The Four Year Locusts

No I am not talking about an insect, I am talking about another kind of earsplitting, pest. Electioneering presidential candidates. I assert that our present system of government and party politics is nothing like what our founding fathers envisioned. Although "spirit of party" had infected politics as soon as there was George Washington, as first president, all of the framers of the United States warned against such. They said it would be the downfall of our nation.
I have never felt represented by this representative government(republic) and it is mostly because of party politics. We have two, and neither have anything in common with my thoughts or feelings on government or the "American Dream". For one thing they are all wealthy. I have never really sought monetary gain as most people do. I don't want money for the sake of having money. Sure there are things I want, things I am denied because of so called poverty, but it was my choice. That type of thinking dooms someone like me in our society. I can not live my life because I have to worry about making money. My life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is infringed upon. I know I am not in the majority in this, but I know I am not alone either and I am not at all represented. John Adams asserted that America should have an agrarian economy as opposed to a capitalistic one. Thomas Jefferson espoused the same thing. Obviously, we went the other direction. True economic wealth for a nation is typically based on how much it produces. I ask you, what does America produce now? My American dream has always been to be an independent farmer. Not a corporate farm, but a small farm that can sustain my family with food and money and a lifestyle that is healthy and active. Recent actions by our government are pushing small farmers out. It has become more difficult to be a small farmer for the past 20 years. I come from a farm family in a farm town and the local phrase is "I have to get a job to keep up my habit of farming". Not very encouraging. Very few grow a garden anymore. I remember a time when everyone grew a garden and there was plenty of food to go around. Now all of the produce comes from California, Chile, Mexico, or who knows where. So where are the political candidates on this? Why should they care? They are wealthy enough that they don't even go to the grocery store. Granted that "fame" precludes anyone in todays society from going out in public for fear of getting mobbed, but how is that an excuse for not being concerned about where your food comes from? If we are going to have "parties", then why can't we have "The Poor People's Party" or "The Small Farmers Party" or the "I Feel Totally Disenfranchised" party?
Political parties are completely run by insiders, so it is no wonder that they don't really represent anybody. Sure some people can identify with this one or that one, but unless you are an insider in that party, then you are not in control of "your" party, the party is in control of you. Most people seem to only have a loose association with a party or candidate. We as an electorate have gotten into the habit of voting for the lesser of two evils(if we vote at all) because there is not a public official that we consider as "the best person" or "a good candidate".
Our considerations are based mostly on who we think is going to do the least damage, or who has the best hair, or some other meaningless point that has nothing to do with actually representing the will of the people. The sad thing is that we have let it happen.
Our government is based on the consent of the people, ideally. In reality the government requires nothing from us because it has grown to such monstrous proportion that it invades and controls every function of our lives. Our consent was assumed because through the years we have said nothing, done nothing but trust that someone else would take care of it for us. And so they are, whether we like it or not....