Our democracy is in a state of crisis. Where does the problem lie? Here is a listing of the players starting with #10, the least to blame, and ending with #1, the most to blame.
10. The Liberal Media. I didn't know there was any, until I started listening to Democracy Now. It stirred memories from my childhood in the 60s, when we had real liberals, with whom it was difficult to argue: Hubert Humphrey, Bobby Kennedy, LBJ.
9. Large Corporations and Big Business. Corporate money dominates our political system, but yet I am going to say that this is not the fault of the large Corporations. Our businessmen and women have the duty to make a profit for their company. If they do not, they go bankrupt and everybody involved is hurt. The nation as a whole is hurt. Business is, of course, much more than a game. However, it can be compared in that businesses compete to win according to rules. Their duty is to follow the rules, but it is not their place to make those rules. If blocking in the back is a legal part of the game, then any serious competitor will block in the back. Todays rules are such that large businesses have to invest in politics. Walmart had no full-time representative in Washington until 1999. That all changed when they decided they would like to go in to the banking business and were blocked by congress under the influence of the banking industry lobby. Almost immediately, Walmart's Political Action Committee became one of the largest PACs in America (read Robert Reich, Supercapitalism, chapter 4). Who can blame them?
8. The Mainstream Media, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS, NPR. I think this is what the right refers to as the liberal media? I'm not sure.
Once there were large newspapers, and everybody argued over what the newspaper said. Most people disagreed in one way or another with the newspapers, but at least everybody was arguing over the same things. Then there was ABC, NBC, and CBS, Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, and that other guy. Here again, everybody knew that television wasn't giving the whole story, but everybody was arguing over the same thing. Today, everybody listens to whoever they agree with and don't even know what other people have to say. But this isn't really the fault of the news media. Or is it?
The mainstream media attempts to present all sides, and as a result they don't present any side. This is because of the gulf that has developed between the left and the right, as the right-wing has moved progressively more to the right over the last 20 years. We're moving to a system where every political party has its own media, which I have seen work quite well in Europe. The problem is that there is no media for American liberals, and their points of view are not being articulated nationally.
7. The Democratic party. The democratic party used to be a liberal party: help for the elderly, the children, the working class, the sick, the environment. Today it is the wimp party. The Democratic Party fought for Social Security, health care for all, the working class, equality, the minimum wage, and government intervention in the economy in order to avoid recessions. Today, we have a president liberal at heart, who has repudiated liberalism in public. His health care plan was written to appease large corporations, his energy program is based on tax incentives for large corporations, and instead of talking about the 8 million who lost their jobs in 2008-2009, he is focused on getting re-elected by raising 2 billion dollars from large corporations. He has apparently abandoned the small donors that won him the election last time. I'm not sure whether it is good politics, but it is surely bad for the Democratic Party and it is bad for the United States of America.
6. The Right-Wing Media. The right-wing media is part and parcel of the current Republican party. It has taken the lead in making politics a yearly, year-around form of entertainment. Its goal is to win elections for candidates supporting their right-wing ideology, and to make money for themselves while at it. It substitutes indoctrination for information. They are the marketing arm of the party. They are a threat to democracy, and liberals who don't realize this are fast asleep.
xx. The political parties. Let's be clear about one thing. It's not true that they are the same. They have never been more different. Let's look at them separately.
5. The Republican party. The Republican Party has become something quite new in American history. It sees itself as the instrument of a larger anti-government movement defined by think tanks such as the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation and disseminated by Fox News and right-wing radio. Membership in the Republican Party requires adherence to the details of Republican Party strategy. When Newt Gingrich criticized the Medicare provisions of his party's budget proposal, he was immediately chastised by the right-wing media and pushed to renounce his statements. The party has forced near 100% party unity in congress over the last two years. The Democrats have voted with a high degree of unity, but this is only by crafting bills to appeal to the far right of the Democratic Party (e.g. Obamacare)
The Party functions in a corporate manner with a product being first produced and then marketed. The production and marketing teams are brilliant in terms of their ability to sell the merchandise, but for the consumer, the American conservative, I think the product is poor. It doesn't take the country where the conservative American wants it to go.
A Democrat should be in favor of an active government engaged in ensuring the well-being of the citizens. A Republican should be in favor of a limited government which safeguards private initiative. What we have is a government which stifles both private initiative and effective government action, whether it be Democratic or Republican.
This presidential election period is going to be very interesting. Huntsman and Romney, for different reasons, are not in conformity with the right-wing propaganda machine. It may be that one of them will get the nomination. That would make me feel better about the American citizen.
4. Conservatives. Limited government as an ideological orientation, doesn't concern me. But the right-wing propaganda machine is not committed to effectual government. Only strong government can make the citizen free from government interference. If politics is taken over by profit-based media and funded by powerful big business interests, then government will serve those causes. Our government needs reform. The Republican party can only further true conservative values by becoming a party of true reform.
3. The wealthy class. If big business, per se, is not to blame, I feel quite the opposite about the wealthy class which has been created by big business. The role of big money in our system is insulting and is what, to a large degree, fuels this blog. While there are many exceptions, the general pattern is that our wealthiest citizens are driven by greed. Today, the top 1% of Americans are making close to 25% of total income in the country. You would think they would be thankful and generous, and all they think about is how to squeeze more billions out of the system. Take social security. Some time in the next 50 years, social security is going to need to increase revenue or cut benefits. This problem can be solved either by 1) working class Americans taking a bit less than they've been promised, or by 2) making people at the wealthy end of the scale pay a tiny bit more. To the wealthy, this is unacceptable, which is why you periodically hear talk of some sort of a crisis. The wealthy are maneuvering to avoid helping out those who have worked all their lives in their mines, in their factories, on family farms and in their offices. In the long term, their disregard for the welfare of all will lead to their own downfall.
2. Liberals. Liberals have been sleep-walking since the 60s. No major liberal program has been legislated since the 60s and liberals have stood by while the news has become dominated by forces bent on undoing the liberal pillars of our society. Today, they have little means of getting their message out. It's true that it is hard to be passionate when the liberal you elected president is selling out. Or maybe Obama's wimpishness is just typical of all liberals. (Read Sally Kohn's article entitled: "Liberals Pride Themselves on Being Tolerant. Are They Really Just Suckers."http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/liberals-pride-themselves-on-being-tolerant-are-they-really-just-suckers/2011/04/13/AFhsTZjD_story.html
1. The American citizen. Not many years ago, maybe 20 years ago, (I'm getting old!), I remember thinking that the American citizen was quite remarkable in his ability to sort through all the nonsense of competing claims and to make decisions based on independent deliberation. Today, I am disheartened. I don't see it happening. It is a very difficult time for the American citizen. Where do you get the truth?
But I do have a couple of thoughts. a) The notion that politics is a sport and that you are rooting for one side to win has to be rejected. Its not just about winning. You have to get the facts right in the same way you do for any other major life decision. b) You need to know and trust the morality of the salesman pitching a certain policy. He should be interested in all points of view, not just selling one because it is profitable to him. If the salesman of an idea makes money from pitching that idea, is funded by private interests, if he lives in Washington year-round, if he has made large sums of money in the politics business and if he won't tell you whether any of the above things are true, then you should not be investing in his product.
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