The Path of Democracy

The greatest threat to our democracy is the loss of balance of power between the three branches of government; executive, legislative and judicial. The three must work independently to ensure that the democratic process remains intact, to ensure that the minority and less fortunate are protected, and to ensure that the greed of the powerful remains in check.
We're watching a giant shift tilting toward the executive branch with the legislative and judicial branches aligning with a primary focus of protecting the executive no matter what the action or activity may be. Ethics, protocol, standards of practice, decorum, transparency and issue focused debate are sorely lacking and falling by the wayside.
The erosion of this balance of power has not happened overnight. And it's actually not the first time in our nation's history that power and greed dominated the legislative branch of government. Following the civil war and into the early 1900's senators openly claimed affiliation with the powerful industries that bought their votes. Newspapers of the day were full of stories about scandals and, as is true today, relentlessly reported on political misconduct. It was statesmanship that helped shift the balance.
What seems different this time is the depth of influence in both the legislative and the judicial branch. It's reported that our legislators must spend as much as 30 hours a week "dialing for dollars". An enormous amount of money is required to gain and retain office. Where there are large sums of money involved, a system is rife with corruption and potential corruption.
Now many of our prisons are privately owned. An entire industry has been built around incarcerating people. That drives a need to support the "business" of incarceration. We've seen an unbalanced increase in the number and types of people being jailed. A 15 year old poor kid from a particular neighborhood who steals a lawn mower, will likely serve more time than the top executive who embezzles tens of thousands of dollars.
As all three branches of government align to protect the rich and powerful, the power of people's voices will continue to diminish. It's disturbing that millions of people are willing to overlook and excuse corruption, rudeness, hostility, and crude behavior because they believe that person will do good things for them. However, they would never accept these from someone coming from another population.
If democracy is to survive, we need to ensure that the three branches are co-equal and serve largely independent of one of another. Loyalty must be to the country and the democratic process not to a person or party. This requires open and issue based discussion. It requires input from all corners with protections for the least powerful. It requires long term focus and educated decision making. It requires thoughtfulness and reserving judgement until all voices are heard.
Read. Study history. Learn what has happened before that relates to the issue at hand. Check your personal bias that may lead you to overlook details. Focus on the long term good for the country as a whole. Seek a path of clarity, integrity and honor.