Can Donald Trump Really 'Clean House' As Promised?

Donald Trump's thumping of Vice President Kamala Harris has sent shivers down the spines of not just the Democrats, but the Status Quo as well. Trump's election is seen by his supporters as four years of long overdue house cleaning; of ridding the government of corrupt oligarchs and wealthy insiders who've turned our Republic into a neo-fascist corporatocracy, albeit  with a thin veneer of democracy. The question facing Trump and the American People is whether he or anyone else can rid the nation of this virus and restore America?  

According to the 2024 World Population Review's publication of the world's oligarchies, there are twelve full fledge oligarchies plus several which are approaching the definition of oligarchy, but before we get to those countries, just what is a oligarchy?

The term comes from the Greek meaning "rule by the few" . An oligarchy  is sometimes referred  to as a plutocracy or a kleptocracy, which are actually subsets of an oligarchy.  A plutocracy is rule by the rich. So is a kleptocracy, which means rule by a few to steal their country's resources for their own benefit. A aristocracy or theocracy are types of oligarchy.

The ideal form of government for a oligarchy is authoritarian or feudal, although they can exist, at least for a while, in a democratic style Republic, be it a parliamentary system or a "winner-take-all" system like the U.S. has. They typically expand their reach through a process known as "gradualism". They advance a little here, maybe retreat slightly (and temporarily) there until they have ample influence to achieve their agenda.

Generally speaking, oligarchs are students of history and power. Since their bottom line is all about control,  they typically exert control over the media in order to control the flow and content of information.  Following Joseph Goebbels's dicta on propaganda, the public is feed just enough truth as to bury the lie without much notice. In most cases, the lie simply remains hidden behind euphemisms and red tape. Sometimes, there are no lies at all. The public is often seen as having achieve the occasional "victories" to keep them pacified just as they are kept entertained.

The elite monitors the population through surveillance, which is enforced through the law enforcement, intelligence agencies, secret courts and/or cooperative judges. Individuals who speak out to loudly or reveal their secrets (often falsely labeled as "national security") are accused of treason and dealt with accordingly (Julian Assange, Karen Silkwood, Daniel Ellsberg, Karen Kwaitkowski, and Edward Snowden come to mind). 

 Naturally, they control the nation's monetary policy  in a variety of ways, but most notably interest rates (which affects inflation) and taxation.  The military is used not just protecting the nation, but also as a club to enforce policies which, at their heart, are intended to open markets and access to resources (there is blurring of what's in their interests and the nation's).

Those governments who cooperate, receive various forms of bribery such as ”favorite nation" status and with it, supplemented access to our markets, billions in financial aid and "loans" (which are usually "forgiven" in all or part), and product such as military equipment, grain, fertilizers, etc. (and yet they somehow stay poor and backwards). Many times, direct U.S. military presence is provided to officially protect them from mutual enemies when in truth, they're for propping up the regime and protecting our own investments.

Those who are hesitant or refuse to cooperate face the usual threats of implied force and slow build up of purgative  labels as "undemocratic", "oppressive", "terrorist", and so forth. Gradually, the heat is turned up until a "liberation" invasion is deployed. After which, a new regime and more cooperative regime is installed (historically these tend to be Far Right military juntas).  If any of this sounds familiar, it should.

So, who are these "oligarchic" nations mentioned by the World Population Review? Not surprisingly China is top on the list. Despite officially being a "people's republic", the party control everything. It can make the richest Chinese business person a peasant anytime it wants. The government maintains a significant presence in every business operation.

Russia is another oligarchy which tends to operate more like a kleptocracy. They control every aspect of elections, keenly heeding Stalin's old adage about it not being who voted that's important, but rather who counts the votes. They also have their hands in every aspect of the Russian economy, particularly its oil, gas, infrastructure (like construction) and military.

Iran too is an oligarchy. In this case, a authoritarian theocracy comprised of clerics.  These clerics control nearly every aspect of society, from the economy, parliament, military, education, and media to maintaining a "morality" police which enforces religious laws governing dress, music, food, and social life based on their strict brand of Islamic law. 

North Korea is not unexpectedly an oligarchy under the total control of Kim Jong Un, his immediate family, and the military.  Several Middle Eastern monarchies such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates function as oligarchies in varying degrees as well. So do other countries like Columbia, Venezuela, Indonesia, Chad, Laos, and the Congo (amusingly, many of these nations also call themselves "democracies" or "people's republics"). 

Finally, the United States. The U.S. as an oligarchy has been supported by data from various academic studies for several years, although officially it's a democratic Constitutional Republic. That really shouldn't come as a surprise if you know your history. Ancient Rome, which our system of government is modeled on, called itself a "Republic" long after coming under the rule of the Caesars in order to reassure the people while it firmly seized control of the empire. The imperial government functioned as a military junta.  The result of these studies have shown that America is dominated by a relatively small handful of immensely wealthy individuals and corporations.

