By Joseph L. Bass

A lot of people are trying to figure out what happened in the recent presidential election. Who would have thought last spring that Donald Trump would become president of the United States?

Most Americans have not experienced this kind of situation. But I did when I lived in California.

Today people listen to music through headphones plugged into their phone. Recently a medical report stated that children are becoming deaf, because their headphones are turned up so loud their ears are damaged.

Many politicians have become deaf to the voices of the people. They are listening to music from the New World Order band and not listening to the People’s Band. This is exactly what happened in California during the 1960s and ‘70s.

Then California politicians were listening the music played by the Social Welfare Promotion Band (none of these bands are real). This group continually campaigned for increased welfare programs and the “safety net.” The costs of these programs went out of sight, and property taxes went into the clouds, as well.

It was not uncommon for an elderly couple to have to sell their home because their property taxes were so high. In many cases, couples owned their homes free and clear for many years, but their retirement income was too small to pay increasing taxes.

For years, deaf politicians ignored the people’s call for reduced welfare programs and tax relief. Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann put together a constitutional amendment identified as Proposition 13. Much to the surprise of the politicians the people voted it into the state constitution.

The result was to provide significant restrictions on politicians’ capabilities to increase taxes. This was clearly a people’s uprising against mainstream politicians, and the measure has not been helpful because of the radical restrictions on legislative and executive governmental powers.

Much the same thing has been happening on the federal level since the first Bush presidency. During the Bush presidencies, the Clinton presidency and the Obama presidency, a negative pattern was pursued that did major harm to the American economy and the people, particularly the middle class.

International trade agreements were enacted with the support of both mainstream parties. Well-paying jobs that supported the middle class left the country, driving more people toward the poverty level. This had a negative influence on people in both liberal and conservative parties.

If mainstream politicians from either party became president in 2017 this negative pattern would surely continue. And then the most unlikely person ran based on positions seriously counter to the mainstream views of both Republicans and Democrats.

As in California with Proposition 13 we now have Donald Trump, president-elect of the United States.

How likely is it that the mainstream politicians from either party will listen to the People’s Band? Some, still seeking the “new world order,” will never listen. The group that listens will maintain political power for years to come.

Joseph L. Bass is the executive director of ABetterSociety.Info Inc., a nonprofit organization in Hobson. Email him at ABetterSociety1@aol.com.