What is the Perfect Political System? If you could build the perfect political system, what would it look like? How would politicians behave in your system? Would they keep their promises? How would you create trust in your political system? What life experience would politicians need before they could create laws that control your life? Would they have proven experience managing large budgets or large organizations? Keep your ideal political system in mind as you learn over time how The Platform can restore trust in Democracy and deliver the authentic representation that Americans deserve.
Can We Force Politicians to Keep Their Promises? In late 2000 just before I finished my tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force, I was watching some old footage of George H.W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention. During that speech candidate Bush made his famous statement: “Read my lips: No new taxes.” Then he broke his promise and raised taxes. Some people might say that’s just politics as usual and never give it a second thought. But after watching that footage I asked myself, “Is there any conceivable way that citizens could legally force politicians to keep their promises?”
Birth of the The Platform. That question was so simple, but it echoed in my mind for several months while I was transitioning out of the Air Force and back into the private sector. Then one day it hit me like a bolt of lightning: Yes, there is a way to legally force politicians to keep their promises. Thereafter, I began developing the conceptual, legal, technical, and philosophical framework necessary to accomplish that goal. The Platform was the result.
If We Don’t Like Our Circumstances, We Can Only Blame Ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi said: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Gandhi believed that if we want to change something about the world, we must first change ourselves. Changing ourselves means we must first change our perspective of the world in ways that enable us to see how we are each personally responsible for the conditions in which we find ourselves. And if we don’t like our present circumstances, we have nobody to blame but ourselves because nobody can live our lives for us.
Personal Power Gives Birth to Civic Power. If we don’t consciously and actively seek to improve our circumstances everyday, we have no rational reason to expect our circumstances to ever change. Only after authentically experiencing this revelation can we find the power within ourselves to become a catalyzing force to inspire others and activate the civic power within our communities.
Is the Face in Your Mirror a Reflection of Courage or Fear? Adopting this empowering perception of ourselves eventually begins to change our behavior in ways that inspire new actions, which brings us closer and closer everyday toward our highest aspirations. It’s these new personal behavior patterns and daily actions that positively and permanently change us. Then one day, we look in the mirror and see a face that is no longer afraid of uncertainty and no longer dependent upon the emotional acceptance of others.
Empowering All Thoughtful and Qualified Americans. “Be the Government You Seek” is the tagline of The Platform because it is intended to support American citizens who have the talent, drive, and nonpartisan incentives to become extraordinary leaders in government. “Professional politicians” are not excluded from The Platform, but The Platform is fundamentally designed to empower thoughtful Americans from all walks of life and across the ideological spectrum. (See: Are you afraid of true Democracy?“) These are the accomplished, highly qualified, and politically savvy members of every community who would not otherwise be attracted to politics because of their aversion to the degrading and abusive political party duopoly that dominates American politics today.
Be the Government You Seek. At this moment in human history, the American people have involuntarily enslaved themselves to their federal government by allowing career politicians to incrementally seize enormous power one reckless congressional vote and executive order at a time. The federal government has mutated into a monstrous and toxic bureaucracy that controls far too many aspects of American life while simultaneously failing to effectively regulate critical industries that impact every American every day. I look forward to seeing the day when the American people have the tools and resources needed to reclaim their citizen power over the federal government and show the world how a functional Democracy and a prosperous economy can work again. That’s what “Be the Government You Seek” is all about.