According to Italian dictator and founder of modern fascism, Benito Mussolini, fascism is a hand-in-glove partnership between the central government and Big Business. He added that fascism was more accurately defined as "corporatism" since that is what it was. However, in his definition, the state was to be the dominate partner. Today, Wall Street is the senior partner. Fascism occupies the same point on the Right that Communism occupies on the Left.

Is Fascism Left or Right wing? We hear that question often these days, especially as WWII fades from our collective memories. Make no mistake, however, those who lived through it had no doubt that fascism was seen as a extreme form of conservatism. Fascism borrows from the Left and the Right to varying degrees based on the history, traditions, and values of a given nation.

Countries with strong religious ties tend to keep or enhance those ties under fascism for instance. Some instituted a racial or ethnic policy. Some didn't. That's why fascism in Italy differed from Germany's, which was different from that of Spain or Hungary, Argentina, Austria, or Romania.  As an example,  Oswald Mosley, a English fascist of the 1930's tried to introduce a brand of Nazism in England, which Hitler, while acknowledging it, disapproved of.

When asked why, Hitler said the National Socialism was organic. It was based on political, religious, and social elements which were uniquely German and therefore couldn't be transplanted elsewhere. Instead, individuals like Moseley or America's Fritz Kuhn, should develop their own unique form of fascism as Italy, Argentina, and Spain had done.

As an aside, many of the reforms which followed WWI and the Great Depression were considered "socialist" such as unemployment insurance, the FDIC, Social Security, and so forth. Not only did the United States enact these and other social programs, so did Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Spain, and other Right Wing governments (in fact, almost every country enacted some type of public programs).

Because of the pre-WWI  global political and economic power of Socialism, there was  serious concern among the ruling elites that a revised Socialist Left could potentially topple their capitalist empires. As a result, something called "conservative socialism" came about, albeit amid the gnashing  of teeth and a strong propaganda campaign opposing these "Anti-American" proposals such as wage and hour legislation, the right of workers to organize, the introduction of child labor laws, and workplace safety.

The goal of "conservative socialism" was to protect the capitalist state while introducing changes designed to pacify the people (and, of course, stimulate the economy. Starving or sick workers are useless). This became the bedrock of modern "gradualism" which sought to appease those who provided the labor while leaving the system essentially intact.

So, who are America's oligarchs? That's a hard question to answer since the exact definition is a matter of some disagreement among academics. Some consider those in the 10% or 5% income bracket to be the oligarchy. Many say the top 1%, while a few think it's more likely the 0.01%.

It's this sort integration into society which helps to insulate them from a direct public backlash similar to what befell their predecessors in 18th Century France for instance.  But one thing for certain, it's not the average U.S. taxpayer and voter who calls the shots. We're merely given the illusion. This is our "Matrix". Today's government  serves the interests of the wealthy, whether that be the top 5% or .01% at the exclusion of the bottom 99%.

Once, names like Rockefeller, Morgan, Mellon, Gould, Vanderbilt, Ford, Hearst, Rothschild, and Carnegie were synonymous with near absolute wealth and power. They bought presidents and prime ministers, congressmen and lords, judges and generals with the same ease as hiring anyone else who worked for them. Power was measured in railroad tracks, shipping, steel manufactured, newspapers sold, real estate, and of course, the control of money.

 Today, it's corporations such as Exxon, Bank of America, McDonald Douglas, Google, Apple, and Raytheon are among the small clique of entities who call the shots in Washington, but the end goal remains the same---the control of money and with it, the power it brings.  

While names like Musk, Bloomberg, Bezos, and Gates are familiar to us. Less known are names like Miriam Adelson, Ken C. Griffin, Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss, Peter Thiel, Dick and Liz, Uihlien, Tim Mellon of the Mellon banking dynasty, and they like it that way. It gives them anonymity, which only enhances their power and personal security. In this past presidential election, they donated billions of dollars (Tim Mellon alone donated $100 million dollars), and you can bet it wasn't done out of patriotism.

Money is more than "free speech" and it buys more than just access. It buys power to a degree that the Czars, Emperors, and Sultans once welded. Consultants, advisors, and lobbyists in their employ, directly or indirectly, do far more that make suggestions when it comes to legislation. They help write bills. They review and recommend how to vote on legislation. They help move bills they're interested in through the maze of committees. They fund public pressure ("awareness") groups to promote issues of interest to them, including linking with legitimate groups.

They have a major impact on creating foreign and domestic policy. Of course, they compete with others elites. It's all part of the game of power, and we're a part of their game whether we like it or not. It creates the illusion of a competing political duopoly. As the famous Louisiana Governor, Huey Long, once said about the Democrats and Republicans, "one skins from the ankle up and the other from ear down.

That's the only real difference in the two parties. We are their pawns to be played and sacrificed with the ease of sipping a martini. In exchange, we're periodically given an incidental crumb from their thrones which are then hailed as some sort of victories for the public by the media they own.  

