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It’s Official: America is an Oligarchy and NOT a Democracy or a Republic
We noted last year:
American democracy – once a glorious thing – has devolved into an oligarchy, according to two leading IMF officials, the former Vice President of the Dallas Federal Reserve, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Moody’s chief economist and many others.
But don’t take their word for it …
A new quantitative study by Princeton’s Martin Gilens and Northwestern’s Benjamin Page finds that America is not a democracy … but is an oligarchy.
Here’s a quick visual overview from the study:
In other words, when the fatcats want something, it will probably happen. But when the little guys want something … not so much.
Highlights from the study:
A great deal of empirical research speaks to the policy influence of one or another set of actors, but until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical predictions against each other within a single statistical model. This paper reports on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues.
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Economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence. Our results provide substantial support for theories of Economic Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism.
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Very few studies have offered quantitative evidence concerning the impact of interest groups based on a number of different public policies.
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Prior to the availability of the data set that we analyze here, no one we are aware of has succeeded at assessing interest group influence over a comprehensive set of issues, while taking into account the impact of either the public at large or economic elites – let alone analyzing all three types of potential influences simultaneously.
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The chief predictions of pure theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy can be decisively rejected. Not only do ordinary citizens not have uniquely substantial power over policy decisions; they have little or no independent influence on policy at all.
By contrast, economic elites are estimated to have a quite substantial, highly significant, independent impact on policy.
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These results suggest that reality is best captured by mixed theories in which both individual economic elites and organized interest groups (including corporations, largely owned and controlled by wealthy elites) play a substantial part in affecting public policy, but the general public has little or no independent influence.
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When a majority – even a very large majority – of the public favors change, it is not likely to get what it wants. In our 1,779 policy cases, narrow pro-change majorities of the public got the policy changes they wanted only about 30% of the time. More strikingly, even overwhelmingly large pro-change majorities, with 80% of the public favoring a policy change, got that change only about 43% of the time.
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Our findings probably understate the political influence of elites.
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What do our findings say about democracy in America? They certainly constitute troubling news for advocates of “populistic” democracy, who want governments to respond primarily or exclusively to the policy preferences of their citizens. In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule — at least not in the causal sense of actually determining policy outcomes. When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the U.S. political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.
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If policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.
No wonder the chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University said that politicians are not prostitutes, they are pimps … pimping out their services to the highest bidder.
The Supreme Court is not much better: their allowance of unlimited campaign spending allows the oligarchs to purchase politicians more directly than ever.
Moreover, there are two systems of justice in America … one for the big banks and other fatcats, and one for everyone else.
And not only do we not have democracy, but we also no longer have a free market economy. Instead, we have fascism, communist style socialism, kleptocracy, banana republic style corruption, or – yes – “oligarchy“.
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Sadly I don't see any solution to this situation except some form of revolution. An that situation is going to need good leaders with clear heads so the real enemy is targeted. The main mission has to be, to "rein in" Banking.
All evil starts there.
The solution will be collapse....
J Tainters book is a excellent read on this subject. The Collapse of Complex Societies.
http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Collapse_of_Complex_Societies.ht...
Any form of 'revolution' will be near impossible in a society where surveillance capabilities are what they are today. That is the whole point of an ever growing 'security' apparatus - keep the populace from revolting against those that are oppressing them.
The 'Pinkertons' used by the Robber Barons a hundred years ago are Keystone Kops compeard to what's available now. Local police departments have military armored cars and swat teams better armed than a Regular Army platoon was in the 1920's.
Add to all that you have acarefully controlled picture painted by a fully 'owned' media - look at how OWS was painted - and even the Tea party. Today's equivalent of those that made up the Minute Men - those concerned with oppression and violations of rights - are tagged as potential 'domestic terrorists'.
We have a situation that's evolving into a severe economic breakdown for the majority of the population where people will be not desperate enough to rise up but instead be passive and desperate enough to sell themselves and their progeny into serfdom in exchange for food and shelter - surrendering to those who created this disaster.
I think the opposite is true actually. Right now, anyone can build or buy a GPS-programmable drone, peaceably they are great for fly-by films, but what happens when more people start weaponizing them? And instead of this "Us against TPTB" mindset, it's more like gangs fighting over resources post-collapse? I'd like to avoid that scenario if at all possible.
