As you know, I am a father of a few. It is beautiful to see what children learn for the first time. My daughter, enrolled in a preschool that focuses on disabilities, spoke full sentences to me for the first time this week. My son, a new middle schooler, is learning world history and geography, along with the old saying: “We must learn history, so we do not repeat it.” My goddaughter is experiencing high school for the first time and forming her own opinions on the social contracts of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment.
If you, like me, forget much of what you learned in school, I encourage you to sit down with your children and do these assignments with them. It is eye-opening to see how your opinions of the world may have changed -or even how the “facts” of the world have changed-since you learned them. Fair warning: it is much harder than it used to be.
Lessons from History
We often forget that during the Middle Ages, human beings lived under monarchies built on land ownership and nobility. Kings granted land to nobles and aristocrats, instantly boosting their status. This came through military service or loyal counsel to the crown. Since agriculture was the main industry of the time, the king controlled nearly all economic growth. Wealth was distributed unevenly, and while nobles enjoyed lighter taxes, common citizens carried the heavier burden. These inequities fueled the revolutions that ultimately pushed humanity into the modern era.
Looking at this history, it makes me wonder: Why has this not happened again in America? Or has it? Have there been small coups in our nation’s history that have been hidden from the public? Perhaps the truth is that elections themselves are a kind of coup—an orderly, mandatory way to replace one regime with another. That is how it is supposed to work, at least.
Instead, we have politicians like Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky who have held office for more than forty years. In that time, they have collected tens of millions in tax dollars and donations while offering little in the way of new policy or philosophy. This is the real issue. Land is no longer the currency of power. Money is. And our government has built a system where wealth and donations determine who is elected, slowing down progress and ensuring that laws serve only the very rich or the very poor—while the middle class, the majority, pays for both.
The Middle Class Burden
The middle class makes up most of the population. We do not receive tax breaks like the wealthy, and we do not receive subsidies like the poor. Yet we are expected to fund both ends of the spectrum.
I grew up poor, and I believed that hard work would eventually change my life. I joined the military because college seemed like a burden I could not afford. I was still poor, but I believed I was on the right path. My military service helped me find my first good-paying job, but when I entered a higher tax bracket, I realized I was barely better off. A quarter of my paycheck was gone. That was when I realized how wrong I was to believe this system was fair.
History shows that when the majority of people are suffering, they revolt. They stop paying taxes. They throw tea in the ocean. They demand a new system. And when the old one crumbles, a new way of life flourishes.
A New Way Forward
“But Mister Middleclass, that would destroy our fragile system that depends on the middle class to line the pockets of politicians and corporate executives! Wouldn’t that destroy our lives?”
Maybe for a moment. But building a better government would not be as impossible as we think.
First, we would need a complete census, not just the population counts we file away every ten years, but a true survey of who we are. It would ask the basics we already record: age, race, gender. It would also ask for religious alignment and socioeconomic standing. That data would not be used to divide us, but to ensure that our government looks exactly like the people it represents. If twenty percent of the nation identifies as Hispanic, then twenty percent of the government must be Hispanic. If half of the nation is female, then half of the government must be female. The same would apply to religion, class, and other markers of identity.
Second, we would eliminate the office of President of the United States. No single person should have the power to erase the will of the people with a pen stroke. A veto is too much authority in one person’s hands. Leadership should not be embodied in one individual but in a representative body that reflects the actual nation.
Third, we would dismantle the party system. Parties exist to consolidate power, not to represent the majority. Any time a group of people think and vote the same way, ideology replaces reason. The result is gridlock, division, and policy designed to serve donors, not citizens. Without parties, we would be forced to think issue by issue, not red versus blue, not conservative versus progressive.
Fourth, service in government would not be a career or a path to wealth. It would be a commission, a responsibility that is entirely voluntary. No paychecks. No donations. No backdoor deals. Instead, government service would come with a guaranteed standard of living: housing, food access, medical care, and other necessities, much like how the military provides for service members. You would not profit from governing. You would serve.
Fifth, turnover would be guaranteed. Every three years, a census would be taken. In the fourth year, a new government would be commissioned based on the latest data. No more forty-year careers in office. No more dynasties. Fresh ideas and current realities would shape policy. The government would never be allowed to fall decades behind the people it represents.
Would this system be perfect? Of course not. No system is. But it would be more fair than the one we live under now. It would remove the permanent political class. It would eliminate the stranglehold of donors and lobbyists. It would reflect the real America—not the America of think tanks, consultants, and billionaires.
The Question
In theory, this would be the most democratic system possible. Every American would be equally represented. Every official would live like the people they serve.
The only thing standing in the way is us. The people. We must be willing to walk into government buildings and say, “Get up. You have been relieved of service.”
My only question is this: how long are you willing to wait?
Very Respectfully,
Mister Middleclass 
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