The political realm

Wiki describes politics like this:

Politics (from Greek πολιτικός, "of, for, or relating to citizens"), is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs. It also refers to behavior within civil governments. However, politics have been observed in other group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power"^[1] and refers to the regulation of public affairs within a political unit,^[2] and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.^[3]

The political realm has subsumed the economic realm in America -- the media views the world through a political lens. The recent Egyptian revolution has been analyzed in relation to American politics. Unemployment has become a political issue -- if we get to 8%, Obama will be reelected, and each jobs report requires a spin related to political considerations. The stock market goes up because the President made a speech and went down because someone was or wasn't hired in a government position. Dealing with the national debt is a political game of avoiding responsibility so the other side can be attacked. Technology kingpins are brought to the White House to discuss the economy. Unions lobby the adminsitration to gain favor in negotiations. Education is controlled by government committees, and what Arnie Duncan does could be critical to your kid's future. Some gain control, many lose control.

The energy we need and use is managed by government agencies, and oil rig workers can work or draw unemployment with one government decision. When we fill up our tanks the price is dependent on the latest international, political situation between nation-States. Our doctors and nurses await instructions from a 2000 page plan, and companies stop hiring because there's no way to know which way the political battle over healthcare coverage will go. In every area of our lives political concerns affect our financial situation -- will taxes go higher -- will the pending legislation affect the company for which I work-- will heating oil go up because the party in power is buying votes from a special interest group? Then each day there's the President's popularity poll, keeping a political finger on our political pulse.

The political realm has so overwhelmed the economic realm the nation becomes more dependent on the government, and Wisconsin public employees fear for their financial security and demand the State do something, anything to make it all right. We're slipping into a political nightmare of government regulations, subsidies, promises, stimulus, wars, entitlements and control over our lives from eating to marrying to what kinds of cars we can drive. Our economy can't survive central planning and social engineering, yet, we're about to see protests across the country that plead for government to do more. Separation of State and Economy becomes a distant libertarian dream. People are steadily destroying the one thing that can give them financial security -- a free market. We're told to not worry -- it will all work out -- they'll let us know the next plan when it's out of committee. What's happened to America?