| The Hoax Of Democracy |
Be wary of capitalists bearing democracy.
For example, in countries like Chile, elections such as were held in October 1988, are as dangerous as they are superficially promising. Although Pinochet suffered a landslide loss at the polls, he disregarded the results and refused to give up his power as dictator. Despite his loss at the polls, holding an election was of great benefit to him. It not only mapped out clearly where his supporters lived, but where the greatest concentrations of his political opponents lived! While the ballot system is only secret at the individual level, it can and does in reality expose whole villages to the threat of death squads. Death squads simply love democracy, it makes their job so much easier.
In El Salvador, America pumped in more than $5 billion during the last decade to prop up the virtual dictatorship of President Jose Napoleon Duarte whose death squads have so terrorized the electorate (by assassinating unsympathetic mayors), that over a third of the country's 262 municipalities are without a head. {B102} {B103} Although the concept (of exposing one's city, town, or village to the threat of death squads) may have little meaning in America, it does expose, however, that in countries where death squads prevail, it is meaningless to point to election results either as proof of a dictator's popularity or as justification for continued economic and military support from America.
In Columbia, the left-wing Patriotic Union party had its presidential candidate murdered in October 1987, and its deputy leader murdered on March 3 1989. Furthermore, 29 of its 87 candidates for mayoral office in the 1986 elections have since been murdered. {B104}
In Guatemala, which normally makes America's top 10 list for foreign aid (as does El Salvador), more than 150,000 citizens have been murdered since the CIA helped to topple the democratically elected President Arbenz back in 1950.
So, having looked briefly at Greek, and death squad democracy, it should be obvious that democracy comes in many guises. And, because it does serve both good and evil purposes equally well, let's objectively look at how democracy is being used in America.
Quite logically, American democracy should have at least two obvious characteristics:
The Founding Fathers were also acutely aware of the role of legislation, so, in an attempt to prevent the economic elite from continuing to use their power to manipulate the rest of society, they wrote a Constitution that attempted to banish Feudal conditions forever. As you may have guessed,
The original constitution never intended that the top 1% should be capable of possessing more wealth than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent. If it did, then the constitution was a Feudal charter right from the beginning!
To have strayed so far from the original visionary concepts, old
laws have had to be altered, and new ones introduced. And this
is where the elected politicians enter the picture. They introduce
bills that they themselves vote into law. Not surprisingly, the bills they
introduce and make into law reflect to whom they have given their
allegiance. This is precisely why there is a glut of very complex taxation orientated laws favoring the elite and their corporations.
That is what "Conservatism" is all about! That is also
why the elite go so far out of their way to discredit "Liberalism",
which allows for changes to the status quo. "Conservatism"
maintains the status quo and that in turn ensures the rich stay
rich and the poor stay poor. The reason we have a democratic society
being run as a Feudal oligarchy lies not with a faulty constitution,
but with a subversive voting system that connects the elite directly
with the politicians.
In the first voting system, the general public is allowed, every few years, to put a tick on a voting ballot that almost totally prevents them from having any say whatsoever with regard to controversial issues of the day. Prior to the election, discussion of important controversial topics is avoided wherever possible in favor of discrediting one's opponent, or getting lost behind a patriotic smoke screen.
In the second and somewhat covert voting system, roughly 23,000 lobbyists swarm over Capitol Hill every day to fight for favors on behalf of the "special interest groups" that can afford to hire them. On a daily basis, the economic elite can send their legion of lawyers to talk directly with specific congressmen to make bargains with the legislators behind closed doors.
What kind of favors do the wealthy bargain for? Well, they bargain for such goodies as personal or corporate income tax concessions, or a means of getting around the inheritance tax, or for price subsidies, or write-offs for any number of things, or to have the capital gains tax reduced even further, etc., etc.,.
Why do the elite have so much power over the legislators? ...two reasons. To get elected, a politician requires votes. To get votes a candidate requires campaign support in the form of money and publicity. Nowadays, getting elected is a very, very costly business. Even though most politicians have small personal fortunes, few politicians would be willing to personally fund their own campaigns and risk losing the bulk of their personal wealth just for an opportunity to unselfishly serve the public. In big states like New Jersey or Illinois, a candidate in the 1990 elections can easily require $10 million to compete. {B106} In 1988, the average Senator spent $4 million to campaign. {B107} So even those with a few million can end up on the payroll through the need for election campaign support.
Therefore a politician doesn't even get to first base without the support of a sympathetic media and without financial contributions from benefactors with money to spare. This, for all intents and purposes, excludes the bottom 90%, and leaves corporations, wealthy individuals, and other business interests.