Disrupting the political ecosystem

By Herman Cain —— Bio and Archives September 13, 2017

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"An ecosystem is comprised of all the non-living elements and living species in a specific local environment. Components of most ecosystems include water, air, sunlight, soil, plants, microorganisms, insects and animals." The most commonly known ecosystem with all of these components is a swamp. And yes, a swamp has lots of dangerous animals.

The specific local environment in this case is Washington, D.C. The components of the political ecosystem are each member of Congress, the donor class, special interests, the federal bureaucracy, the soundbite media and the not-necessarily-right opinion class. Components of an ecosystem feed off each other to maintain a perpetual existence of the system, and themselves within the system. That's what our political system in Washington, D.C. has become. Each component feeds off the other which helps to sustain the system. Congress is not just two components – the 435-member House and the 100-member Senate – as some people would surmise. It's 535 components. Each of those 535 components feed off each other and their respective donor class, and their respective special interest groups. Members of Congress are also influenced by other components of this political ecosystem, which include the federal bureaucracy, the soundbite media, and the not-necessarily-right opinion class. This is why we the people get incremental fixes instead of real solutions. Each component worries about how the others will react to what each would say or do, rather than just saying and doing the right thing. This phenomenon is also why President Trump is having such a hard time solving problems with bold solutions. He's not part of the political ecosystem. He wants to do things differently. What! That might cause the system to change! The change might hurt some swamp dwellers' feelings!

Not all members of the 535 are driven by the other components when they first get elected, but it does not take long for them to realize that they can't get any of their political promises passed if they do not learn how to play within the political ecosystem. Sad, but true. So how do we disrupt this political ecosystem and drain the swamp as President Trump says? Answer! Upset more components out of their comfort zone, and make more constructive noise from we the people to our respective members of Congress. They need to hear from us more than from their donors, special interests, the federal bureaucracy, the sound bite media and the opinion class. The reason is simple. They want to get re-elected. We have more votes in their district or state than the components of the political ecosystem. The components have no votes. They are just louder when combined with each other. Next to the number of votes in a district or state, donors are important. But the voice and the will of the people are more important, so get loud in a good way! President Trump is disrupting the political ecosystem in Washington, D.C. That's what we want, but we have got to help him more. You have a phone and a pen! Use it!