The USA is Not a Democracy
By: Todd Smekens
Blog – I shouldn’t come out in the first paragraph to declare the Russian story a hoax but I still cannot believe the media continue pressing this issue while ignoring those who are truly influencing our democracy – the Donor Class. If Facebook can possibly account for $100,000 in ads being spent by companies in Russia, what about the $1 Billion spent annually by the Koch brothers? Who really has influence over our so-called democracy? The truth is more unsettling…we don’t have a democracy to influence. The people don’t have a functioning government because it’s controlled by Oligarchs. Albert Einstein told us that in 1949.
If we truly had a free press in this country which is what our founders envisioned, every single American would know who the Koch brothers are and why they’re interested in destroying our government. They’ve already accomplished this in 23 states and now with Mike Pence in the Oval Office, they are doing the same to our federal government. They have created and invested billions into Libertarian and conservative think tanks all with misleading names to disguise their true intent.
Indiana is a Top 5 Polluted State
Indiana has four “super” coal-burning power plants which are three more than any other state. Don’t we have government regulations preventing our air from becoming toxic? Sorry, but we are eliminating them in the name of “conservatism” because liberalism is bad, but free markets are good.
We have a pediatrician in Southern Indiana (Dr. Norma Kreilein) who went to Indianapolis to testify about the linkage between the toxin mercury causing our high infant mortality rates. Mercury is a byproduct of burning coal. As she began to testify, her microphone was turned off. We can’t talk about air pollution in Indiana.
The doctor who treats kids who are sick with asthma is unable to testify in the people’s house. Why is that?
We’re not a democracy – the people have no power because we have no representation. I’m not sure we’ve ever been one. Albert Einstein told us in 1949 that all major institutions were owned by Oligarchs (capitalists, wealthy industrialists, Robber Barons, Plutocracy, etc., etc.)
This includes both political parties and the media. Do you think it’s improved since 1949?
No, but the illusion is showing signs of crumbling.
Public Sector is the Collective
The government or public sector was developed to handle the people’s (community) interests. This was done so we could regulate the industry to ensure the working class (the people) were treated fairly, taxes would be used to distribute from the capitalists to the working class to ensure fair distribution of profits from shared resources.
Furthermore, the government would be the people’s avenue to check the power of wealthy industrialists.
In order to ensure those in government didn’t abuse their power, our Founders created a free press to hold those in the government accountable. The powerful had checks and balances requiring constant vigilance by the people. As Benjamin Franklin famously said at the constitution convention, “You have a representative republic if you can keep it.”
Oligarchy, Not a Democracy
In other words, the Founders knew there would be a constant struggle for power. Albert Einstein’s words in 1949 basically told us that our struggle was lost to the Oligarchs:
The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.
It was true in 1949, and it’s even worse today. Private capitalists control all our institutions and with the addition of SCOTUS’s Citizens United ruling, the Oligarchs can spend unlimited money to influence our public sector because they control the politicians and the media. They buy a candidate and then promote him/her through owned or friendly media channels.
We get to vote, but each political seat has a price and those willing to pay it, win.
What About Koch Influence
In order for the media and our government to conclude that Russia tried to interfere in our democracy, they’d first have to prove we are a democracy. We’re not. If Charles and David Koch live in Kansas and can buy politicians in Indiana, then not only are we not a democracy, we aren’t even a representative republic. Our Koch bought politicians in Indiana serve the two billionaires who live in Kansas but use our four large super burning coal plants run by Duke Energy to generate power for the Midwest by buying coal from the Koch’s.
Now you know why Indiana is polluted and why the Indiana Department of Environmental Regulation is so corrupt. The state regulators are controlled by industry. The regulators aren’t holding anybody accountable for polluting our air and land or killing our kids. The pollution doesn’t exist if those in charge of regulating power plants say it doesn’t.
Where is the Free Press
Now you also know why they pass the laws in Washington and why Trump/Pence are eliminating the EPA’s regulations and why Trump withdrew from the Paris Accord on Global Climate Change. It’s not our government and it’s not our press. The people have no power. It was lost a long time ago if we even had it then. Our elections are a sham. As the infamous George Carlin would say, “Elections are to make the people feel like they have control. It’s the illusion of control.”
Benjamin Franklin issued a warning. Albert Einstein declared our democracy was gone by 1949 and George Carlin was right. Putin couldn’t influence our democracy because we don’t have one. Here’s a Putin quote obtained by the New York Times:
“Russia — we — are constantly being taught about democracy. But for some reason, those who teach us do not want to learn themselves,” Mr. Putin said, singling out the United States for its use of military force, “that is plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts.”
As it turns out, he who has the most gold does make the rules. In our case, it’s plural as in “The Oligarchs have pooled their resources to buy both political parties so they can make beneficial rules for themselves.” See my most recent article about the “Tax Reform Bill” as an example. It was a $1.4 trillion upward distribution to the Donor Class who runs our political sphere. It was taken from the people. We’ll find out exactly who will pay in 2018.
So what happens to the people in this Oligarchy?
The people resist oppression. This is what was happening in 2016 during the rise of populism because the people are seeing our two-party political system for what it is – a fraud. Sadly, those with a far-right worldview are more susceptible to manipulation. They thought Trump was a populist, but he’s not. Those Americans with a left-leaning worldview are organizing alternative political institutions to combat the Oligarchy. The people can sense when they’re being oppressed but not everyone responds accordingly. Here is one thing we can count on: the Oligarchy is fully prepared for this uprising. In the CIA world, it’s called a counter insurgency. This is why they’ve militarized the community police departments and developed Homeland Security. They also have the leading technology/surveillance to use against those organizing protests/uprisings. They know it’s coming…