After the election, there were all kinds of explanations for how an unqualified, bigoted narcissist and mostly-failed businessman who was behind in the polls and lost the popular vote by 3 million ballots ascended to our highest office. We heard about racism and sexism. We heard it was the “white working class” so not really racism or sexism…but of course recent data indicates there was indeed a strong correlation between bigotry and votes for a bigot. Voter suppression was prevalent (especially in most of the states won by the GOP, whether the laws were struck down or not) and disproportionately impacted likely non-GOP voters in a textbook unconstitutional way.

We heard it was Hillary and the Democrats fault for how they treated Bernie. It was Bernie supporters who did not vote for Hillary (although a vast majority did). It was the damn third party candidates, who should have dropped out. It was the FBI director who broke standard protocol in an unprecedented action, which of course turned out to be nothing. It was most definitely the Russians, who hacked and leaked to help the bigot get elected (“you’re the puppet”). It was the national media, who failed to properly vet both candidates and seemed to be more concerned with creating a reality show, a voice for all platforms (no matter how insane or offensive), than getting actual policy details. It is all about ratings, truth be damned. And of course there was self-professed Hillary-hater Julian Assange, who seems to care more about his personal brand than the actual truth (sound familiar?). I wonder, does Wikileaks have anything on the GOP and when do you think that will come out?

The electoral college was a big one. Our entire constitution is in desperate need of modernizing, but one party thinks it is perfect “as is” and who cares that it was created during the pre-industrialized age of agriculture, slavery and sexism. Corporations did not exist then, but this same party thinks they should count as people…but I digress.

In a tight election (and this one was among the tightest) all of these things are, to a varying degree, valid factors. I even left out the most obvious: the GOP establishment candidates were so weak that an unqualified bully was able to crush them all. But all of these explanations ignore the root cause: our two party system.

Due in large part to the amount of corruption and money that is openly allowed to flow unchecked into our political system, we have only two viable political parties. If we did not have 95% of our political power consolidated in the GOP and Democrats, the presidential ballot (for one) would look very different. There would be more choices, more options and more opportunities for coalitions between groups. Bernie would have likely have been a candidate, for example, and the Green party may have thrown their support behind him instead of Stein. Libertarians would have probably stuck with Gary Johnson, but his supporters would have the opportunity to work with both the right and the left on a per-issue basis. Simply put: you would not have had the “forced” choice between two of the most unpopular candidates in American history…many voters cast ballots based on fear of the other candidate and not enthusiasm for their own. Too many just through their hands up and stayed home, which drastically altered House and Senate races that could/should have gone differently. We somehow ended up with the least popular candidate/party in charge of all three branches of government. A massive and unpredictable victory for the party that spent the last eight years with absolutely nothing to show on their resume. The GOP was so shocked they were not even ready for it. Chuck Schumer said it best: “they are like the dog that caught the bus”…they can not believe how quickly Americans forgot the eight corrupt years we experienced the last time the GOP was this large and in charge. It is like living in an alternate reality of a country where votes do not really count. Unless you are white, of course.

The way out is to get a populist uprising based on a single issue: get money out of politics. Our president-elect promised to take steps to implement new lobbyist rules (one of the few things he has ever said that I agree with) and that would be a start. We have to stop treating our democracy like it is up for auction every two years. Put a cap on all political contributions so that the rich can not have more influence than the rest of us. Ban all corporate contributions. Force complete campaign finance transparency for all political parties and everyone in public office. We currently have a set of non-rules that legalize bribery. When I explain to people (from both inside and outside our country) what campaign donations are allowed in the US they are shocked and amazed. The “independent” super-pacs allows candidates to completely circumvent any restrictions they may have on campaign contributions from rich corporate (and even foreign national) donors. We only recently (in 2012) passed laws against insider trading in congress…laws which were quietly rolled back under the radar.

Sidenote: if you are frustrated that certain companies seem to get away with slaps on the wrist following scandals, you can probably find most of them here: http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2015/11/08/the-25-most-commonly-held-stocks-by-members-of-con.aspx

Get rid of the out-of-control campaign spending and contributions by putting severe limits in place or, better yet, make all campaigns public-financed (i.e., tax payers voluntarily contribute to a fund that is dished out evenly to all candidates). Anyone who is going to serve must put all their assets into a blind trust. Period. Yes, they will lose many opportunities to make money while they serve…but do we really want a government that consists of people concerned with their personal wealth or do we want true public servants?

Without the mighty dollar, the GOP and Dems will fracture into smaller groups. Newly-formed parties will have a chance and a voice. All the other issues (i.e., symptoms of a sick system) will start to fade. Some will persist, but overall this is the direction we need to take. We cannot continue down our current path as it leads to a very dark future for a country that by all accounts should be a shining example of representative government for the rest of the world instead of the insane oligarchy we have become.