What is a Missing American?

January 11, 2020 THE unCOMMON BVOll

Dear Missing America,

Anyone in America that believes there is little to be gained from continuing to blindly accept the dominance of two political parties, is a Missing American.. A Missing American is anyone who wants to see a real shake up in the abilities of either party, Republican or Democrat, to influence government at every level in America. Missing Americans are anyone in America who would like to see less combat, and more competition for our attention, our support, and most importantly our vote! Missing Americans want to be respected and listened to by the members of both parties, whom they feel have turned their backs on anyone who dares to disagree with them. Most of all, Missing Americans are people who want to make a difference in America, from a people focused position, for a better future. Missing Americans want progress, security, and prosperity, for all Americans, because we recognize that nothing lasting or meaningful will ever happen again, unless we demand it from all who would presume to take leadership roles in our government, at every level. In short, a Missing American is a free thinking, independent American.

Yeah, yeah, Missing Americans are just the lot that isn’t interested in politics and doesn’t like being pushed around, but that’s the way it is, so why bother?

NUMBERS, BEE-YATCHES! NUMBERS! THAT’S WHY!

Think of the Republican and Democratic parties as two rival cattle barons in some wild west town where they control all the livestock between them, and they frequently tap a massive herd of wild free range cattle to be successful. Now, consider both the red ranch and the blue ranch have about the same number of cattle corralled in their pens. And consider that both ranches can only manage to ever get more cattle from only about a quarter of the free range cattle, because they’re the only ones that can be easily caught, and the remaining free range herd is bigger than both competing ranches combined. They can’t get all those cattle to heel, so they just ignore them. That’s us. We’re the free range cattle, you and me. We are the thing that goes unnoticed until something happens to disturb that wild herd enough to move, all at once, in the same direction, at speed. That’s called a stampede, and when they’re big enough, they can level everything in their path. Neither the Republicans or the Democrats want a stampede, because they know that they could not stop it, control it, or survive it intact. That is the kind of power we have in our hands, numbers. All we need is the motivation to stampede. Now I know I just called you all a bunch of cattle, but doesn’t it kinda feel like that sometimes? Like they don’t care about what you think, only about what people who are willing to be corralled by them think? They see us all as resources, to be used for power and profit over each other’s respective territories, within the confines of our own country.

So, then what can we do with our numbers?

You are already doing it. That’s the dirty secret that powerful operators, like these two parties, don’t want you to realize. We...all,,,spend...money. Everyday, we pay taxes to the government. We pay taxes on food, on gas, on utilities, on clothing, on shelter, on healthcare. There is nothing in this country that doesn’t have a government money string attached to it, somewhere. And that string always gets passed onto you and me, the consumer. The crazy part, is that this one reality of our American lives is universally applied to all 330 million Americans, 24/7 and 365 (that means all day, every day, forever, even while you sleep). So then, why the hell do we allow such a small percentage of Americans control such a large part of our lives? Because we have allowed the disjointedness of our government to persistently falter under the weight of all the conflicts both within and without the two biggest parties in America. They talk of making life better for us all, but then they stop talking about it as soon as we look the other way and tend to our daily American lives. They’re like adolescent teens who refuse to do their homework. “I’m doing it mom!” “I’m getting right on that dad!” But, as soon as we say, good, OK, I am trusting you. They go back to fucking off with their friends and planning their next move against the rival schoolyard gang. Well, we’re the fucking parents, god damn it! We should start punishing them for not doing their god damned jobs to our satisfaction!

Here’s a basic list of what we can do, just by moving together in the same direction, at speed:

We can draw corporate money away from the political parties by showing a consumer movement far larger than anything the reds or the blues can produce. That means advertising money geared towards us, which means political money removed from the parties, since they would be in a weakened position to guarantee those corporations the kind of prosperity and security that the parties would normally be selling to them.
We can reduce the stranglehold on our government that is shared equally by both parties. By weakening both parties in the areas they rely on most, we level the playing field a bit, and make it possible for other, lesser known parties to actually get some long overdue attention. For all you capitalists out there, that’s called making the market more competitive, which means more options for us, the consumers (voters!)
We can break up the monopolistic control these two parties have, by destabilizing their presumed majorities and making it far more likely that the internal fights that plague both parties will blow up and fragment, thus adding more competition to the market, and giving all Americans more choices for their votes. Basically, we can make the American party system reflect the people more accurately, by forcing it to diversify.

So stop thinking of your vote as a symbolic gesture, or having only one purpose. It is so much more than that. Your vote is the most pure example of what an American is. Your vote is the expression of your right to be heard and it is also your acknowledgement that every one in your America shares that right.

So, what is a Missing American? A Missing American...is a Genuine American.

Is that you?

Sincerely,

B.VOll