This is not the nation our Founding Fathers intended, but it is the nation we allowed to come into being. Whether Trump, his cabinet, or his mass of supporters can change this remains to be seen. Historically, those who get to close are bought off, co-opted, stalled, defeated and demoralized before being shuffled off History's stage, or simply removed from the game altogether.  Trump knows the game well. He's been a player all his life. Let's hope he can prevail. This may be the last time an outsider will ever have the opportunity again.

 

Thank you for reading Another Opinion! We hope you enjoyed this article and will pass it along. Please don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly, please "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps beat the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Please find below the links we consulted in researching this article.

 

What countries have authoritarian governments

List of Whistleblowers

Oligarchy comes to America

Who has joined Trump's team so far?

 

Oligarchy countries 2024

 

Bourgeois socialism

 

Too Big To Fail? How Big Business Supplanted the American Voter

We've often talked about the rise of corporatocracy and the fall of our Republic. We have transformed from representative democracy, responsible to the citizens of this country, into one in which government, led by an elite oligarchy, serves the needs and interests of Big Business.

Members of Congress are nowadays dependent on corporations to finance their elections, to underwrite both political parties (as of the 2022, Big Business had given both parties $8.9 billion dollars with roughly 45% going to Democrats and 55% going to the GOP), and not only write  legislation, but to review existing bills and make "recommendations" on which ones to vote "yay" on and which ones to say "nay"on.

Perhaps that's not surprising when you consider that just over 50% of  Congressional members or individuals on their staff go on to become lobbyists, political consultants or advisors. They typically bring the expertise, connections, and, of course, the cash.  

In 2022, corporate lobbyists "donated" $4.1 billion dollars to members of Congress, and as of the first quarter of 2023, they had already given over $1 billion dollars.  As an aside, did you know that there are approximately 20 registered lobbyists for every member of Congress? Given that they can make over five times what they made in government, it's not a bad gig.  

Thanks to a politically naive (some would say incompetent) Supreme Court and pressure from Wall Street and Congress, the Citizens United ruling in 2010 by a 5 to 4 margin all but ensured that Big Business would dominate politics henceforth. It declared that corporations, while nothing more than legal fictions, were suddenly granted "personhood" and entitled to all the rights you and I have...with one essential exception.

The ruling declared that money (somehow magically it seems) was now the equivalent of free speech! Thus if you have $20 dollars and I have $100, under the Supreme Court's decision, my opinion is more important or valuable than yours. However, while mere mortals remained capped as to how much they can donate to political campaigns, these legal fictions were free to give what they want.

Obviously there's no way ordinary citizens can compete financially to what Big Business can give. Even unions are outspent more than $5 to $1. The result is that the 2010 Citizens United blunder removed you and I from politics. It made running for high office basically a sport for millionaires.

Coupled with partisan gerrymandering, the absence of term limits, unequal ballot access, lack of voter referendums, and unfair voter access, not to mention the control of a biased media by just five big corporations and "shadow blocking" online,  we're left on the sidelines as spectators watching a rigged horse race using a biased handicapping form  and leaving us with the illusion of having a chance to cash a winning ticket.

How bad is it? Pretty bad. Congress has made it clear on numerous occasions that it doesn't care one wit about what we think. Remember the bank bailouts of 2007/08? Despite the public's loud and very vocal disapproval, Congress did it anyway at a cost of $700 billion dollars of our money, with most going for executive incentivizes, bonuses, and vacations.

 In 2020, at the outset of the COVID pandemic, Congress spent $25 billion of our tax dollars to bailout the airline industry. Instead of using the money to save jobs, it was used for executive bonuses and salaries, not to mention tax breaks, low interest/forgiven loans, and other perks Congress gives its "business partners"   

Congress routinely uses our tax dollars for projects aimed to make them or their corporate friends millions (if not billions) in profits without either party having any fear of voter repercussions.   Despite having decades long disapproval ratings below 20%, Congress still has a reelection rate of 98%! That's higher than the reelection rate of the old Soviet Union's Politburo. We have to look to countries like North Korea or China to see similar reelection percentages.

In case you're wondering by the way, the Soviet Era Politburo had an average turnover rate of about 35% compared to our 2% and no member could serve more than three terms. Here, members of Congress can serve indefinitely. Also, the average age of a member of the Politburo was about 40. The average age of a member of Congress in 2023 is 46, down from a previous 52 years of age. And to think that we used to make fun of the Politburo as a "bunch of tired old men"! 

All this research led me to a informative and entertaining video by a guy who goes by the name of "Mr. Beat" (his real name is Matt Alan Beat. He's a high school history teacher, podcaster, video producer, and musician living in Kansas). Mr. Beat publishes quite a catalog of videos covering a variety of topics, although most appear to be historical or political (non-partisan).

This one, "The One Political Issue That Unites All of Us" is one I especially recommend. The video is 15:52 minutes long. As I said, it's informative as well as entertaining with some rather wry sense of humor. I'm providing a link below and urge you to check it out. I've also included some other links about our political situation that I think you'll find interesting.

