About GeorgeWasRight
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Mead
Scroll down, or click on the links below to learn about GeorgeWasRight
George Who? And What Was He Right About?
In his Farewell Address to the nation in 1796, informing voters of his intention not to seek reelection to a third term, President George Washington warned the American people about the dangers and divisiveness of political parties. One of the country’s foremost Founding Fathers, and the commanding general of its army during the Revolutionary War, he wrote:
“However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
George was right then and now.
Why This Website? And Why Now?
Because our nation can’t go on like this. The failure of lawmakers to address the economic pain affecting many Americans, or to resolve any of the nation’s other serious problems, has created a rich, ripe environment for change. Do you know anybody who thinks the country is headed in the right direction? Not many do, and according to more than 30 years of polling, that’s been true for a long time. Instead, many people believe that most lawmakers focus far more on taking care of themselves, their party’s interests, and their special-interest funders, rather than serving the folks back home.
While the two major parties slug it out like a pair of drunken dinosaurs, lawmakers accomplish almost nothing beyond keeping the government open—and increasingly, they fail to do even that. Perhaps most egregious are the burdens being left to our children and future generations, such as the massive national debt—which the government has managed to double in less than ten years—and the impacts of climate change that continue to grow ever more apparent and severe.
Yet as hopeless as addressing our political dysfunction may seem, it really isn’t. With even just a modest effort, we can reclaim and reform our government to function more along the lines the Framers of the Constitution had in mind. GWR will explore simple, effective steps individuals can take to help accomplish these goals. Putting more of our energies into our democracy may be the best investment we can make for ourselves and country.
What You Will and Won’t Find on GWR
Think of GeorgeWasRight as a public service. It is intended to help the average citizen understand the government and politics of America, and to provide easy, useful ways for people to become more engaged in the process and participate in our democracy. New content will be added on a regular basis.
What You Will Find
A good deal of the content on GWR can be found on the TOPICS page. Many people lack a good understanding of how our political system works, and what they can do to influence it. If you weren’t taught much of these things in school, or if you could use some refreshers, the items on the TOPICS page should help bring you up to speed.
The TOPICS page is arranged with the following categories.
U.S. Constitution & Other National Documents: Beginning with the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence, we’ll explore some of the most important documents in our nation’s history.
Our System of Government: We’ll discuss the basic structure of our government, as well as the duties and capabilities of the separate branches and departments. We’ll also dive deeper into the three branches to understand how they work, and in recent times, how and why they’ve fallen short in protecting the American people.
Money in Politics: While many correctly assume that much of our public policy is dictated by special interests, few understand how this system of legalized bribery works, and even fewer know what they can do to change it. We’ll walk through the ABCs of money in politics, and show you how to quickly see the largest contributors to the candidates and ballot measures for which you’ll be voting.
Inside…: With subjects such as Elections, Newsrooms, Public-Opinion Polling, and Redistricting, we’ll take a look at specialized information not widely known or available to the public.
History Worth Knowing: We’ll delve into the archives of our nation’s past to examine key events and decisions, including information such as why the Framers of the Constitution chose the model they did for our government.
New Takes: Our political system provides an environment particularly suited to recycling old ideas, with no better chance of them becoming law than when they previously failed to do so. We’ll instead focus on new approaches to old problems. We’ll examine innovative concepts, something desperately needed for a political system that lurches from crisis to crisis while ignoring longstanding problems.
Our Dysfunctional Politics: One thing many Americans agree on is that our government and our politics have become exceedingly impaired. We’ll examine why this is the case, and discuss what ordinary citizens can do, with even just a modest investment of time and energy, to help institute meaningful change.
Interviews: We’ll post interviews with interesting, knowledgeable people who work in and around government and politics. These interviews will take you behind the scenes in their areas of expertise to explain the operations of their fields, the major problems they face, and potential solutions to these problems.
Where We Go From Here: We’ll glance into the future to see what our government and politics may look like down the road, whether or not we make important changes.
