The congress’s only job is to represent people’s wishes on how the government and laws should look like. The authority of the congress and the government is powered by the people; without their consent, they have no legitimacy.
Members of Congress must listen to their constituents and represent their voices. Transparency is not a courtesy the representative can choose to entertain, it is an essential condition to be in this position. Needless to mention, people’s opinions and knowledge differ from each other. If the majority of the constituents are leaning toward an unbeneficial opinion, the representative must engage in lengthy discussions with them and, honestly, inform them about the reality of the issue, before taking any action.
The representative must serve the people and their interests. Careerists, partisan and self-serving politicians are harmful to the people and must not be elected to any office. The corruption in politics impacts every aspect of our lives. Corrupt politicians make sure to hide their crimes and violations from the public: they cover up for each other, maintain the status quo and deceive people.
It is essential for the people to choose their representatives based on their merits and values. We must support values and principles, not parties, groups or persons. People are subject to change, we must reevaluate politicians and keep them under scrutiny constantly.
The people are responsible for choosing their representative, and accordingly responsible for the consequences of their votes. Indeed, politicians trick and deceive people to get their votes; they offer them what they like to hear, make promises and then ignore them. This is why honesty and morality are essential criteria for choosing a representative. The representative must be, also, wise, knowledgeable and courageous: he needs to be wise and knowledgeable to choose what is best for the people, and he needs to be brave to fight for what he chose. If a politician only fights corruption when it benefits him or his party, then he or she is corrupt as much as the one leading the corruption. Moreover, this type of politicians is not only corrupt but also dangerous, he/she is using people’s trust to hide his/her corruption.
Businesses, PACs and corporation’s money in politics must be forbidden. PACs and corporations make donations and contribution to politicians to influence them. This is bribery that has been outrageously and heinously legalized before our eyes. Any money that seeks influence on politicians must be banned. Sadly, most politicians in our country are corrupt and controlled by the highest bidder. The consequence of allowing other than grassroots money in politics is very obvious: the politician will not serve the people if it contradicts his/her donor’s interests. Additionally, politicians will not be defending the weak and vulnerable but instead, the rich and powerful. This outrageous reality is one of the main reasons that we have the current corrupt system.