 

Video: The One Political Issue That Unites Allof Us

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Open Secrets: Federal lobbying spending reaches $4.1 billionin 2022---the highest since 2010

Open Secrets: Federal lobbyist spending tops $1 billion infirst quarter of 2023

Timeline: Notable government bailout, relief programs in U.S. history

CNNMoney.com's bailout tracker

Bailout Lists: Banks, Auto Companies, and More

Which Party Receives More Corporate Donations?

 

Socialism or Neo-Fascism? Which Way Is America Going?

 

It seems that the Right is perpetually speaking about Democrats leading us down the road to socialism's perdition. When Donald Trump was in office, the Democrats and those on the Left kept comparing "The Donald"  with Hitler and Republicans with the Nazis. It seems that neither side is familiar with history.

 First off, there's no way those in power on the Left or Right would allow this country to become "socialist", Communist or anything else that requires them to surrender their wealth or power to the State. Secondly, the two party system is a farce. Wall Street owns both parties. 

The only real difference between the two parties is the two competing corporate cliques. Citizens United has ensured corporate control of the political system. It has put political reform all but out of reach of the average American. Corporate lobbyists write the laws, leaving voters with the illusion of choice. 

National Socialism (or "Nazism") was a fascist partnership of sorts between the government and Big Business with the latter assuming a junior role,  and we all know Wall Street would never go for that today.   By the way, the "socialism" part of National Socialism didn't mean what most people today assumes it meant.  For the Nazis, it meant a community of like-minded people or "Volk".

Actual  socialism, which remains an abstract idea, means that the people essentially  own everything.  Power and the control of wealth is in their hands. Businesses and corporations would be typically employee owned and run while others, particularly essential businesses, would be run by the State.

Nevertheless,  I don't see Wall Street or their K Street lobbyists allowing anything like that to happen do you?  Certainly not after  the "Citizens United" or "McCutcheon's" decisions by the Supreme Court gave them carte blanche to the halls of power and the public trough.

What passes for "socialism" today is an admixture of capitalism, democracy, and a welfare state comprised of social programs  under the heading of "Democratic Socialism", which is common in Scandinavia and places like Germany and Netherlands. Think of it as "capitalism with a friendly face".  

 Nevertheless, despite high taxes (especially on the wealthy and corporations), the democratic socialist form of government have proven to be quite popular with the masses, with practically everything being subsidized. However, it requires everyone to pitch in and contribute back into the system. But when you have a mass of people who draw on the system without contributing to it, it fails, which is what seems to be happening in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe.   

Under Communism, which is often---though incorrectly--- used interchangeably with socialism, there are again no privately own properties, especially corporations. The State owns everything. Everyone works for the State. The State is everything. Do you see corporations and the rich---people like Zuckerman, Musk, Bezos, or Buffett  surrendering their power and wealth to Washington? So, what is America is morphing into? The answer is a Corporatocracy, which is a de facto form of neo-fascism.

Fascism is, as its founder Benito Mussolini said, was more accurately described as "corporatism". Specifically, Mussolini said this "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power". Novelist Upton Sinclair called fascism "capitalism plus murder" while Vladimir Lenin referred to fascism as "capitalism in decay".

Politically, it borrows some of its goals and techniques from the Left and some from the conservative Right, including militarism. It grafts various national traditions and values to its cause as needed and jettisons what is no longer of use.  Corporatism is, if nothing else, adaptable. It's objective, however, is always corporate control plain and simple. The role of government is to serve as the lesser partner and "middleman" between the "elites" and masses. It's objective is to serve the rich. 

Under a Corporatocracy, there is little to no strong middle class; certainly not in the way we're used to. There's the insanely rich and then there's everybody else. Sound familiar? Can you see the one percenters giving up their money; their penthouses; their private planes and yachts?  Under socialism, they'd have to; the same under Communism.

Consider this too, while Unions exist in a Corporatocracy, they are weak and fairly ineffective. A far cry from the unions of old. Their prime purpose to keep the masses in their place---on the job and off the strike line---while generally backing the decisions of the corporate bosses.  They serve the interests of the corporation, even if it means cutting benefits, pensions,  and hours.  

Under Communism, the State serves as the union and if you work, you automatically belong to it. But again, no strikes and no complaining, and a set wage. Under socialism, there are wage differences based on the job, but no broad income disparity, at least not like we have today where the top 10% own 52% of all wealth.

So in reality, we are morphing into a neo-fascist corporate State.  Corporations, using the government, previously pushed us to the Right and now is pushing us toward the Left, but the ultimate goal is to diminish the power of the individual while increasing our dependence on the State, which in turn, is controlled by Wallstreet and the corporate elite.

 In short, we're to become economic serfs with the government serving as the overseer and corporations as the owners of us all. Of course, the "big prize" is the creation of a single interlocking global corporation. That means creating and using  global organizations to serve as the intermediaries on global projects and national one's on more regional projects.

Under corporatocracy we can expect national governments, like Washington, become ever more pervasive in the role of overseer while local and state governments become weaker and more dependent on the federal government.  This role also enables corporations an ever growing access to taxpayer money to acquire resources domestically and globally while at the same time shielding their intentions behind the illusion of a sovereign government.  

