are structured.

Now, When I talk about politics getting addicted to power, I think what we must always keep in mind is that one of our greatest defects as humans is the fact we get addicted to things very easily.

People get addicted to gambling.

They get addicted to illicit drugs.

They get addicted to video games, to junk food, to shopping, alcohol.

there are so many things that people can get addicted to but probably the most addictive thing of all is political power as uh john boehner the former speaker of the house said uh once that you know he saw people get a little bit of power and it completely changed them now why would power change people well because once you get addicted to something that changes you if you've ever known somebody with an out of control addiction to say alcohol or drugs or gambling you know that it completely changes them and why does it do that Because the addiction becomes the priority.

And that's exactly what happens with our politicians.

They get addicted to power and they don't want to give it up.

And that becomes the priority.

So they work with special interests and other powerful people and organizations to stay in power.

It becomes a perverse symbiotic relationship where powerful, powerful special interests and people, you know, will will help.

a politician stay in office and then the politician does favors for those special interests.

You know, that's why we have our tax law in the United States, for example, is such a joke because it's filled with favors for special interests.

That's why, you know, corporations and the very wealthy have gotten increasingly wealthy over the last 50 years.

And our middle class has shrunk and it's continuing to shrink.