We’re living in Hong Kong

Americans are in the same situation as the Hong Kong protesters, they just don't realize it (or don't care).

Protesters are up in arms in Hong Kong because they are not allowed to nominate their own candidates for the upcoming elections. Their complaint is that, while they do get to vote, a picked group of a thousand-odd committeemen will give them a limited field to choose from. The assumption is, since this committee is appointed by the Communist Party leaders in Beijing, they will only nominate those who follow the party line.

The protesters are not demanding the Party can't take part in elections. They're not even banning the Party's picked few. They're simply asking to be able to run their own candidates as well. The issue here is choice.

These two parties rely on big-money donors to fund their overwhelming ad campaigns. There was an attempt to thwart this trend by developing political action committees (PACs), but these were soon taken over by big money rendering them just another tool to stifle choice.

In Hong Kong, party says who you are allowed to choose between.

In the US, large donors select a direction for government. They donate to Republicans or Democrats, depending on which is more likely to support that direction. Those parties select the candidate, who dances at the end of the strings. The other party is doing the exact same thing on different strings.

Notice that at no point in this process does what YOU want ever come into play.

So, what's the point? Turn your back on the party system. Vote for people, not parties. Ideas, not 'morals”. Integrity, not money. It's a simple idea. Not an easy one, but a simple one.