"OWS - Where have they gone?"

[starroute]

20. I agree it could be more likely to happen, but not that it would do any good

Already the major donors have been plowing their money into so-called "issues" advertising, because there aren't the same restrictions as there are on direct donations to candidates. Publicly funded elections would do nothing to eliminate that -- and given First Amendment protections of free speech, there is no way to prevent it.

My son, who's fond of role-playing games, believes strongly that any system of rules has loopholes that will eventually be discovered and exploited by those who care about winning to the point where they don't care if they destroy the game -- and our Constitution is no exception. When it comes to RPGs, the game designers can put out a new edition that resets the game mechanics. With nations, it's not that easy.

This is why I believe that the system as it currently stands is broken and ultimately unsalvageable. I'm not sure that either socialism or communism is the way to go -- it might be sufficient to draw a hard line between personal property (clothing, gadgets, a private dwelling) and "ownership" of revenue-producing organizations, farmland, and natural resources and to treat the latter to a high level of scrutiny as to whether it serves the public interest. But one way or another, something a lot more sweeping than minor tweaks to our electoral procedures is called for.