Do you see the old woman or the young woman? Do you see the vase or the two faces? It all depends on your point of view.

     In a broader sense, our point of view determines what we see in all of life. In the social and political sciences, the term paradigm is used to describe the set of experiences, beliefs, and values that affect the way an individual perceives reality and responds to that perception.

     If you started out seeing the old woman, and began seeing the young woman after that possibility was pointed out to you, you experienced a mini-shift in your perception.

     Thomas Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolution in 1962. In this significant work he defined and popularized the concept of “paradigm shift.” Kuhn argues that scientific advancement is not evolutionary, but rather a “series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions,” and in those revolutions “one conceptual world view is replaced by another.”

     The time has come for an intellectually violent revolution in the politics of America. The adversarial two party system needs to be replaced with a radically different view of representative government.

     Less than 10% of the U.S. population is in agreement with the radical left wing, Socialist  views of the Obama Administration. This is hardly a government striving to fulfill the wishes of the people!  

     The Republicans faired no better under George W. Bush.  The Federal Establishment grew 20% between 2000 and 2008. The number of registered lobbyists doubled from 15,000 to 30,000! T.A.R.P. was passed by Congress and signed by Bush in late 2008. It cost taxpayers $700 billion.  Republicans claim to be the party against big government! Really?

     Obama’s excuse for his 2009 budget deficit of approaching $2 trillion is that Bush’s $500 billion deficit made him do it. Aren’t you sick of the dysfunctional name calling and childish bickering inside the D.C. Beltway?

     The Governmentalist Party (both the Democratic and Republican branches) has entered into an unholy alliance with Big Unions, Big Banks, Big Wall Street, and Big Business. Who suffers at the hand of these strange bed fellows? THE MIDDLE MAJORITY

     Any political paradigm shift must be based upon THE MIDDLE MAJORITY rising up and asserting the power inherent in their overwhelming numbers. The middle of the curve factions must unite. Left of center Democrats, right of center Republicans, and moderate Independents must form a new coalition and a new identity.

     Any change of attitude must begin with stark reality. Political parties are not mentioned in the Constitution. They were created later by people who banded together. They are not the God-ordained natural order of politics in America. George Washington was against political parties. He believed they would destroy the country. They are doing just that. The question is “can the people stop them?”

     The founding fathers were concerned that the majority would trample on the rights of minorities. The opposite is happening. The two parties are taxing the middle to promote the “rights” of the extremes in exchange for money and votes. They are now taxing the children and unborn grandchildren of the middle majority to give to the two radical fringes.

     Can any working Democrat continue to be a member of a political party that is knowingly engaging in “generational theft?” Passing on the national debt to future generations is a “pay it backwards” Ponsi Scheme. Stealing from our children and grandchildren is morally reprehensible.

     Can any Republican who believes in free markets continue to support a political party that “bails out” corrupt corporations that have engaged in high risk profiteering strategies and lost? Can we sanction “golden parachutes” and non-performance bonuses for executives who pillage and bankrupt their own corporations while enriching themselves? Can we really call this behavior capitalism?  Shouldn’t we be calling it corruptionism? Wanting to have your cake and eat it too is not leadership; it is unbridled greed. These pseudo-capitalists want to privatize the gains and socialize the losses.  

     The Pew Research Center states that both political parties have lost adherents since the 2008 election. An increasing number of Americans are identifying themselves as Independents. Taking an average of the surveys conducted in 2009, 36% of voters say they are Independents, 35% are Democrats, and 23% are Republicans. Independents fall between Democrats and Republicans on 12 of 13 Value Dimensions. Centrism has emerged as a dominant factor in public opinion. The extremes are losing ground to the common sense middle majority. 

     A new middle majority paradigm might look something like the following:

     Paradigm shifts aren’t spontaneous occurrences. They are driven by change agents. Consider the following major historical changes in worldviews. 

1.           The shift from nomadic hunting and gathering to agriculture and stable small village life.

2.           Viewing the earth as the center of the universe (Ptolemaic System), to viewing the sun as the center  (Copernican system.)

3.           The move from Newtonian physics to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and Quantum Physics.

4.           Johann Gutenberg’s invention of movable type in the 1440’s radically changed the availability of knowledge and books.

5.           The personal computer and the internet are the printing press on steroids. People like Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, Gary Wozniak changed the world forever.  

     No matter how entrenched, the dominant paradigm is always subject to replacement. A new centrist party is an idea whose time has come. Nationwide there are tens of thousands of people acting as change agents.  
     The Governmentalist Party (both Democrats and Republicans), the mainstream media, large corporations and institutions and all the proponents of the current paradigm are in a state of denial. They are the center of their universe and not the people. The Middle Majority is an explosive force waiting for a critical spark to ignite it.