They can also use the national government take other actions on their behalf, like wars, trade agreements, or treaties, to enhance their wealth and power on the taxpayer's dollar.  In further defining corporatism, its founder, Benito Mussolini said, “Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity, quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace.”. In short, war and the threat of war is good for business.

Il Duce is also talking about is the concept (novel for his time) of the implied foreign policy we're now experiencing, that of perpetual war---like the "war on terrorism"---to maintain control over the population and the exploitation of resources by corporations, be they natural resources or national resources for the sake of the bottom line. It artificially stimulates the economy, masks actual unemployment numbers, and allows for near unlimited deficit spending.  Sound familiar?

As an aside, what did Mussolini think of socialism? After all, his father, Alessandro,  was a prominent Italian socialist and Benito started off his political career as a socialist. This was his opinion, "Socialism is a fraud, a comedy, a phantom, a blackmail".

So, when someone starts complaining about America becoming "socialist" or "Communist", remember that famous line from movie "The Princess Bride" as utter by the swordsman Inigo Montoya (played brilliantly by Mandy Patinkin), "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means".  

 

If you want to know more about this article's topic, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

Whyinequality is growing in the US and around the world

Eight Billionaires Own asMuch as the Poorest Half of Global Population

 

The Rich 1% Own Almost Half the World's Wealth & 9 Other Mind Blowing Facts About Wealth Inequality

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/wealth-inequality-oxfam-billionaires-elon-musk/ 

Understanding What Divides Us and Why

 

A recent national poll of just under seven million respondents showed that 35% of Americans identify as Conservatives. 25% as Liberals while a whopping 45%  said they were Moderates. It appears that Americans, as a whole, don't like what either of the two corporate owned parties are peddling. 

Of course, no doubt, that almost every elected politician in Washington who sees this poll would automatically claim to be a "moderate" if that meant hanging on to their office. They change positions faster than a chameleon walking on plaid!

RepresentUs, a nonpartisan advocacy group, published an interesting survey which showed how Americans ranked themselves based on their political views. According to the survey, there are nine distinct groups. 10% are flag and faith conservatives (Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, etc). 7% are dyed-in-the-wool conservatives. 11% are populist right wingers (Tea Party, etc). 12% lean conservative. 15% are "stressed sideliners" or nonpartisans. 10% lean liberal. 16% are dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. 13% are Establishment Liberals. Finally, 6% are extreme or "progressive" Left Wing (Antifa, etc).

So, you can see that even by this breakdown, 37% are moderates (and, although the survey didn't indicate, likely Independent since Independents tend to lean conservative on some issues and liberal on others). Meanwhile, 35% are Left Wing while 28% are Right Wing.

I guess it's not surprising that the majority of Americans consider themselves to be moderate. Moderates, and their willingness to see both sides of an issue is what has historically moved this nation forward.  We've never really been a nation of extremism until relatively recently. Then again, both parties, in their collective race to the bottom, have virtually purged their membership of moderates.

The only time you see either party come anywhere near the middle is during the general election, and that's just to appeal to the "Great Middle" and get their vote. After which, both sides gravitate back to the outer edges of reality and to the extremists on either side.  So, who is the "middle" anyway?

Traditionally, the middle was what governed this nation. In recent history it's been individuals like Truman, Eisenhower, Rockefeller, and John Kennedy.  Today, it's the Independents, the largest voting bloc in country. As of the end of October 2021, Independents made up 44% of registered voters while Republicans and Democrats were basically tied at 26% each according to a Gallup poll.

I think Independents see both parties for what they are---two flea infested wings of the same old corporate vulture. That's why they've jettisoned their malignant dogmas. While each party likes to finger point at the other, both are responsible for the shape America is in, including the corruption, cronyism, and increasingly extremist behavior. Both sides have sold out the Republic and transformed us into a neo-fascist Corporatocracy.  They have created a surveillance state which is one crisis away from becoming a police state.

 Corporate lobbyists are responsible for writing the overwhelming majority of legislation, and then shepherding it through the various Byzantine maze of committees and subcommittees, greasing palms and adding self serving amendments along the way. They fund campaigns, party coffers, and line the pockets of those willing to go along with the status quo. They control our foreign and domestic policies just as they control the media and use it as their propaganda arm. We can't keep going on like this.

They create and exploit divisions among the citizenry. The more we're divided, the easier we are to control and manipulate while they pull the puppet strings. And all that "infighting" you see on television? That's one corporate interest group competing with another. Anything positive we get out of it, the crumbs, is purely happenstance.  Of course, they put on a show when election times rolls around to make it look like they're doing something and it's "the other guy's fault", but that's all it really is, a show.

Given what both parties have done to us and our country, is it any wonder that the overall Congressional approval rate, as of the end of October, was just 21%? In practically every other country, politicians would be packing their bags and heading for the nearest airport out with that kind of approval rating.

The good news I suppose is that the rating is up from 18% a few weeks earlier. Nevertheless, Congress has been maintaining pathetically low levels for decades. But, in their defense, while we've been giving them low approval ratings, they've been giving us low performance ratings in return!

