What happened that I began to look for a solution? This is the fourth of a set of posts about my life and how PeopleCount came to be. The previous post was about 2011 and what happened that I tackled politics and found it to be frustrating.

Politics was frustrating

Trying to be involved in politics was frustrating. I had to write not just a letter to say what I wanted on an issue, but I had to write three letters! And I had to keep track of them so I could analyze the response from my member of Congress. And if I didn’t like the response? What could I do? Nothing.

When the next election came around, I might have a choice in the primary. Would I have to write each challenger a letter on each topic, too? But the funding was such that almost certainly the incumbent would win. My representative usually doesn’t even have a challenger. My senators don’t have serious challengers. Mostly no one is involved in politics so too little dissatisfaction is expressed for a challenger to have a chance.

We needed a better system. But was it worthwhile to build one or fix ours? I sat with the question.

Would fixing America’s political system be worthwhile?

About a week later, I asked a friend. What would it be like if we had a transparent government? What if we had a government we loved? What if we liked what they did and their plans? What if we liked their responsiveness and we knew they represented us well? Would that be so much better than we have now, would that be worth working for?

What if we had real choice in elections? What if campaigns were inexpensive so good people could run, not just people willing to spend all their time fundraising? What if members of Congress could represent all of their constituents and not just their party?

Congress was in gridlock, fighting over every inch of the budget. Oil and coal companies were flooding the news with fake reports that the earth may not be warming, often paying scientists. Over 90% of congressional incumbents win elections even though less than 30% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. Half of eligible voters vote. Less than a quarter vote in primaries. Many Americans have withdrawn from politics entirely. Elections have turned into popularity contests so many others don’t bother to be decently informed about issues. Parties posture and strategize to keep control instead of working on compromises. Wealthy interests spend billions to steer trillions of tax dollars. And the people have no say. Politicians are corrupted by the lure of money and the “revolving door” where they retire to make lots of money lobbying. What if we could change this? Would it be worth it?

I decide to look for a solution

I asked people these questions for two months. Would it be worthwhile to solve our political problems? What would that be like? The outcome of all the conversations was a resounding Yes.

So I decided to look for a solution and discovered one, in the next post.