Let them know that some of us have outgrown the need for the CZAR. That the CZAR is better effective in a newer realm of reality outside our own. Let them know that for some children of this world the CZAR no longer holds any power.

If everyone you knew was not afraid of death would you think corruption and slavery in our world would exist? I don’t think they would. We’d have a paradise world where only truth and human will would shine through the facade of fear and seperation from our hearts.

I admit that I am naïve and an optimist, but lately even my own political party isn’t doing things right as far as I’m concerned – not right for me, not right for regular people, not right for the citizens of this formerly great nation.

I am hopeful we can change things, and yet I’m ashamed of our actions as a nation – towards others in the world as well as toward ourselves. Need I mention Katrina and New Orleans. Need I mention bailing out Bear Sterns and Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac with alacrity and enthusiasm without any requirement that they change their ways or become more transparent? With little being done for those who are losing their homes and their jobs? Need I mention how we treat those we think are beneath us?

It’s time to remind our elected officials and our government bureaucrats who they work for. They do not work for Corporate America, although it might be hard to tell from their actions; even though most of the Federal Reserve policies over the past years has benefited business and not the American people. Even though we have subsidized ethanol, which is not a carbon neutral process, which does not deliver on the promises it made, and which ultimately has raised the price of corn across the world and have no plans in place to help – either here at home or abroad.

It’s time to re-establish who our government works for. Theoretically they work for me, and you, and the people, but you wouldn’t know it by how most of them are acting. The Vice President, when confronted with the fact that the vast majority of the American people disagree with his policies, said “So?”

The Democratic Party has had control of Congress for two years and has yet to respond to what the people want. They won’t stop the war in Iraq; aren’t helping in any significant ways the faltering economy; aren’t even talking about global warming; haven’t closed the Enron loophole nor rebalanced the tax system to be fair across the board; aren’t challenging Karl Rove or the President for the damage they have done and keep doing to our system of checks and balances and the constitution. Nancy Pelosi has taken impeachment off the table. And the communications giants are gong to get away with illegal wiretapping. Congress is not leading by example or moral authority.

There is so much wrong with our system today. We are falling apart from the inside. Our levees are breaking (and maybe they should; maybe we should not be building towns and cities in flood plains). Our bridges are falling down. Our health care system lets people die every day. Our nation has developed a huge debt and our people have been lured into debt up to their eyeballs. Our future financial well-being is in the hands of foreign governments. Our leaders won’t join the world on global issues like climate change and we won’t joint the International Criminal Court.

It’s time we remembered our great dream. It’s time we go back to basics. It’s time we do no harm – to ourselves. This is a grand experiment in democracy and we are losing it. It’s time to adopt a Hippocratic oath – at every session of Congress it ought to be repeated; at every State of the Union (or State of the State, or City, or department) – First, do no harm to our people, our citizens, and our residents. Oh, and maybe we could get Corporate America to adopt this as well.

Who is this ELECTRONIC CZAR?” You may well ask.

The CZAR is the keeper of the information that gets created by your transponder every time you cross a bridge or use it to pay a toll. The CZAR keeps records of every purchase you make with every credit card you own. The Czar can track your movements using your cell phone even when it’s off. The CZAR knows every website you ever visited, every video you’ve ever watched, every post you’ve ever sent, every email you’ve sent or received. The CZAR can capture every show you’ve ever TIVO’d and knows every NetFlick you’ve ever watched. The CZAR can imprint data on the magnetic strip on your passport and driver’s license and can make you present it every time you want/need to enter a building. The CZAR can put you on his “no fly” list and won’t tell you, let you get off or even listen to your complaints about it. The CZAR can stop you from leaving the country based on the data in the magnetic strip in your license and your passport or prevent you from returning at his whim. The CZAR can access your medical records without you ever knowing about it and can do it without a warrant because the data is off-shore. The CZAR can access your financial records without you knowing about it. The CZAR can listen to every telephone call that you make, without a warrant.

You work for the CZAR. You do what the CZAR is willing to allow you to do. The CZAR can take a portion of your pay, or all of it, before you ever know anything is wrong and can leave you penniless to fight back. The CZAR can put boots on your car tires without you having an opportunity to protest. The CZAR can confiscate your property and make you hire lawyers you can’t afford, just to get it back. The CZAR can make you a public figure and then tell lies about you.

Does that make you a slave? It depends on your definition of slave.

Barry

(I realize I’m not solving the problem with this comment (still working on it), but I did want to elaborate a bit beyond Ransom’s excellent starting point).