Are we witnessing freedom?

A friend recently posted:

What we are witnessing in the USA is called freedom. Embrace it. Love/Hate. For/Against. Liberal/Conservative. Right/Left.

But is this freedom?  For my part I do not think so.  What we are witnessing is NOT freedom. NOT even close.

What we are witnessing is OLIGARCHY. What we are witnessing is 46% of the electorate so disengaged or fed up that they do not vote. What we are witnessing is governance by the unelected where for the second time in recent years a majority favored the candidate that was NOT elected and we get government by the unelected because of an arcane set of laws that have no place in today's world. What we are witnessing is a political elite that claims a mandate to continue policies that brought us the second greatest economic collapse in American history even though they received support from less than 25% of the governed. What we are witnessing is what happens when the country's Congress has an 11% approval rating. What we are witnessing is what happens when government at the federal and in many cases the state level has failed the governed. What we are witnessing is what happens when people are so fed up, so disillusioned with their government that they resort to protest.

Rioting is not OK. But here's the thine, if you want a free government that works for you and me and the rest of us, you not only have a right to protest; you have an obligation to do so. You have an obligation to involve yourself to oppose the oligarchy that proposes to continue policies that have not worked. You have an obligation to support efforts and candidates that will address the very real problems America faces. 

If you and I fail to do so, if we continue to believe that voting once every two years is enough, then you can be sure that nothing will change.