https://slkanthan.substack.com/p/american-democracy-fake-and-dysfunctional
American Democracy -- Fake & Dysfunctional
It's a combo of oligarchy, plutocracy & corporatocracy
SL KANTHAN
AUG 01, 2024
Transcript:
"Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."
Welcome to Geopolitics Demystified. I am your host SL Kanthan. We bring in perspectives you do not see or hear in the mainstream media.
The words you just heard are not of a conspiracy theorist but a US President – Woodrow Wilson. That sounds like a totalitarian oligarchy, not a democracy.
Abraham Lincoln had the best definition of democracy: Of the people, by the people, for the people. But the reality of America was described by another American -- a Nobel prize-winner and the former Chief Economist of the World Bank – Joseph Stiglitz. He wrote an entire claiming and proving that the
US is run of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%. That sounds like a plutocracy.
Then there are corporations, and they are giant these days. Just the S&P 500 companies have $16 trillion of revenue; and they spend billions of dollars every year on lobbying, which is legalized bribing. And all the government agencies are controlled by corporations through former employees. Thus, the FDA is controlled by Big Pharma, SEC is controlled by Wall Street, the Pentagon is controlled by weapons manufacturers, and so on. The smooth revolving door makes it a lucrative business.
Thus, in reality, the so-called American democracy is a mix of oligarchy, plutocracy and corporatocracy.
This is shocking, considering that the US has defined itself in terms of being democratic. All the American wars are sold to the world as noble wars to spread freedom and democracy. American foreign policy is based on dividing the world into “democracy” versus “autocracy.” And numerous Western institutions spend a lot of time judging and ranking nations around the world on how democratic and free they are.
By the way, saying that the “US is not democracy” is not just a subjective claim. This is a scientific fact! A decade ago, two professors from the Princeton University did a detailed study on 25 years of legislation by US Congress. This is what they found:
1) Business interests and economic elites have substantial impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and have little or no influence.
2) When most of the elites support a policy, they get it 45% of the time.
3) However, regardless of how many regular Americans support a policy, they have close to 0% chance of getting what they want, if the policy goes against the interests of the elites.
4) In summary, the rich often win, but they never lose!
Some good examples would be minimum wage, cost of housing, healthcare & education, perpetual wars etc.
Another similar study demonstrated the truth about the American political system through a chart. Look at this. In this chart, you can see that the US is actually worse than an oligarchy! Americans have lesser influence than they would in a theoretical oligarchy! This is depressing!
But why do not Americans and the world see this trickery? Well, because of sophisticated propaganda and clever Hollywood-style drama known as the elections. This year, the US candidates will spend a whopping $10 billion to get elected. That kind of money gets you the most exciting reality show in the world.
Illusion of Democracy
But here is a thought experiment. Do you know what would happen if Americans boycott all the elections? That is, if not a single American votes?
Nothing! Life will go on as usual. The oligarchs and plutocrats will select their preferred puppets, and the US will carry on. Anyways, that’s what really happens – that is, the elites select the candidates and let the masses vote.
Moreover, what do elections really mean? Can the average American call up any politician from his district or the state to discuss some concerns? Of course, not. However, if the same voter gives, say, $10,000 to the politician, a meeting will be quickly arranged. And if a person donates $1 million, he can not only have a nice dinner with the politician, but can even get appointed as an ambassador to some country! It’s not a hypothetical scenario, this is exactly how the US politics works.
Most Americans may not understand all the nuances of the deception, but they know something is wrong. That’s why a majority of Americans do not vote in the elections to choose the president, Congress and governors. And, according to
Pew Research poll, a stunning 85% of Americans say that “elected officials do NOT care about people like me”:
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