What Do You Know?: If you’re interested in learning what you know or don’t know about politics and government, you’ll find optional ten-question, multiple-choice reviews on various subjects.
On the ARTICLES page, you’ll find pieces that offer fact-based perspectives on different aspects of American government and politics.
WHAT’S NEW? contains a chronological list of every item posted to the site, with the most recent first. Check back frequently for new pieces, or create a free account to be notified when fresh content is posted.
WORDBOOK collects terms from around government and politics, offering definitions. The first occurrence on a GWR page of any of these terms will offer a link to its entry in the Wordbook.
FAQs offers answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
DONATE allows you to contribute to the upkeep of the site, which will help keep it free to all.
CONTACT provides a means of getting in touch with GWR’s owner/creator, as well with the webmaster.
Finally, in the footer of every page, R. H. HERTZ links to a brief bio of the creator and owner of GeorgeWasRight.
What You Won’t Find
As useful as the content on GeorgeWasRight is intended to be, what’s also significant is what isn’t here.
You will find virtually no discussion, or even mention, of individual officeholders, candidates, or specific parties. While there are considerable differences among politicians and between the major parties, there are countless other places to debate them.
GWR will instead focus on systemic problems that plague our country, such as unbridled partisanship and the never-ending quest for more and more campaign contributions.
GeorgeWasRight will never tell you to vote for any particular candidate or party.
A Guidebook for Doing Something About It
It's easy to understand why many people have given up on our political system. Plagued by partisan divisions, monied interests, and self-serving lawmakers, it stacks the odds against the needs of average citizens. But as obvious as these problems are, it’s clear that just complaining about or ignoring them accomplishes nothing beyond perpetuating a broken system.
Our nation functions best when everyday citizens understand how our government works, how much power individuals have to change things, and how they can go about doing that. If we take just a little bit of time to learn more than what we’re told in 30-second television advertisements, and what we read in voter guides that resemble old mail-order catalogues, we can be part of the cure for what ails the country.
In addition to providing straightforward, unbiased information about our political system, and exploring issues surrounding our government, GeorgeWasRight will identify simple but meaningful steps Americans can take to help fix our national problems. Since the only motivation most lawmakers understand is potential unemployment, the pressure for change must be driven by voters.
The Need for Peaceful But Revolutionary Change
The word revolutionary has a foreboding tone, conjuring up images of citizens dying in its pursuit. And there’s little doubt that George Washington and the other Founders would have been executed had the American Revolution not been successful. As Benjamin Franklin quipped at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
We are more fortunate today because reclaiming our political system from partisan hacks and special interests will not require putting our lives on the line. Yet the quality of our lives and the survival of our planet is at stake if we fail to act decisively and soon.
The Founders of our great republic were deeply committed to an American government that avoided the concentration of power associated with the British monarchy. Unfortunately, other such concentrations of power have been created here, such as requiring a Super Majority to pass a law through the Senate, or allowing just a single Senator to bring that chamber to a functional halt via the Filibuster.
GeorgeWasRight will capture the spirit and goals of the revolution Washington and his colleagues led. This site will explore how ordinary citizens can take part in reclaiming our democracy. If we have the drive to act, we can have a government that truly serves the people, not the other way around.
GWR will show you how!
Ways to Use This Website
Since visitors to GeorgeWasRight will have different interests, levels of knowledge, and available time, there’s no right or wrong way to view the content here. Think of GWR as a conversation with someone knowledgeable about politics, as a series of columns or chapters of a book, or as an informal civics class (minus homework, high costs, and mandatory anything.)
Visitors to GWR can view the content of the site in any order they like. You can read everything on the site, or skip the sections about what you already know or that don’t interest you. The site provides a trustworthy, unbiased resource designed to increase knowledge of, and participation in, our political system. You can learn how to quickly find vital information (such as the identities of the biggest contributors to the candidates and measures on which you’ll be voting). You can also discover ways to get more involved in political decision-making that impacts you and your family.
