May Day, May Day

 May Day! May Day!  I say this not so much in celebration of the workers who fought so that we (largely) have an 8 hour work day and a five day work week.  I say it as an SOS related to people who are not in the 0.01% having a say in the way our country is governed.

Here is the worry.  The Supreme Court lifted the cap on how much an individual can contribute to a politician's campaign coffers.  That means that it theoretically became easier for individuals (in addition to corporations) to own politicians.  While this is by news a recent phenomena in our country (I have just finished reading 'The Bully Pulpit' which delineates the depth and breadth of political corruption at the turn of the century--we did not invent this problem, it has been here for quite some time), the potential pit falls of those of us without deep pockets to have an equal say in government just multiplied.

The only real ray of hope is that in the last election money did not buy the election--we ended up with a very dysfunctional Congress and it remains to be seen if we can manage to vote our way into a more moderate form of government where compromise is not a dirty word.  It may not be true for the next election, where big money is already shaping the candidates for the 2016 election.  I think it will be okay so long as more people vote, especially young people.  It would be even better if people voted for what benefited them, but that seems to not be the American way.