Government by Oligarchy
In my posting to
this blog on December 27th, I told you that the two greatest
problems confronting our nation today are one, that we lack a concerted
direction in government causing us to effectively lose our democracy and, two, xenophobia, i.e.
racial discrimination. If we are to move forward maintaining our democratic
republic, our democracy, these must be overcome.
Whether we want to “belly up” and face the
facts or not, we are being ruled by an oligarchy of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite, signed, sealed, and approved by our
Supreme Court in a variety of decisions the most well known of which, recently,
was Citizens United v FEC, in effect equating campaign contributions with free
speech—your vote vs. the dollars of the very rich and powerful. In conjunction with this, many, if not
most, in our Congress as well as others in power have willingly acquiesced
their responsibility in office for dollars, effectively selling their votes to
the special interests and betraying yours. To my way of thinking this practice
is tantamount to accepting bribes. It’s nothing new in politics. For that
matter, it’s a practice “as old as the hills”, as they say. I think it’s
dishonest, should be stopped, and future practice should be prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law. This government, “Our Government”, is supposed to
represent us—not the corporatism of the Corporatocracy and the very rich.
Again, there is no way we the people with our one vote per person can vie on an
equal footing with the abundant dollars of the corporations. Also, let me tell
you this. There is no provision or recognition anywhere in our constitution for
corporations, another subject for another day.
Following the
timeline of history, you can readily see the rise of the Corporate Oligarchy in the last half of the nineteenth century,
subsequently quenched by Theodore Roosevelt, and again in the 1920’s during the
Republican administration of Herbert Hoover, ending in the Great Depression of
the 1930’s to be again quenched by the administration of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt. Through the 1940’s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, we, our nation’s people, enjoyed
the highest standard of living in our history after which, from the 1970’s until
the present, this oligarchy of the Corporatocracy
and Power Elite has, once again, raised
its ugly head. All around us we can see the destruction and degradation this
element of our society has wreaked upon our people and our standard of living. This
is not a little matter for us to ignore. If our people don’t turn this around
and do it now, all of our other problems will be a moot point. If we want to
save our democracy and our republic for the people (that’s us, that’s you), we
must turn this around and begin now lest what little freedoms we have remaining
will be lost. If we the people continue to allow this to happen, we must ask
ourselves if we do not deserve what we get, a life of serfdom.
Understand,
folks, we are in a crisis. We no longer live in a country like the one it
begun. Not only our future, but the futures of our children and descendants
down the line depend upon us doing something—vote, protest, write letters,
contribute money, if you can. Let your voice be heard. Outlaw private money from
politics; reform the voting laws; reform the tax laws—insist that the
corporations and the rich pay their fair share of taxes according to their
ability to pay. Don’t let them kid you. There is enough money to pay for the
needs of our nation if everyone will only pay their fair share according to
their ability to pay and we take the graft, corruption, and wasteful spending
out of our government. Take back our country for our people.
This is a blog.
It’s necessarily brief. You don’t have to take my word for what I say. In fact,
you really shouldn't. Read for yourself. Gain knowledge. Decide for yourself.
You may not think so, but your life and those of your family depends on it. Keep
in mind, though. Your opinion isn’t worth a “hill of beans” if you don’t have
facts, the real truth, to support them. Everybody has an opinion. The lying propaganda
and misinformation being thrust upon us today by the media, emails, and word of
mouth cannot be trusted. Read When
Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten. You will be amazed at what
has gone on around you to your disadvantage of which you weren’t even aware. It
was published in 1995, twenty years ago. You can buy it used on Amazon.com for
$4.00 ($.01 plus $3.99 shipping) plus tax. Also, another good book is Capital in the Twenty-First Century by
Thomas Piketty, a best seller last year, an in-depth analysis and discussion of
the extreme inequality in wealth and income. It is written for the lay person
as well as economists. You can buy it from Amazon, also, for around $30.00, shipping,
tax, and title. There are many other books, but these two will provide you all
the information you need—just the first one will suffice.
In my next
posting to this blog, I want to discuss our xenophobia, i.e. racial
discrimination. I procrastinate on this because the subject is so argumentative
and contentious. In fact, the subject can’t really be discussed objectively
unless the participants are willing to view the elements with an open mind
toward resolving the problems involved—and there are many. As I have said
before, however, we are where we are. That has to be our starting point.
Ronald Miller
Email me at mtss86@comcast.net
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