A Modest Proposal: Instead of Elections? One-Term Jury Duty Appointments
In his “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift sarcastically proposed that Ireland swallow its children to solve its most pressing problem.
Here I sincerely propose the United States swallow its elections to solve its most pressing problem.
I’m a results-oriented guy. Which means at some point? The fetishization of process should be ended - if the results of the process are awful.
It matters not that the heart monitor is still pinging (process) - if the patient’s heart long ago stopped beating (results).
And so it is with the process of governance in the United States.
The US has for many, many decades had varyingly-tainted-but-basically-free elections. And those elected officials have for many, many decades enacted laws and policies.
Well, how’s it going in the US?
If you respond with anything other than “awful” - and/or synonyms of “awful?” You are either not paying any attention at all - or are allowing the process of patriotism to get in the way of your recognition of reality.
If you’re honest - most importantly with yourself? You can’t come to any other conclusion than the United States is broke and broken.
Here’s the chief reason why: Our governments are HUGE. Federal, state and local - all MUCH larger than they need be.
And here’s the kicker: Big Business owns and operates ALL of them. Federal, state and local governments - all corrupt puppets of Big Biz.
And we’ve had elections and voted for all of this - all throughout this nigh-total national degradation.
Our elected officials are absolutely “representatives.” They just aren’t representatives of We the People. They are representatives of the Big Businesses who pay the most to engage their services.
Doubt me about the states and locals? Check out the surveillance regimes and attending data center deployments being jammed down our throats all over the country by our states and locals.
Now let’s peruse Q2 2026 federal lobbying numbers. Graciously compiled last Tuesday by the folks at Politico Influence. Who every day of the year report upon the heaviest of heavy hitters amongst the DC lobbying elite.
The numbers are, as always, staggering. The top 20 lobby shops in Q2 2026 took in $252.4 million. A QUARTER OF A BILLION DOLLARS.
Just for straight lobbying. Just for the top 20 straight lobbying shops. Just for three months.
There are, of course, (tens of) thousands of straight lobbying shops beyond the top 20.
There are, of course, (tens of) thousands of other, non-straight-lobbying influence shops. Political consultants, policy consultants, advertising consultants, messaging consultants, pollsters, think tanks, policy shoppes,….
ALL of them cashing in. And DC carves US up and sells US by the pound to pay them all - with our money.
All of which brings to mind…:
“If voting made any difference? They wouldn’t let us do it.”
-- Mark Twain
Keep Mister Clemens - and all of the above - in mind when next you hear about the importance of the upcoming midterm elections. Or how important it is to pass the SAVE Act. Or how vital it is that we re-elect Maine’s 75-year-old Susan Collins to a SIXTH six-year Senate term.
All of which brings to mind the 1979 cinematic experience known as “Meatballs”:
“It just doesn’t matter…It just doesn’t matter…It just doesn’t matter if we win or we lose.”
Because we elect Republicans…and then we elect Democrats…and then we elect Republicans…and then we….
And nothing ever changes. And everything only ever gets worse.
So…what to do?
The 1983 cinematic experience known as “WarGames” showed us the way…:
“Strange game. The only winning move is not to play.”
-- Joshua
The process of our having elections? Has delivered AWFUL results.
Which brings to mind the old joke:
Patient: “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.”
Doctor: “Don’t do that.”
Instead of elections? Let’s fill those seats the way we fill up juries: Randomly draw names out of hats. We’ll refer you to the Founding Fathers - and their Sixth Amendment.
The voir dire analysis of each drawn name can be to ensure no felons, madmen or any other obviously undesirables make the cut.
“I would rather be governed by the first 2000 people in the Manhattan phone book than the entire faculty of Harvard.”
Federal officials would be chosen from their House districts for their House districts, their states for their Senate seats and the entire population for the presidency. Ditto geographically for state reps and state senators, mayors and city councils, county judges and commissioners, etc….
To correspond with Jury Duty - we’ll call this Civic Duty.
We would subject the good people serving Civic Duty to only one term. Because these are normal, healthy members of society - with actual lives to which to return. Imagine a ruling class - who can’t stand ruling.
Please sit back for a moment: And contemplate all of the government idiocies that disappear under this system. And imagine the transformational changes for the better that would immediately take place. Both would be more numerous than are the stars in the sky.
Gone are 99+% of the self-serving sellouts currently affixed like barnacles to the bodies government. Not just the elected officials - but almost all of the Lobby Industrial Complex that owns and operates them.
Seriously, how much lobbying power can Big Business exert upon a bunch of one-term conscript plumbers and farmers? Plumbers and farmers - who are irretrievably disgusted by the Big Business lobbyists who have ruined their country. Tens (hundreds) of billions of annual lobby dollars would instantly disappear.
Oh: In 2024 at least $15.9 billion was spent on just the federal elections. Plus tens (hundreds) of billions more on states and locals. 100% of that money goes away.
And the policy transformations would be epic.
Imagine our governments filled entirely with Mr. Smiths. Going to Washington and the many other places of government intending to do good not for their Big Business donors - because they don’t have any - but instead to do good for us.
I know, I know…I’ve disenfranchised We the People. I’ve ended the process of elections (and their awful results).
But be honest - most importantly with yourself:
The Founding Fathers wanted a citizen government. Regular people taking a short time out of their lives to serve We the People - and then get back to their lives. We haven’t had that in many, many decades. At any level of government. Civic Duty restores this.
The Founders were wary of political Parties - which they knew would inevitably arise as a result of the elections they were establishing. We are now deeply buried in the quicksand of the two Party system. Civic Duty ends this.
The Founders also feared the freedom they were granting? Could very well be corrupted - and ultimately wasted.
“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
-- Ben Franklin
Does anyone not think the Founders’ worst fears have been exceeded - by orders-of-magnitude?
What we have now is career politicians from both Parties who conspire to work against We the People.
Who have built monstrously huge governments at every level - that serve their Big Business paymasters at the expense of We the People.
And we’ve had elections and voted for all of this - all throughout this nigh-total national degradation.
Let’s remove from the process the people who have destroyed our country.
By removing the elections that have allowed them to do it.
I submit, modestly.