Zero Cost Politics

One of the greatest and most obvious flaws in the American political system is the lack of multiple political parties an American can choose from and the incorporation of money in the political process. The end result of nearly 160 years in power protecting their own interests first, followed closely by the interests of the people who helped them gain political office, has resulted in a dangerous collusion between the political establishment and the owners of capital in America.

Recent actions by members of both political parties have proven without doubt that the members from both political parties in America have gone from being a public servant to being a public master. As the fellow blogger Beppe Grillo said in a recent posting railing against the corruption, nepotism, and immoral behavior of Italian politicians, the (public) servants have become the masters of the people they are supposed to work for and represent. Instead of being servants of the people, elected leaders in both Italy and America are servants to wealthy individuals and powerful corporations.

While many of the Republican Party ,Tea Party activists, and some Democratic Party candidates (depending at how safe their district is in November), will all jump on the political band wagon of out of control Washington spending, none of these political parties or movements like the Tea Party will talk about how money has helped them get into power.

The corrupt and vile Italian political system is due to the over half a century involvement of the United States in Italy. The close relationship between American and Italian politics is evident in a recent blog posting by Beppe Grillo. One can easily read the following and think of how former executives in the defense and agricultural sectors in America, then become members of the government.

As Beppe Grillo writes:

The cost of politics has brought about the end of politics. People get into politics for money, to rescue those that are threatened by the courts, to provide their children with well-paid jobs, or to become wealthy in their own right (an objective that many of them actually achieve) or at least rather well-off. The more the costs of politics increases, the more these costs can be distributed, shared out amongst those involved in politics.

Like Opinione, the blog by Beppe Grillo not only highlights the ills of a society or the misguided priorities of a government, also offers ideas on how to change the system and the way the system works. In a small way, the members of the Five Star Movement are doing what they can to change the system. Instead of being corrupted by the system the Five Star Movement recently got elected to in two regions, the Five Star Movement members are honoring the wishes of the people who helped get them elected.

As Mr. Grillo explains in a recent posting:

By their own choice, the 5-Star Movement’s representatives elected to the Piedmont and Emilia Romagna Regional Councils will only be taking one third of their normal monthly salary: 2,500 Euro instead of 10,000 Euro before deductions. Being elected to public office is an honor, not an honorarium, and even less so a fat salary. For what? The 5-Star MoVement turned down their election reimbursement of 1,700,000 Euro. This is the same old public funding scheme for the political parties, which was rejected in a referendum and has now been re-introduced by the back door in the form of a reimbursement of expenses that were never incurred in the first place. The political parties would not be able to survive for a single day without these hundreds of millions of funding. They are made of money. When a politician talks about the cost of politics, he’s thinking of his own salary.

Although Mr. Grillo is often scoffed at in the Italian mass media, (greatly controlled by Silvio Berlusconi), his insight and ideas are refreshing to read and is one of the reasons why his Five Star Movement made a difference in the recent regional elections in Italy. Unlike the Tea Party Movement and Moveon.org, the Five Star Movement is a true grass roots political party not associated with any of the the main political parties in Italy. This is in stark contrast to the Tea Party Movement being influenced and corrupted by republican Party figures like Sarah Palin and supported by conservative media pundits like Glenn Beck.

While other countries, such as Great Britain recently demonstrated with three political parties participating in a general election, American voters are constantly forced to choose between only two political parties. The monopoly the two political parties in America have had over the last 160 years in America is one of the most fundamental reasons why the American polity has become so polarized both economically and politically.

To help restore the American Republic to the form of government the founding fathers envisioned, as Beppe Grillo says, Politics should be a zero cost process.