Kelly Gneiting: Curing America’s Addiction to the Two Major Parties

Posted to the Independent American Party website on May 8, 2014: 

I wish to quote a 1981 Narcotics Anonymous text, but will replace the word “drugs” with “political parties.”

(from page 1) “Very simply, an addict is a man or woman whose life is controlled by [political parties].  We (addicts) are people in the grip of a continuing and progressive illness whose ends are always the same: jails, institutions, and death.”

We Americans are addicted to political parties.  According to a recent Gallup Poll, when the question was asked, “In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent?” 47% said they were independents (Oct. 2013).  This is compared to 20% for Republicans, and 30% for Democrats.

In the past three years, this poll, which takes about four days for Gallup to complete, has been taken 54 times.  For 51 of these, “independents” were the greater percentage.  For the three outliers, Democrats were identified in the majority, BUT two out of these three were for polls taken during elections (Nov. 1-6).

Now overlap this with clear evidence that only about 5% of Americans VOTE independent and the cause of America’s demise becomes much more apparent!

What does all this mean?  It means that Americans are addicted to the two major parties.  We know they’re bad, we know they’re harmful, but we still need our “fix.”  Americans’ fix will lead to, as mentioned, jails, institutions (i.e. slavery) and death, as in other civilizations throughout history.

What is the solution?  This is the point of divergence.  “Focus on the person, not the party” some will say.  But is this a viable solution at this late stage of accelerated freedom-loss?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaimed the simple doctrine that “…every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” (Matt 7:17-18)

The Apostle Paul expands on this by using not only the example of a tree bearing fruit, but of a fountain bringing water.  He says, can a fig tree bear olive berries? Can a vine bring forth figs? As well, Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? (see James 3:11-12)

Political parties can be thought of as fountains bringing water, or trees bearing fruit.  So how tasty is the fruit from the Republican and Democrat parties?  How clean is their water?  (Oh, believe me I KNOW what you will say, yet will you go into the voting booth and say something completely different?)

Okay, now what is the solution proposed by the Independent American Party?  You need not look further than the remaining steps from the 1981 Narcotics Anonymous text.

Step 1: “We admit that we are powerless over our addiction, and that our lives have become unmanageable.” (page 9)

Unmanageable is the perfect one-word description of American politics today.  Recognizing that we 1) have an addiction to something that is destroying ourselves, and 2) that WE as individual citizens are powerless over the addiction, is the clear first step.

Step 2: “We come to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.” (page 11)

The work to reclaim America needs to be centered in letting God’s wisdom, direction, and guidance control the outcome of our efforts.  Each of our lives can be likened to Moses’.  We look at the problem of bringing our country back to the original intent of our Founding Fathers and our eyes widen.  In anguish we gasp loudly at our own inadequacies compared to the work needed done.  We think how in the world can a boxcar be derailed with a b-b gun?

Moses also thought this!  Said the Lord to him, “I will send thee [insert your name here] unto Pharaoh (those controlling our government), that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel (Americans) out of Egypt (out of bondage and the madness of tyranny and anarchy).” (Exodus 3:10)

When Moses heard this, fears, frustrations, and the firm determination to reject this calling were reflected in the conversation which followed:

“Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Then came the Lord’s simple, yet profound reply that echoes centuries later to the hearts and minds of Americans today.  “Certainly I will be with thee.” (Exodus 3:11-12)

Step 3: “We make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand him.” (page 12)

This is the DOING part.  The REALIZING part produces no fruit.  The REALIZING part brings the previously blurred vision of the battle into focus.  Step 3 brings you INTO the battle.  Turning yourself over to God’s will expresses your faith by putting your talents and passions into action!

Step 4: “We make a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves.” (page 13)

This is the beginning of sharpening our skill-set for the battle itself, and continues on through step 12 (see all steps on page 8).

It is nothing new that a person or a group of people will say one thing and do another.  As Americans we often use politicians as great examples of this, but as American citizens we do this as well.  Why should we expect those among us, representing us, to transform when we ourselves keep voting for the “lesser of two evils?”  1830′s U.S. President John Quincy Adams advised,  “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

As the late political science professor, Neil A. Maxwell, expressed in 1976:

“The voting booth is very democratic, but the shaping of the alternatives is aristocratic; it is work that is done by a few…  Seeking out special individuals implies that the special individuals needed may not be those who are first in line as eager volunteers (and more likely isn’t)…  Lazy citizens who then complain about the choices confronting them are like those who ask not to be disturbed until time for dinner and then sit down to a spare meal and complain about the menu—when they have consistently refused to plant, cultivate, and harvest the garden from which the meal comes.”  The Late Neil A. Maxwell, Political Science Professor, in Insights from My Life, 1976

God help all Americans overcome their addiction to the two major parties and instead become a people who elect only principled leaders (PEOPL)!

– See more at: http://www.independentamericanparty.org/2014/05/curing-americas-addiction-to-the-two-major-parties-by-kelly-gneiting/#sthash.iG59klO7.dpuf