The movie Patton was right on this one:
it may be a matter of semantic a revolution has a manifseto, and of course they will debate you into the ground before you win, but a rebellion? what are you against? what have you got? Marlon Brando, The Wild One?
The oncoming crash will do a lot to the established financial order. There are so many idiots in congress now that I question govt ability to pass another bail out. TPTB will have to side step that problem, and that may turn the light on for a few people, left and right. There is also a war in the not too distant future, and the combination will put a new face to who is in charge. If they can keep the war conventional we have another expansion, otherwise it will be game over for oligarchs and serfs alike.
I wonder if the study included the impacts of public employee unions and trade unions as interest groups?
Unions are interesting. The leadership is more like a oligarchic business model than a brotherhood and they ARE part of the oligarchy/kleptogarchy. They just run interference for the left and get the 'brotherhood' to believe they are doing things in their best interests and deliver the votes for the oligarchs at the top of the food chain.
Like I needed a quanatative study to tell me any of this. I have know all of this {witout having to have been offically told} for at least the past thirty years. What amazes me, is why everybody else can't see what is right in front of their nose. I suppose they will, once the black marias start making their rounds.
The sooner we accept the truth that America has lost its democracy the sooner we can retake our democracy.
The Kiev upsiding with its towers of burning tires and aggressive well organized militia is a sign post for how to proceed.
Step one-recognize the problem.
Step two-formulate a plan to eliminate the problem.
Step three- implement the plan
We seem to be pretty good at recognizing problems but we appear to be incapable of moving past step one.
Here are a few non violent ideas that you can implement today to take back your country!
1-Buy online whenever possible (no sales tax)
2-Start a community barter system.
3-Shop at locally owned stores whenever possible. (keep the money in your community)
4-Start a vegetable garden.
5- Shun ALL goverment workers. Don't fear them. Don't believe them. Don't take anything from them.
Also, consider the following in the political realm:
1) Never give money to a party or big organiazation. Only give to people and orgs. who you know and can trust. Rare, but I do have a short list of people I gladly help, and one of them actually balanced the (county) budget by firing useless bureacrats. So of course I'll keep backing him.
2) Learn the 3% plus 1 rule: If you control 3% plus one of the votes, you matter politically because that is the typical margin of victory for any election. At that point, you can force politicians to earn your vote.
3) Go to the internal party meetings. That's where the real power is. And yes, anyone CAN get in. I know, because I did. Once you do, talk to as many others as you can; you'll get a picture of how the show really works. I can tell you that the mainstream and conspiracy theorists are both wrong; have to see it for yourself.
4) (plug) Join Campaign for Liberty and take their organizing classes. They are very informative, and CFL DID succeed at gaining control of the Iowa GOP in 2012 and 2013.
After these, remember that by the time the general election rolls around, all of the meaningful decisions have been made, the agenda has already been set, and all that's left is for the public to give a rubber stamp of approval. If you don't get involved for the internal process, don't bother voting and adding to said rubber stamp.
Buy online whenever possible?
Buy local whenever possible?
Is it possible to do both?
Local first, then online if you need it fast/cheap. If you live in a moderate-sized city, there is probably a MakerSpace where you can teach a kid to custom build whatever you need. This way, you get a great custom product for you, and you give a young man a real education without BS tuition costs. I am teaching some kids to make custom light show speakers, for example, and I'm working with my own Space to start doing light manufacturing of off-grid tech.
Oh yeah, the reason for that is simple new guy. Anyone who formulates any plan that changes the status quo is labeled a "terrorist" and removed from life. You can thank the drunk president, George W for that one! (not to be confused with George Washington, the first president of our country whom could actually pronounce words and had testicles)
Testify Brother George! ;-)
The sheeple crave to be lead. The oligarchy obliges. The sheeple were trained in their government school pens and in front of the tube to believe they live in a democracy and their votes make a difference. The sheeple were trained to believe their courts follow the law/Constitution and with the right lawyer they will get their rights and justice. The sheeple were trained to salivate with self-righteous pride, when they hear their great country is acting nobly to police the world. The sheeple get the government they crave, avoid the pain of thinking and presume it'll go on forever.
