The United States does not hide the fact that you need money for the government to represent you. I am not writing about taxes because a good tax system can provide a lot of good benefits: for example, a health system that does not punish individuals who get sick or hurt. I want to explore what it means to give your money to Unions and vote for an elected official.
Unions are a collection of workers who start funding an organization to protect their collective rights. So, the interest of a Union is to ensure that workers are compensated fairly and their wellbeing is protected. Then an elected official is someone who is voted by a district or area to represent that district or area. The interest of an elected official is to ensure that the district or area has their representation in government. All districts or areas to represent the entirety of those districts or areas elect the president. Yet, in conjunction, elected officials and unions give a haunting message, which stands at, "You have to vote someone to represent you but you must also pay them through the Unions so you can also get represented." The challenge to this idea is, "Unions make sure all representatives pay attention to the working class." Yet, this is a poor argument for the working class is the majority of the population. Elected officials that are voted into their seats should ensure the rights and protection of workers. Yet, increasingly one needs to lobby their influence in the United States government. As a result, Americans vote for an elected official based on which influence that elected official will listen too. Democrats will be lobbied more for the working class and Republicans will be lobbied more for the business class. They do not represent the people directly; they need to be lobbied to represent.
Unions are a symbol of the issues in American government as in the Gilded Age. A police officer, a firefighter, teachers, and so on, have to fund unions to protect their rights. These public workers, needless to say, provide tremendous services. It is odd that they need to lobby their employer to ensure they have rights. Also, it is odder that they do need to lobby for it is very evident that they are voters themselves. Essential they vote their employer into position and need to lobby their employer. Unions are only essential when government chooses money as representation and not the mere fact that they are elected to represent a district or area.
What are the issues with having a system run on lobbying? First and foremost, lobbying dilutes democracy by making it a system of money equals representation. Lobbying can lead governments to avoid topics or change legislation. One result of lobbying is the limited and low amounts of gun studies. Lobbying hampers results to bend perception to ensure that only a limited amount can happen. In addition, this can affect Americans health, what is in foods, laws, and basically everything Americans experience in the United States.
It is evident that the United States government needs to review how they operate. Currently, the system is not one of representation through vote, but representation through dollar bills.
Further readings:
http://www.wired.com/2015/10/america-still-doesnt-good-data-guns/
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/04/how-corporate-lobbyists-conquered-american-democracy/390822/
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/03/437213511/how-big-egg-tried-to-bring-down-little-mayo-and-failed
http://www.ucsusa.org/our-work/center-science-and-democracy/promoting-scientific-integrity/drug-companies-influence-FDA.html#.ViuTaq6rTwc