Oligarchy, not democracy: Americans have ‘near-zero’ input on policy – report

Posted by Kittyhawk 9 years, 11 months ago to Government
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Is it worthwhile to try to write to politicians, or lobby them to change a law? Does voting for the "right" candidate make any difference in the big picture? Is the government responsive to the will of the people? I would say no to all of these. I've long suspected the political system is irreparably broken, and the above study confirms my fears.
SOURCE URL: http://rt.com/usa/us-democracy-oligarchy-policy-512/


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  • Posted by khalling 9 years, 11 months ago
    I think this study is very interesting. there are two things that come to mind immediately. 1. Someone posted the other day about Jeb Bush on the board of directors for a pro-Obamacare company. The Breitbart article led the reader through many of Bush's business arrangements since leaving his governorship in Florida-including trying to influence internationally. I remember at the time Sarbanes Oxley passed, Bush Sr. was pressuring W to pass it. It was good for family investments in private equity funding-basically cutting off access for medium sized start ups to go public. Similarly, not all policy is decided legislatively-so even if you could pressure your legislators for their constituency's well being, it wouldn't matter a hoot. I am referring to all of the agencies which are making onerous policies and regulations which have no Congressional oversight and in some cases, no judicial oversight. So, if you are part of the oligarchical circle you are influencing those agencies inside and out.
    2. It bothered me the article kept referring to democracy. We of course are not a pure democracy and suggesting that the majority of the public's will is not represented simply by their vote and no other criteria-was kinda creepy to me.
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  • Posted by $ Maphesdus 9 years, 11 months ago
    Sometimes I can't help but wonder if our fight against the evils of Communism has inadvertently caused us to abandon the principles of our Founding Fathers, and push us towards another evil which lies in the opposite direction: the tyranny of oligarchy and plutocracy. The very thing our founding fathers originally fought against.

    "He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
    — Friedrich Nietzsche

    http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BR...
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    • Posted by straightlinelogic 9 years, 11 months ago
      The founding fathers certainly anticipated something like this, which is why they wanted to keep the government as small and constrained as possible.
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      • Posted by $ Maphesdus 9 years, 11 months ago
        Right, exactly. I'm just saying that it seems like politicians have tried to justify enlarging size and scope of government in order to defeat Communism. It just seems kind of ironic, in a twisted and dystopian kind of way.
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        • Posted by straightlinelogic 9 years, 11 months ago
          I see your point, and it is a good one. In fighting our enemies, we become like them.
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          • Posted by $ Maphesdus 9 years, 11 months ago
            I know, right? The Soviet Union was so foolish that they actually got entrenched in a ten-year war in Afghanistan, which drained their national wealth and destabilized their economy. I'm sure glad the United States isn't dumb enough to make a mistake like that...
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