If you walked up to a Chinese tourist here in America and asked, "How does it feel to be in a free country?" They would likely laugh and respond, "I do not know, I have yet to visit a free country." They know that, regardless of the name, The People's Republic of China is not a republic but an oligarchy. They laugh because the American asking them this question does not know that he too lives in an oligarchy.
Like China, the United States calls itself a republic based on democratic values. In a nutshell, a republic means that elected officials will, for the most part, represent the people in their district. In other words, if 80% of the people support a bill to become a law, then the bill should have an 80% chance of becoming a law. Conversely, if 20% of the people support a bill to become a law, then the bill should stand a 20% chance of becoming a law. This is especially true of bills with overwhelming support or overwhelming opposition. If a bill is supported by 100% of the people, then that bill should have a 100% chance of becoming a law; and if a bill were supported by 0% of the people, then that bill should have a 0% chance of becoming a law. The 'republic' part is the exception. Meaning if the person representing you sees overwhelming support for a bill that is harmful to other citizens or harmful to the country, then the representative should not represent that bill, even if it is supported by a majority of the people. In so doing, the republic part prevents the country from falling into a Democratic Dictatorship, where the majority dictates to the minority (see my earlier post, "The Tyranny of the Majority"). Sadly, instead of falling into a Democratic Dictatorship, our country has fallen into an oligarchy, where a select few rule over the rest of us.
Case in point, two Princeton University studies called Perspectives on Politics and Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens (Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page, 2014). After analyzing 20+ years of data, the authors of these studies found that America is in fact an oligarchy and not a republic. The study found that there is only a 30% chance of a bill becoming a law regardless of how much the bill is supported by the people. In other words, if a bill were supported by 100% of the people, then it would have a 30% chance of becoming a law; and if a bill were supported by 0% of the people, then it would still have a 30% chance of becoming a law.
Source: Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens. Gilens and Benjamin. Posted under fair use.
Conversely, these studies found that, unlike the people who are supposed to be represented, bills supported by the rich and interest groups are passed into laws based on the level of support. In other words, bills with 80% support by rich elites have an 80% chance of becoming law. The more money behind the bill, and the more chance it has of becoming a law even if 0% of the people support it.
Source: Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens. Gilens and Benjamin. Posted under fair use.
What this tells us is that who we vote into the House, Senate, and Oval Office does not make a difference because our country is ruled by an oligarchical class of rich elites and special interest groups. Of course, we did not need these studies to tell us this. All you need do is send a letter to your congressman or senator and see that the form letter they send in return has nothing to do with the letter that you sent. How can they represent the will of the people when they are not interested in what the will of the people might be? They will never admit it, but they know full well that we, the people, are meaningless and they will always bow to the true rulers of this country - the rich elite (see my earlier post The Illusion of Freedom).
Now you may think, "But the rich are those corporate fat cats that the progressives hate, and the will of the country leans more progressive each day. Therefore, Congress and the Executive branch must be representing the will of progressive minded citizens." Not so. The country leaned heavily conservative when the rich elites running the country were conservatives. These days, the rich elites (a.k.a. people with the most money) are progressives. The country leans more progressive, because the rich have the media set public opinion in the direction that they wish. The conservative rich who ruled us once did this, and now the progressive rich are doing it. In essence, there is a triad of power running our country.
Edward Bernays, author of Propaganda -1928, who called our rich oligarchical dictators "the invisible government" said it best...
The invisible government tends to be concentrated in the hands of the few because of the expense of manipulating the social machinery which controls the opinions and habits of the masses. To advertise on a scale which will reach fifty million persons is expensive. To reach and persuade the group leaders who dictate the public's thoughts and actions is likewise expensive.
The systematic study of mass psychology revealed the potential of an invisible government of society by manipulation of the motives of the group mind. The group has mental characteristics distinct from those of the individual. So, the question naturally arose: If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing it
Truth be told, our oligarchical dictators have only one ideology and it is neither conservative nor progressive. Their ideology is simple: Improving their situations at the expense of everyone else. The bottom line is that this country is no longer of the people, by the people, and for the people.
What About the Voting Booth?
Sadly, voting in America was never the ideal that we held it up to be. That being said, voting was honest for the most part prior to the time when our oligarchical dictators took power in 1913. Like the lack of representation, the will of the American people no longer counts at the voting booth either. As inferred by Harry Truman to Linden Johnson, "The side that cheats best wins."
People are more likely to agree with an idea if they think it is their own. Our dictators have us vote because it makes us feel in control. This is called the Hawthorne effect, which is - in essence - like the suggestion box at your workplace. It is not there because your ideas are valued, but because it gives you the feeling of control, which makes you a more productive worker. Even so, an overwhelming number of people could still garner some control at the voting booth. However, such control is moot, because our elected officials bow to the will of our oligarchical dictators.
What of the Republican and Democratic Parties?
Both the Republican and Democratic parties are two sides of the same coin, in that they both serve our oligarchical dictators. I call them the Dirty-Democrats and the Do-Nothing-Republicans. Do not let these monikers fool you. One party is no better than the other. The Democrats will tell you how they will screw you and then do it. The Republicans will tell you how they will protect you from being screwed and then screw you anyway. Neither party represents the people and neither party believes in the ideals of which they espouse.
What of President Donald Trump?
Donald Trump is an anomaly. Regardless of what you think of him, while not the perfect angel he claims to be, he was the first president to actually represent the people in the last 100 years. This is why I, as a non-partisan who does not have faith in our electoral system, voted for Trump. It is also why his presidency was crippled and is in the throws of a highly contested election. Our oligarchical dictators did not like having only two-thirds control. As a result, Donald Trump had to go.
It's All About Control Folks
Let us U.S. citizens be honest with ourselves. We are NOT living in a free country, nor were we born in a free country. Since 1913, the United States of America is an oligarchical dictatorship. When it comes to control, all our dictators must do is use the media to manipulate us. They do not necessarily have to change everyone's mind, they only need create division to get the job done because we cannot fight them while we are busy fighting each other.
What Can We Do About It?
As said in my prior blog post, The Illusion of Freedom, we will never be free until we break the chains of division put on us by the media. Fake news is nothing new. In fact, Edward Bernays blatantly bragged about it in 1928.
Page one of the New York Times on the day these paragraphs are written contains eight important news stories. Four of them, or one-half, are propaganda. The casual reader accepts them as accounts of spontaneous happenings
Edward Bernays, 1928
Stop letting yourself be manipulated and controlled by the 'group mind' and think for yourself. Left, right, straight, gay, black, white - we all must recognize that we are being controlled and unite. If we are one, then they cannot control us. Only then will we take back our power and be a country of the people, by the people, and for the people.
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