According to the same poll, the approval rating for Democrats was just 33%, but don't gloat Republicans. Yours was just 5%. As for "Sleepy Joe" Biden, his approval rating tanked to 38%.  His Vice President, Kamala Harris, didn't do much better. Her approval rating was 27.8%. As an aside, 44% of Independents disapprove of Biden's job.

 Also, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi's approval rating was 38%, though 72% of Democrats like her while McConnell's approval rating was just 30% of which 62% of Republicans like the job he's doing.  It's worth noting that while the majority of America's support the infrastructure bill (61%) before Biden, only a quarter of them think it will benefit them in any meaningful way.

All this makes me wonder why we've allowed it to continue. You know, despite these embarrassing approval ratings, we still elect well over 90% of them! Even the old Soviet Politburo didn't have that rate of reelection! It seems to me that the ones we should be upset the most with isn't Congress or whoever is the president. It's us for continuing to reelect this den of thieves.

Did you know that, according to another RepresentUs survey, that despite their lackluster approval ratings, 45 member of Congress still violated the Stock Act of 2021, including Senator Diane Feinstein, Senator Rand Paul, Representative Dan Crenshaw, and Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz? The act was to prevent insider trading by members of the House and Senate.

 By the way, you should remember Debbie. She was fired in 2016 for helping Hillary to rig the Democrat Primary against Senator Bernie Sanders. But no worries. She was hired the next day to work directly on Hillary's failed presidential campaign, and how she's in Congress. Amazing how they land on their feet isn't it?

Here's a little factoid for you to consider. For the 535 members of Congress, there are 11,524 lobbyists representing corporations and none that represent average Americans. Of that 11,524 lobbyists, Big Pharma has approximately 1,350 of them (roughly 3 per Congressman), and they're not bashful about spending money. This year alone they've spent $263 million on Congress.

While 83% of Americans favor federally negotiated drug prices, Big Pharma doesn't. Since 2003, it has spent over $3.8 billion dollars to make sure it doesn't happen, and you know how many bills have been passed to regulate drug prices? Zero. Nada. Goose egg. But then again, as I've said, it's the lobbyists who write the bills, so what do you expect?

Here's another factoid for you. Consider it a bonus. Of all the industrialized nations in the world, we have the highest incarceration rate of any of them. As of 2019, there was 2.1 million people behind bars. That's more than China, Russia, Cuba, India, Mexico, Rwanda, or any of the Muslim nations like Iran, Turkistan, or Pakistan.

If states were ranked as countries, 25 states have a higher percentage of prisoners that the first country on the list, which so happens to be the U.S.. The state with the higher incarceration percentage is Louisiana, followed by Mississippi and Oklahoma. Kentucky is seventh. We have to go another ten more states before we get to the next country, El Salvador!  Why is this? Why should one of the "freest" nations on earth have the highest incarceration rate on the planet? 

For the fifth straight year, the United States has been ranked as "flawed democracy", which is just one step above a failed democracy. We are currently ranked 25th in the world of freest countries, and we've continued to drop regardless of who is president or which corporate party has the majority in Congress.

By all other measures, such as quality of life, longevity, happiness, healthcare, education, and so on, we're consistently ranked, at best, toward the bottom of the top tier or in the second tier. Surely we can't keep going on like this.

It reminds me of the Ancient Roman Republic which, despite having the most powerful military in the world, was rapidly decay internally due to corruption, a powerful political and economic oligarchy, invading tribes, a deteriorating infrastructure, as well as economic instability, rising taxes and public debt (it also sounds a lot like Weimar Germany in the 1920's, just prior to the rise of the Nazis).

Something tells me that living under a new Caesar or Fuehrer won't be a lot of fun, especially given the level of technology, hereto unseen in history of Mankind, and the fact that we're already a surveillance state in place; just one crisis (real or manufactured) away from a police state.  All you need to do is look around...or down at your Smartphone or up at your computer screen.

Let's not forget, they already have a propaganda wing in the form of the media, which has been actively attempting to control, divide, and manipulate us for decades now. It will take tremendous personal fortitude to see through the manufactured BS; more than it did in Fascist Spain, Argentina, Germany, Italy, or Soviet era Russia, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, or modern China and North Korea.

Americans, though, are a unique breed. Most of us are not just the descendants of immigrants. We're mostly the descendents of misfits who simply didn't fit in with the established status quo. We wanted to do better. We wanted to believe what we wanted. We wanted our own land or our own business. We wanted to say and read and think what we wanted. We wanted to exist with as little government interference as possible (today that would include corporate interference too).

Even those who came here against their will, having been kidnapped or captured and sold by their own people are a helluva lot better off than the best of those they left behind. America is still the first choice for those seeking a better life (though it's not exactly as billed). The main problem is that they don't want to do it legally or they think they're entitled to an automatic pass for some reason. So claim that "no one is illegal", which is true, but their actions may be. That's why we have laws. 

