Thus, at the least in the last 14 years and despite four presidential elections and seven Congressional elections, things have considerably worsened with the two-party political duopoly. If we don't radically alter this soon, it will certainly destroy us because things only get worse with each election. If nothing changes, conditions will almost certainly get worse in the elections of 2014 and 2016. Millions will continue to be unemployed or grossly underemployed, many more will be impoverished, prospects for our youth will worsen, income/wealth inequities will increase, and our confidence in our government will be nearly zero. Our war-mongering imperialism will go on and on.
It is worth mentioning here that nearly 90% of incumbents were returned to elected office in the House and Senate in 2012. And, of course, Obama was easily reelected with the aid of a few billion dollars. But there is one particular thing that has happened; corporate money spent for lobbying and campaign contributions has increased dramatically! There are as many or more millionaires in Congress as we have ever had. Only the very wealthy or those with access to money can afford to run for office. Congress is essentially 100% dominated by one of the two political parties. The only significant "independent" in Congress is Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Other political parties have obstacles to getting on ballots and extreme difficulty in mounting meaningful candidates for office because of the money that has to be spent for media exposure. Corporations control the media, which support the two-party system because that's where the money is. Our political system is a tightly controlled DUOPOLY, and antitrust laws prohibit that in the private sector. Laws that apply to us don't apply to the elite elected officials because they are the ones who make the laws! As Chris Hedges spoke eloquently in an interview lately, we no longer have the Rule of Law in this country. That provides an open door for members of Congress, in particular, and even members of the Executive Branch to be completely "owned" and controlled by corporations and the wealthy who now have no limits on the amount they can spend on a candidate, thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision. We have effectively made bribery legal and corporations and the wealthy are encouraged to participate. It's a guarantee for total corruption in the U.S. government and that is what we have achieved. Our political system has been trying to drive us toward financial bankruptcy and it has happened, in large part, because of moral bankruptcy.
A government coup has been underway for some time and corporate fascism coupled with a drive toward totalitarianism has begun to dominate every aspect of our lives. We must demolish the two-party political duopoly and it must begin now or it will occur violently. John F. Kennedy said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." Thomas Jefferson said, "God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty." (From the "Tree of Liberty").
Political parties did not exist in 1789. George Washington despised the idea of political associations, formed in such a way as to pit one group of citizens against another. In his farewell speech in 1796 he said: "All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They [political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests."
I am strongly inclined to believe this of our current political parties: Both the Republican and the Democratic parties are totally controlled by corporations--corporate fascists--who "own" most of our elected representatives. Unlimited money in politics from lobbying and from campaign contributions have assured that. Corporations often literally write the laws that representatives then present and advocate. They always defer to "experts" on the subjects. In the past this was referred to as bribery, but it is now standard accepted practice. There is often no disclosure of who is doing the dirty work.
Under Obama, we have learned clearly that his role in representing the Corporatists is to appease his supporters with his speech and to agree to "compromise" with Republicans, giving them essentially everything they demand. This is then labeled "bipartisanship." Obama is applauded for his support for the Middle Class when all that's been done is to move the country further to the right and reward the 1% and the corporations even further. The Democrats boast on how much they are doing for the "people" while all of the time offering socially distracting rhetoric. This has been going on now for many, many years by a deceptive and dishonest party that calls itself "Democratic". The Republicans are mean spirited and admit their evilness. But this "cooperative effort" accounts for the extreme income/wealth inequities that have been created. The Democrats keep providing the cover for the Republicans to do their dirty work. We have only one political party and we might call it the Corporate Fascist Party; it is, in effect, a monopoly disguised as a two-party duopoly! I particularly like the description given by Peter Camejo in 2004: " For over 130 years the two major parties have been extremely effective in preventing the emergence of any mass political formations that challenge their political monopoly. Most attempts to build political alternatives have been efforts to represent the interests of the average person, the working people. These efforts have been unable to develop. Both major parties have been dominated by moneyed interests and today reflect the historic period of corporate rule. In this sense United States history has been different from that of any other advanced industrial nation. In all other countries multi-party systems have appeared and to one degree or another they have more democratic electoral laws and more representation has existed. In almost all other cases political parties ostensibly based on or promoting the interest of non-corporate sectors such as working people exist."
There is an ongoing debate about "when" things got this bad but it is traceable at least to the mid 1980s prior to the Clinton administration. The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) which was the policy arm of the Democratic Party made a commitment then to go after corporate support to compete with the Republican Party.
Here is what was reported about an interview with Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter with Kansas?" in 2006:
"In the concluding chapter of "Kansas," Frank assigns "a large part of the blame for the backlash phenomenon" to the "criminal stupidity" of the Democratic Party in abandoning its commitment to labor and economic justice in pursuit of white-collar votes and corporate contributions. The DLC in particular, he writes, thinks that "to collect the votes and -- more important -- the money of these coveted constituencies," Democrats must stand firm on issues like abortion rights while making "endless concessions on economic issues" such as NAFTA, welfare, privatization,n and deregulation. The result? Democrats become Tweedledum to the Republicans' Tweedledee on the laissez-faire economy, leaving their opponents free to woo blue-collar voters with backlash issues." This article goes on to ask: "Has the DLC taken economic issues off the table? Of course they haven't taken them off the table -- they've just become Republicans."
We all should know by now that the impact of Clinton
policies in the 1990s have been disastrous to our economy. Specifically,
NAFTA and related trade agreements have led to huge exportation of jobs.
Ending "welfare as we know it" has led to large increases in
poverty. Repeal of Glass-Steagall in regulating the banks led directly to
the 2008 crash and great recession. The Democratic Party has proven it is just
another faction of the Corporatist Party that controls our political system. As I described in a blog in July 2013, Barack Obama has taken it to another level preparing
the country for a complete corporate fascist, totalitarian nation. We are
near the edge of a point of no return. Jill Dalton describes this well in
her Ebook of September 2012.
Calling for the end of the two-party duopoly has been done before, of course. This article in Fire Dog Lake by the Electoral Reform Coalition is notable. Of course, Ralph Nader has been trying to mount an effort for this purpose for years by running on a "third-party" ticket. But the duopoly has squashed every attempt as soon as they can, often by convincing the public that they are wasting their time and their "vote". Roots Action has just had a press release that addresses a Budget for People, Peace and Planet .
These various action strategies require that you become more involved in making this change occur. It will take time and dedication away from your computer, your home, etc. and out of your comfort zone. You will experience conflict but deal with it confidently. Emphasize the positive outcomes which will be recognized.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
1
1
