Good Morning, Roy

re: "The paragraph appears to promote political parties on the basis that partisanship is healthy."

Oh, my goodness. How miserably I've failed.

The entire purpose of my comments on political parties (the source of the "partisanship is healthy" quote) was to show the danger inherent in a healthy human trait; a trait that has been exploited to produce ...

"Political parties, (which) in their omnivorous quest for power have, during my lifetime, gone a long way toward destroying the greatness of my homeland.

I'm sorry my purpose was obscured. Perhaps I'm too verbose. In an attempt to provide a basis for my opinion, it appears I've confused my readers. I fear few people read as slowly as I write. Maybe Evelyn Wood was too successful? (Evelyn Wood taught speed-reading ... how not to enjoy Shakespeare.) In any case, we're in agreement, for I can't reconcile party politics with any form of democracy.

Re: "I think all representatives should be independant."

I agree, but doesn't this raise the question of how we find independent representatives? Currently, we wait until someone says, "I want to represent you." and tries to persuade us why they are better than any others "standing for election".

This method requires campaigning, campaigning requires money, and money is the root of corruption. We've been partaking the bitter fruit of this process long enough to understand that it elevates the worst of us to positions of leadership. We have the means to devise a better method and it is time for us to do so. I've suggested one possibility. Surely there are others.

Ohhhh, I say, Ruddy-Cheeks. Thanks for your kind words about that post. How can we condense the ideas expressed there into simple precepts? I have an idea about this that I may present when it seems appropriate.

And, yes, Roy, it is heart-breaking that our governments are slow to change. I suspect that's a characteristic of huge entities. On the brighter side, you are furnishing the proving ground for a better way of identifying the public interest.

Fred