Nevertheless, there's still much we can do to reclaim our country and restore the Republic. As I've often pointed out in my articles, we can still reverse our decline into some sort of modern servitude to the Corporate state which will affect all of us regardless of political registration, ideology, gender or orientation, religion (or lack thereof), where we live or went to school, or the color of our skin.

Those are manufactured divisions anyway whose sole purpose is to keep us fighting each other while the ruling Oligarchy grows like a cancer and becomes stronger while the media continues to tell us what to think, who to hate, or who to blame for whatever make believe slight they conjure up.

The truth is that we alone are responsible for what to think or believe. We alone are responsible for our decisions, good or bad. We control the means to achieve our success. There's no one to blame but us for our failures without need of their readymade excuses and scapegoats. We have the right to live where we want (assuming we can afford it) no matter what we look like, believe, or love.

At the same time, we have the right as human beings to associate with whomever we want without fear of some artificial construct (aka "political correctness"). That goes for what we say, read, or watch too. We owe no one an apology or "reparations" for the past anymore than we can guarantee the future. We only have the here and now to determine our actions.  

We owe no dogma our loyalty. Dogmas, political or otherwise, only create barriers and differences. The only loyalty we owe is to Truth, Honesty, and to ourselves. As the great Hebrew sage, Hillel, once famously said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor", to which I would add my own quote "what divides us makes society and ourselves vulnerable and weak  while what unites us makes us stronger as a society and as individuals".  Perhaps we're finally waking up to what's hateful to ourselves and others.

 

Congress Approval Lowest in 2021 as Democrats Turn Negative

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Ways to Manage the Political Deceit in America

It's no great secret that the two corporate owned political parties, the Democrats and Republicans, are minority parties, with the Democrats only slightly larger than the Republicans. The largest political bloc in America are the Independents. As of the end of October 2021, Democrats and Republicans were tied at 26% each while Independents had 44% of registered voters. 

However, the media, which is owned by some of the same corporations which own the Democrat and Republican parties try their best to suppress that little nugget of information and act as if there are only two parties to choice from and everyone else is are either nut cases or don't count.

Both parties do their level best to keep Independent and third parties out of the political process by creating numerous barriers such as blocking them from participating in debates (especially televised), imposing unrealistic signatures requirements of petitions to get on the ballot, and preventing them from obtaining access to big money donors to name just a few.

Independents and third parties are often bypassed when it comes to political appointments to boards, commissions, and  offices. They aren't even represented on Boards of Elections. They are typically just lumped in with which party has the fewest registered voters in a particular county.  

But are we really surprised? After all, it's not about representation of us anymore. It's about power and control. Besides, our Founding Father's warned us against political parties. They felt they would devolve into special interest cliques run by a handful of powerful individuals or groups, depriving citizens of their influence over government.

Oddly, it's little wonder that many of the descendents of the Founding Fathers actually approved of the Confederate Republic (not that they agreed or disagreed over the slavery issue). The reason was that the Confederate Government operated with a generally weak central government and much of the power retained by the states.

In addition, under the Confederate Republic, there were no political parties (although there were small ad hoc cliques which would form and dissolve over various issues). If you want to know more about how the Confederate Government was structured and functioned, you might want to check out "The Confederate Republic: A Revolution Against Politics" by George C. Rable.

Without political parties  it also meant that regardless of who won, everyone was represented since there was no partisan loyalty to adhere to. No dogma to blindly follow. Under out current "winner-take-all" system, those whose party wins are represented while those on the losing end are not. Plus the more people involved in the political process the harder it is to corrupt, especially if they're non-partisan.

Perhaps that's why all the other democracies in the world are based on the English parliamentary system in which everyone is represented on a percentage basis so even if your party loses, you still have representation.

Those descendents of the Founding Fathers thought that the design of the Confederate Republic was more like what the Founders had in mind. Besides, after the Civil War ended in 1865, the Federal Government quickly begun to acquire more and more power and control while the states became increasingly more beholden to Washington.

Today's two main parties represent corporate interests, despite their well orchestrated propaganda to the contrary which is designed to give us the illusion of choice.  If we received any benefit, it's usually an accidental byproduct of some compromise between competing corporate interests. But it doesn't have to be that way. While it may not seem or feel like it, we do still have some power left (at least for the moment).

There are things we can do such as demand term limits of no more than 12 years. If refused, we can impose our own defacto "term limits" by voting against incumbents who've held office for more than 12 years. We can also start voting for Independents and third party candidates, especially at the state and local levels.

Additionally, we can demand that our federal and state election officials along with key legislators institute a fair and level election playing field. No more defacto rigged elections by requiring Democrat of Republican candidates three or six signatures to get on the ballot while making Independents and third party candidates get one hundred or thousands at the federal level, not to mention jumping through all sorts of legal hoops (designed jointly by lawyers of both parties) to qualify separately in each and every state.  

Along with term limits, we could implement Rank Choice Voting which lets voters rank candidates by preference (party membership can also be removed too), which eliminates the need for partisan primaries. The top candidate wins. In case of a tie, there can be a run off.