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I'm not stupid or iliterate, but the charts mean nothing to me.
However, if we take the number of people in government and corporations who murdered, raped, stole and more without so much as a slap in the wrist compared to the average joe who gets thrown in jail for trivial bs, like that old guy who got thrown in the can because he couldn't afford to fix the wall of his building which the local planning committee found offensive. Apparently the victim was a ww11 vet and was active in the local town in his earlier years. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/01/04/wwii-vet-88-cant-afford-repairs-to-...
The above paragraph tells a lot more than graphs, doesn't it?
America is a Kleptoligarchy, but I'm whistling semantics past the graveyard.
How about the EPA redefining century old boundries of Indian reservations.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/14/wyoming-officials-take-epa-to...
The Western states are going to snap.
I was going to wait until a Bush ran up against a Clinton in 2016 but instead I called it early and said you have a Time-Share Monarchy.
But I like the way this article explains it.
Fascism is characterized as a symbiotic relationship between corporations/oligarchs and the government. If that doesn't define the system in place in the USA for over one hundred years I don't know what does. Didn't we supposedly fight WWII against Fascists?
WWII was the Big fascist fish eating the little fascist fish. "War is a Racket" Gen Smedley Butler
Do you know how many companies like the banks, energy co, and auto mfg supported both sides during WW2?
No different then and now...
Including the bank that George Bush Sr's daddy had a stake in, you know the bank that was doing business with the Nazi's during WWII. Good family that. Obviously they are in government for the wellfare of the American people right.
" Obviously they are in government for the wellfare of the American people right." ... just like the Clintons </sarc>
Both were owned by the CIA.....
But Prescott Bush and Union Bank were convicted of aiding and abetting the enemy.
same as it ever was - America: a new country - a new set of rules (constitution) - devolving into the same old shit - kings and serfs
This is rule by the merchant class. It's a dictarorship. A kingdom would be a huge improvement.
Official everywhere:
'The "parrots" who reproduce the systemic propaganda, insist to speak about the new age, the new economy. However, the fact that for the first time an economically developed area is being tested through the current experiment, is in reality the only innovation that someone can find. For the rest, not only nothing new can be found, but on the contrary, Europe walks backwards to the Feudalism and Machiavellianism of the 21st century guided by Merkel, something that someone could call as "Merkiavellianism".'
http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2014/04/official-merkel-wants-treuhan...
Bottom Line
They will have your guns.
How long have I been telling you to get off estrogen and flouride? Precious bodily fluids people. See you in the fema camp.
I haven't seen any predictive programming from the elites for Fema camps. Many false flags but no camps as of yet. How would we serve our masters if we were confined?
More efficiently??? Less costs???
They might take my rifles, BUT IT WILL COME AT A COST. And no, you will not EVER see me in any FEMA camp. Too old for that shit. Don't have all that much longer to go as it is at my age, so why make it easy for them.
If it ever comes to that point, I'm not going without a fight knowing I'm probably dead anyway. I'll hit the road and go for the throat of the beast.
tough for a 'calcified' niwan to shine
Fascism, right? Where business is owned by the rich. The rich own Congress. Now what?
I am doing my small part. Fighting the banks.
Nothing wrong with rich people owning businesses. Owning Congress is a totally different matter however...
No, nothing wrong with rich people owning businesses and those businesses not having human status placed upon them by a corrupt and unaccountable judicial branch.
Enlighten me if I'm wrong, but corporate personhood has more to do with political organizations being allowed to hide who their donors are, to avoid retaliation from other moneyed organizations looking to quash supporters.
Putting theory to reality, I know a certain pro-liberty organization that has a number of businessmen donating to it because they are sick of the mainstream GOP selling them out. This organization backs rival candidates to unseat RINOs, and is gaining enough momentum that some fairly high level TPTBs are singling out the leadership. At least one person has been embarrassed in national media for publicly refusing to back Romney, and at least one local poltician was thrown out on trumped-up ethics charges because he wouldn't toe the party line and was pissing off some PTBs at the state legislature. Major internal publications for the state GOP has labelled the members of this organization as enemies of the party, because hey, this org. booted the PTBs out of the party for two years.
