You are right that no system of government is perfect.
A quick glimpse in to history verifies this fact.
The ones that fail utterly are replaced via revolution first, since infrastructure usually collapses along with government.

…the only way to fix this one…IS to tear it down and build a new one.
Slow change has only allowed slick talking con artists well-versed in legalese to perpetuate their own private agenda and maintain the status quo.

This is why the banks who nearly caused our financial destruction can get an overnight check for billions of dollars to pay off their CEO’s personal tax debts, while states go bankrupt and healthcare reform flounder.

This is why 125 billion dollars in cash was loaded onto pallets and flown to Iraq…where alot of it simply vanished…while U.S. public school programs that teach music, arts, and sports get cut.

This is why the automotive industry -the leading cause of global pollution and I don’t mean just from tailpipes- can do irreparable damage to our environment, mismanage their funds, and then get bailed out with taxpayer money and clunker programs aimed at stimulating car sales.

This is why pharmaceutical companies can get a hundred different drugs approved for sale each year, covering everything from allergies to Alzheimers….drugs that can potentially blind you, depress you, or kill you…or make you imbalanced enough to kill someone else….but a plant that has been proven medically beneficial without any of the side effects cannot get its fair day in court.

This is just the tip of the bloodstained iceberg.

I must disagree with you on one point: I do not believe that a new system brought about via revolutionary tactics will be broken in only ten years, but I do agree that the potential for that to happen exists…if we let it, again.
In that scenario we would have no one to blame but ourselves, and should expect to answer to the next revolutionaries.
Relying upon the notion that it ‘might’ break again as basis for the argument to not even try is, in my opinion, tantamount to treason.
As a U.S. citizen, it is your duty and responsibility to overthrow a corrupt government by any means necessary; not hunker down living quietly and complacently in its shadow.

The current U.S. system of government is better than SOME other governments…in ways…but not all and by no means is it the best.

An interesting note: many other governments around the world are considered ‘inferior’ to our system….mainly due to U.S. involvement & tampering.
It’s easy to say our way is better, after we’ve gone in and fucked it up for everyone else in their country, including the one we illegally occupied.

It’s hard to compare systems when the powers that are supposed to represent us alter or destroy everything they touch to fit our shallow western ideals.

The concept of the choice between the lesser of two evils then becomes something that goes beyond just the choice between Republican and Democrat, with extremely far reaching and rather sinister implications.

Too few now remember when in 1964 Mario Savio stated the following…and it is more true today than it was then:
“There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all”

You pay federal income taxes don’t you?
Those were reintroduced taxes by the federal government to raise money for wars.
This particular tax was deemed unconstitutional sometime around 1860 when they first tried it, but it got imposed yet again during World War II.
My understanding is that it was supposed to be repealed following the war, but it simply never happened for whatever reason, and so we continue paying this ‘illegal’ tax.

I am going roughly from memory so it is probably slightly off, but close enough.

On the subject of taxation without representation, I can say that very few people I know feel they are receiving fair ‘representation’ which leads me to the opinion that taxes should be held illegal until such time as this changes.

Why is it ok to destroy the lives of thousands of otherwise law abiding tax paying people for thirty or forty or fifty years….in multiple countries….pass the cost to the taxpayers which equates to billions upon billions of tax dollars to support a policy based in lies and deception aimed at the same people who have been paying the taxes…and now that someone found out there is a bunch of money to be made we can all get along?

Do you know how much of your tax money goes to fund the oppression and tyrannical domination of ‘third world’ or less developed countries, where U.S. interests take precedence over clean water or schools or safe places to live and food that is safe to feed your children?

Do you know how many billions of tax dollars have been spent to supplant, kill, rape, destroy in the name of U.S. interests?
Did you know that when your government does this in your name, many of the people they do it to do not have a separate view of the government and the people who gave the government the tax money to make it possible?
Did you know that every time the government does this with your tax dollars, they are doing it in your name?

Knowing what your money is being spent on, why would anyone possibly consider allowing the feral federal government access to even more money, to continue doing these atrocities in their name?

This whole concept of taxation is so much divide-and-conquer bullshit in practice, all meant to attract and distract from what is really going on.

The federal government needs to be allowed to shrivel up and die the way it was meant to, so that room can be made for the next wave of revolutionaries.

NO NEW TAXES TO PAY FOR FEDERAL MURDER TACTICS

I’ve been struggling with the illegality of marijuana for way too long. I’m in a position where it is simply impossible to enjoy it. Not in terms of random testing, but other circumstances make the risks outweigh the (amazing) benefits significantly. So I no longer partake.

This evolution in personal limitations has forced me into a grassroots mindset. Every time the topic arises I come equipped with facts, leaving my opinion checked at the gate. Whether it is employers, co-workers, family, friends, random encounters, etc… If the topic comes up my answers are the same. Honesty is still respected fortunately, despite the best efforts of our politicians (and alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical companies by association)

One day, hopefully in the near future, I hope to be able to enjoy marijuana again without the fear of “being caught”. Unless of course I’m enjoying it irresponsibly, then just like alcohol, consequences should follow.

Long story short – I’ll keep fighting the good fight. The ball is rolling, the tipping point approaching, take the high road (pun intended) and let’s win this!

Thanks again for this great post.