Also key to restoring fairness in our elections is putting an end to partisan gerrymandering. Gerrymandering basically allows the two parties to draw districts in a way in which they get most of the registered voters for their party instead of drawing around natural boundaries or keeping neighborhoods and communities intact. Essentially, the parties select their voters. Redrawing districts could be done by a local university. To avoid partiality, there could be a rotating series of colleges and universities used.

Citizens should also have the right to put issues directly on the ballot without going through partisan gatekeepers. Where I live, in Kentucky, we are only allow to submit a petition to the legislature for their approval, which, if granted, will be put on the ballot with any changes as they see fit. Basically, we have to seek their permission.

Along the same lines, voters should have the final say on any tax, rate, fee, or elected official salary increases. Politicians are nefarious when it comes to our money. Only the threat of a "no" vote will keep them honest enough to submit a increase proposal that's truly needed.

We need to remember too that corporations, through their lobbyists, write most legislation. They fund both the candidates and the parties while we have no input in the writing of laws or citizen based lobbyist organizations representing us. That's why the voters should have a right to introduce initiatives directly onto the ballot (after review by either the county attorney or state Attorney General to ensure the proper legal wording and that no laws are being violated). It's also why voters should have the last say on any increases.  All lobbyist involvement should be an open record without exception.

Finally, and without a doubt, the most important issue that must happen if we are to reclaim our power over government is to get corporate money out of politics. Perhaps the worst thing that has happened in politics was the approval of Citizens United by an uninformed Supreme Court. Citizens United affirmed that corporations are, in some magical way, "people" and thus not just "entitled" to the same rights as you and me, but when it comes to money (which was erroneously equated with "free speech").

The High Court said corporations could donate whatever they wanted. No more caps. meanwhile, you and I are still limited, not that we could compete with corporations anyway. Not even unions can match corporate donations (for every dollar a union donates, corporations donate a minimum of five).  At the same time, Independents and third parties are locked out.

That's because we are a Corporatocracy, which is a de facto merger or close partnership between Big Business and government. As an aside, a Corporatocracy does not, as you may have guessed, have anything to do with "socialism" unless you mean "corporate socialism". A Corporatocracy is managed by a small group of the very wealthy commonly called an Oligarchy though a Kleptocracy or other terms are sometimes used.

A Corporatocracy is a neo-fascist entity which, like any form of fascism, borrows from the Left and Right based on a country's history, traditions, and values.  It's why the fascism of Nazi Germany was different from that of Spain, which differed from Argentina's which differed from Italy's, which differed again from Hungary or Romania.

It will play groups---race, gender, class, religion, ideology, and so on--- off of each other while trying to create as many divisions as possible in what's called "Identity Politics". In 1939 it was the Jews and Roma gypsies who were the designed scapegoats. Today it seems to be whites and Asians. The more divided society is the easier it is to control and manipulate. 

It may even promote violence from behind the scenes to create chaos and raise the level of civil frustration with the state of affairs, and as way to vent aggression until it's ready to exploit it. It will manufacture wars for its own economic gain behind a mask of freedom, liberty, and patriotism.

A Corporatocracy will act incrementally to avoid attracting undo attention by the public, but, like water pushing against a dam or wall, it will push everywhere simultaneously looking for a weak or soft spot. It may even retract now and again, only to advance somewhere else.  Meanwhile, this neo-fascist state will attempt to demonize whatever it fears, and what it fears the most is whatever can replace it or take its power and control away. Remember that. In today's world, it's important.

As an aside, the media is part and parcel of the Corporatocracy. It serves as the "propaganda wing". 96+% of all media outlets---TV, internet content, movies, video games, magazines, books, newspapers, the news in all its forms, etc.---are owned by just six corporations. They set the agenda and the slant. They decide what and how we see or hear what we do. They manipulate our perceptions.  When they do "endorsements", they are openly trying to influence your vote. 

Personally, I don't think the media should "endorse" anyone. It's not their job. That's being biased. The news is about facts, not opinions or innuendos. I was (and remain) blacklisted by a one trick pony newspaper for exposing the endorsement process.  What we want is the unvarnished facts. Tell us where they stand on various issues. We can make our own decisions from there.

If any of this looks or sounds familiar, it's because it is and it's by no coincidence. It's been repeated and refined down through history. There are things we can do as I've outlined above. But it will only happen if we put aside all the petty divisions which we've been manipulated into believing. It will also only happen if we come together and focus solely on the "man behind the curtain" to borrow from Dorothy in Oz.

Alternatively, we can pretend all these divisions are real and continue to be divided further and further apart until only a fuehrer like individual can put us back together again...in his or its image. It's happened before, often starting out with the best of intentions but it never ends well. Never.  So, what do you want to do? Which path do you want to go down?   

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider subscribing. It's free!

 

FairVote: How RCV Works

Initiatives and referendums in the United States

How Congress can stop gerrymandering: Deny seats to statesthat still do it

Ending Gerrymandering

 

Gallup: Party Affiliation