THREAD: Niccolo Machiavelli once said that “politics has no relation to morals.”

The beauty I find in that quote is that a person could fabricate mountains of rationalizations with Machiavelli’s words as a prompt. A politician such as the darkly-beloved populist Huey Long

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might insist that to help the working man, any means would justify that end.

It is difficult to directly dispute that assertion. I do not find, in recent memory, any indications of an honest politician. The breed - or even the attempt to claim that title - seems to be an

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anachronistic remnant of imaginary purity. Modern political figures have seemingly abandoned that particular marketing strategy, as if with the foreknowledge that they will be corrupted and are indifferent to the potential revelation. Money, and the flow of it through the

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political process, has reached a hazardous tipping point wherein there may be no return to honesty or integrity.

There once existed a time where to be linked with an unsavory lobbyist donor or to be rumored to have been funded by dark money from illicit sources (such as

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mafioso or Russian oligarchs) would be intrinsically harmful to an elected official’s image.

Attorneys and public relations experts would be hired to polish the mirror of gravitas, such was the imperative to fiercely separate the image of the “public servant” from that of

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a prostitute. In news cycles, we have a stripper and a porn star who has credibility on par with the President of the United States.

Such an evolution either speaks to the improved education and scruples of adult entertainments stars, or the plummeting devolution of our

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highest elected officials; the observer must judge for themselves, in context.

In our new political campaign cycles, it has become meta and woke for candidates to announce with presumed forthrightness their intention NOT to be corrupt and sleazy, to separate themselves

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from the carrion crows inhabiting the desired seats of Congress. The presumption of guilt in the halls of the Capitol is real. To elevate oneself in a modern campaign, however, the need for donors is a continuing reality; and although it is equally meta to insist that a

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candidate will push for “campaign finance reform” as potential legislation (once the candidate becomes elected), they face the reality of opposition crowdfunding. The machine that is itself broken does not wish to be repaired by outsiders.

Tossing aside cynicism, what then

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can be a solution? There are several options. One option is to continue on with the status quo, with the awareness that organized collectives control legislation through large contributions of resources, and use those resources to then prop up their chosen candidates with

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marketing to appear “populist.” The marketing is necessary, of course, for while the 2009 Citizens United SCOTUS decision allowed corporate donations to political campaigns (under the laughable justification that corporations are entitled to Free Speech) when it comes to

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the ballot box, only individual humans are allowed to cast a vote.

Another option (that I favor from careful analysis) is to invade the system like the Kingfish would have, to spur a tidal wave of dissent. To utilize the meta “meta” approach, and to infiltrate the system

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itself, while announcing the intent to do so for the will of the people, and - and this is the kicker - to actually do so.

To have the indifference to the trappings of wealth and power necessary to spurn the glitter of gold, and to consider it a crowning achievement to

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not accept corporate bribery.

To embolden and inspire a generation of political candidates to brag about being poor public servants.

To associate being an official of the United States government akin to being a warrior monk - in service to mankind and its betterment,

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and not the flow of cash into their own pockets.

This smacks of idealism, perhaps. It is the simplicity of the approach that venerates itself, because while no one has ever met an honest politician, everyone has encountered one to make that claim. After researching the

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person, and finding flaws, we then excuse each flaw, as it is discovered, because we agree with the rest of the package. Impurity itself should not be a reason to dismiss a potential public servant - it’s rare to meet anyone of any ilk who is lacking something disagreeable

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in their life - but our metrics should be weighted to be suspicious of any person who actively seeks public office.

Life on the campaign trail has been an amazing, harrowing and uplifting experience - never before in my life have I met so many empathetic and patriotic

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people as I have since I announced my willingness to dive into the murky depths of a Congressional campaign; and conversely, never before have I encountered so many people who would prefer to prevaricate than to take a stand on an unpopular issue (whatever that may be).

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We are a complex species, of many faiths and belief systems. My belief in a Christian God does not negate another person’s embrace of Buddhism. Humans, at the top of the food chain, have the fortune to be both competitive and cooperative creatures.

We compete with each

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other to build WiFi Networks and bridges and Nation-States.

It is time to unify as one country with one Constitution, but the presence of human rights must come to the fore.

Never again should the people of the US take a back seat to elected representatives of the US.

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I know y’all like the short and snarky Tweets, but this one took some time to write. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you took a few moments to read it.