Kakistocracy
Do you know what a kakistocracy is? No?
I didn’t either until I was some doing some political research for the recent election. I was looking around trying to make sure I knew what I needed to do as I register and gather a caucus of Hillary supporters that would vote for me to delegate for Hillary Clinton.
I was focused on doing my part for a candidate I love when I stumbled upon a term
Kakistocracy
According to a few websites and Dictionary.com, a kakistocracy is a Government under the control of a nation’s worst or least-qualified citizens.
Hmm…I thought about that for a second. It made me stop what I was doing and really think about how our society is run.
We have an executive branch, a judicial branch and a legislative branch. The people in the country vote on the elected officials like the President, the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. On the state level we vote on Governors and state representatives and state senators. Locally we vote on city councils and Mayors.
However lately, especially with the surge of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders de to the anger of some americans, it seems we are quickly heading toward a Kakistocracy and farther away from a Democracy.
This is why…
In 2008 we suffered the worst economic crisis we have see in decades. Millions lost their jobs, their homes and their life savings. Banks and industries were collapsing. The people’s answer to that was electing Barack Obama whom they saw as the knight that would lead us out of this nightmare.
For the most part everything he said he would do and wanted to do he has accomplished.
Two years after he was in office, the people proceeded to elect the most uninformed group of congressmen and congresswoman we have ever seen. History has never seen a congress that has accomplished so little.
Who is to blame for this? We are. The majority of Americans put these people in charge of our rights and important matters in our lives. I am astonished everyday by the number of times they have ignored the things that matter and focused on the things that only matter to them.
All branches of the government are supposed to work for the people but they are not. We then complain about what is happening to the country and why can’t we get anything done. We only have ourselves to blame. We gave them the power to rule and they decided they would take our money and do nothing to protect us.
This can be applied locally as well. Though I live in California now, Indiana is my home. It is the state that raised me and I will be a Hoosier for life, yet the new governor is shameful. Mike Pence is turning Indiana into something it is not…Intolerant. Yet, the people of Indiana (after I moved I have to add ) voted him in as the person they wanted to lead. Now the state that I love is in the National spotlight for being intolerant and making laws that discriminate against people.
We need to wake up and become an educated populous. We can’t sit around and let the most inane people run the country that we love. America has values that we are endangering. I am a bleeding heart liberal…I know this. Yet I value having a two party system that works. A two party system where the leaders are just that…leaders. Not bullies in a school yard.
If we don’t pay attention and vote we are in danger of becoming a Kakistocracy and that is not the America I know and love.
The Transformed Mind of Donnée Patrese 
Quite so, and it is tragic. I voted for Obama, twice, and have watched an honest and capable man pilloried shamelessly while his policies, voted for by a majority of Americans, are blatantly obstructed and impeded in Congress. Unfortunately, to replace him we are given a choice between a Democratic candidate strongly disllked by most Democrats and a ‘Republican’ candidate who is a comic-opera buffoon with malice and feared by most Republicans. No thinking person could vote for Trump; many unthinkers will. Hilary has an almost unblemished record of failure in every political activity she has engaged in; she may well be elected nevertheless and I hope Bill takes control behind the scenes. Sad times.
Good post. I am a life long republican and am totally disgusted with congress and my party. The choices we have for president on both sides make me shiver in my shoes. Lord have mercy. We are reaping what we have sown through political intolerance and grandstanding. Compromise has become a dirty word. Behind the scenes big money pulls their strings and true government ceases to exist. Where are the men and women that truly care about our country and it’s citizens rather than their own personal power and pocket books?
Thanks to you, I have just learned the greatest word of our generation. So sick of this government.
Thank you for a thought-provoking post. Yes, we must get out and vote. Only then will we have a say in what happens to our future and our children’s future.