Even though these PTBs are Republican, they would love to eliminate corporate personhood and find out who is backing their pro-liberty rivals. This is one of a few orgs that would rather keep its donor list private. This is not as clear cut an issue as some may wish it to be.
ZerOhead: ExACTLY!
Folks, the spectrum thats important isnt democracy vs republic, or left vs right. The spectrum is Command vs. Market systems, and the whole global system has sat squarely on the side of command economies for the past century. You can’t have central banks, fiat money, mammoth welfare/warfare states and still claim we lived in a market-driven society.
Now, AFTER all mainstream politicians and ideologies have IN PRACTICE agreed on the level of government involvement they’d like to have, their quarrel is about how to divide the spoils.
Remember, we’re talking about politicians whose life ambition is to attain power and govern. And we expect THEM to start limiting themselves and letting free people make their choices? Are we so naive as to assume they won’t just use these positions to award themselves more powers? Everyone thinks that THEY can govern even as big and complex an organization as the US. So why not give THEMSELVES more power to let their magic work?
Sadly, we’ve seen the outcome every single time the state gobbles up more power. Theft, Oppression, and War.
Let their business get big enough and a Congressman is always the first thing to buy. As long as Congress and our system of government exists it will be corrupted. If you're not an Anarchist, at least philosophicaly, you're part of the problem.
You don't get it do you? Changing systems won't fix anything. All you will do is further empower someone to abuse you.
What is required is consequences for those who do the abusing. There have been no consequences for a very long time and their behavior has grown more and more arrogant. When it gets to the point where the people simply cannot tolerate it any longer things will get ugly fast for far to many mroe than are necessary. The bud was not nipped and now we have a great infestation.
Your problem is that you have bought into the public education sytem and the idea that nobody should be punished. If nobody is to be punished then I get the nukes. If someone is to be punished for their crimes then who gets to decide guilt and sentence?
What if a group of anarchists get together and decide to organize. You and what army will stop them?
Anarchy is an ideal that simply cannot work in any world where there are humans. Toss in the nukes and we got a partay!
What if a group of anarchists get together and decide to organize. You and what army will stop them?
Once a group of "anarchists" organizes then it becomes structured and a Government with a leadership hierarchy.
At that point it is no longer an anarchy...without structure...without organization....and WITHOUT LEADERSHIP
Your quoted statement is demonstrative that it is you who does not understand. For some reason it is you that cannot conceptualize it. (The Greek root "archi" means CHIEF...LEADER)
Anarchies have no LEADERS. They do not organize. That is ana-thema to the very meaning of the word, an-archy. That is an oxymoron. An organized group of anarchists is an impossibility. It is a violation of the etymology and definition of the word.
This is taught in HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH LITERATURE. Where were you during that lesson? Were you dozing?
One other thing.
Four hundred million deaths, perhaps a hundred trillion dollars stolen and wasted, and tens of trillions of dollars of wealth destroyed in wars was not done in the name of anarchism, but in the name of government.
You have to fall really short of being human or be really, really stupid to want government.
You have to fall really short of being human or be really, really stupid to want government.
While I believe in the Sovereignity of men and the individual rights of men the ad hominem attack was not appropriate.
Some may want a Government, an organization, with structure and leadership. Some actually do well, in service, enslaved to such a system. They should have the freedom to make that choice, whereas, you should have the freedom to opt out of that choice.
So your ad hominem attack is OFFENSIVE to those whom love Liberty and Freedom.
"Anarchy is an ideal that simply cannot work in any world where there are humans."
It worked pretty well in Iceland for a couple of centuries.
But as noted by the Romans, government is intrinsically flawed:
Who guards the guardians? A piece of paper?
That's worked out really well here.
Any political theory that does not take into effect the quality of the people involved is moot. People are not fungible. And if you think all peoples are the same--in spite of over two thousand years of recorded observations to the contrary-- then you're a Cultural Marxist living under a Deconstructive Delusion whether you know it or not.
Icelanders can do just fine with anarchy, monarchy or democracy, while other populations cannot function under any. It's not the theory, it's the quality of the people that matter.