New content will be added regularly. If you’d like some suggestions on how to use the website, you can find various tracks to follow on the How To? page.
As a longtime public-opinion pollster and teacher, I’ve heard a lot of viewpoints. I didn’t create GWR in order to lecture anybody, though, but rather to build an informative platform for people who would like to get more engaged with our democracy, and more involved in public decision-making.
If that sounds a bit lofty, let me be more direct: many Americans are frustrated with how ineffective and unresponsive our political system has become, but believe that there’s nothing they can do to improve the situation. But politicians feast on public apathy. That’s how they can get away with taking actions that are broadly unpopular, or fail to resolve important national problems, with few, if any, political consequences.
GeorgeWasRight will shed light on the workings of our political system, and the actions and inactions of politicians, and to explain what We the People can do to help them see the light.
A Note on Tone and GWR’s Optimism (No kidding!)
American writer Mark Twain held a famously low opinion of our government. He once wrote:
“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
He also went further than that:
“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress.”
Although GeorgeWasRight dwell on specific politicians or parties, it will at times use humor to highlight particular issues. The site has been created for a broad audience, from the well-informed to those who would like to expand their political knowledge. Visitors should find the content understandable and pleasant, even with respect to issues where the debate is complex and often overheated. GWR reads more as conversational than professorial, and it should be pretty easy to follow.
Given the hot mess into which our political system has devolved, optimism about its future may seem misplaced. But I think an upbeat assessment is justified, and as you surf your way through the content on GWR, I hope you’ll reach the same conclusion.
Much of my optimism is based largely on two fairly recent changes that have not been given the consideration I feel they deserve, given their potential to literally upend our political system. We’ll go over in this in detail on GeorgeWasRight, but here’s a sneak preview. Instead of shaking down large contributors to be politically competitive, candidates can now raise funds through numerous small online contributions. This newfound ability also eliminates the need to win a nomination from one of the two major parties. Combined with the increasing trend of voters—particularly younger people—not affiliating with a party, the political atmosphere today is much different than it’s been in the past, both more likely and better primed for change.
So let’s get the country back on track, and maybe have a little fun while doing it.
Why the Website Name GeorgeWasRight ?
If you’re wondering about the site name, I’m glad. I named this endeavor GeorgeWasRight out of respect for George Washington’s vision and bravery in freeing us from England’s abusive monarchy, and his prescience in recognizing the divisiveness that political parties could wreak on our fledgling democracy. Again drawing from his Farewell address, he warned:
“Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
“This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy.”
Since President Washington’s worst fears about political parties have now been realized, we need to assess what can be done to repair the damage they’re causing, and to set ourselves on a better course for the future.
Though our collective knowledge is now just a few keystrokes or an online voice query away, our antiquated ways of informing voters about their ballot choices are more than a bit dated. Do you or anyone you know take seriously what you hear in 30-second TV campaign ads?
Identifying the underlying causes of our political dysfunction isn't difficult.
The anything-goes partisanship to gain and maintain majority power makes it impossible to find the necessary compromises in order to resolve problems.
The stratospheric amounts of money and other forms of influence special-interest groups lavish over lawmakers.
The fact that many people pay little attention to politics allows lawmakers to openly do the bidding of special interests, with no consequences.
But even with all the major challenges presently facing the country, it is within our capabilities to resolve them.
If we want to do something about rabid partisanship, then when we cast our ballots, we must evolve and consider other information besides party. Don't be a cheap date; make them earn your vote.
If we are tired of lawmakers consistently favoring contributors over constituents, then we must stop voting for them. I’ll show you how to see who’s funding the candidates and the ballot measures on which you'll be voting, all with just a few clicks.
Besides getting more selective about who and what we vote for, more of us need to be better informed and more involved, in various ways, in public decision-making.
Summing It Up
Even though it may not seem that way, the power to make our political system function better resides more in our hands than in those of our elected representatives.
GeorgeWasRight will provide a forward-thinking and positive means to learn what you can do to help make our democracy work better for us, and for future generations.