What kind of political system do we have in this country anyway? Let's see. It's not a simple or "direct" democracy. If it were, a majority of voters could simply vote to end the Iraq occupation and bring the troops home. That's what a majority of Americans prefer, according to polls. But we can't do that because what we have in the U. S. is "representative" democracy. That means that we do get to vote but we vote for representatives who do the actual governing. In principle, this is a good plan because it can put a brake on some of the excesses of simple majorities. Remember the conundrum of majority rule vs. minority rights. Representative democracy is supposed to provide a fix for that problem. That is, provided the representative system is untainted by money, power grabs, and corruption, and that's where we in this country have a serious breakdown of the system. We remain mired in Iraq because it is in the best interests of the powerful, corrupt, monied political players that we "stay the course." The corporate interests and the special interest lobbyists, who are so pivotal in electing our representatives, combined with the entrenched military-industrial complex, all feed off the war and a host of other public policies (e.g., no national health care, etc.) that are against the best interests of the American people. We're seemingly powerless to change this situation because the American public is so easily manipulated. Just look at how Bush continues to move the goal post for success in Iraq. In the Spring it was September, and now, post Patreaus' September report, it's next Spring, maybe. The American public is powerless to stop this war because we have a broken political system. We're powerless to affect public policies across the board. There are fixes that have been proposed that hold out the promise of reform, but once again, the established powerful interests block or mitigate them. We find ourselves in real difficulty with a government that is unresponsive to the needs and wants of its citizens.
Jim
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
am a 2 tour Vietnam Veteran who recently retired after 36 years of working in the Defense Industrial Complex on many of the weapons systems being used by our forces as we speak. I believed another Vietnam could be avoided with defined missions and the best armaments in the world.
It made no difference.
We have bought into the Military Industrial Complex (MIC). If you would like to read how this happens please see:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/03/spyagency200703
Through a combination of public apathy and threats by the MIC we have let the SYSTEM get too large. It is now a SYSTEMIC problem and the SYSTEM is out of control. Government and industry are merging and that is very dangerous.
There is no conspiracy. The SYSTEM has gotten so big that those who make it up and run it day to day in industry and government simply are perpetuating their existance.
The politicians rely on them for details and recommendations because they cannot possibly grasp the nuances of the environment and the BIG SYSTEM.
So, the system has to go bust and then be re-scaled, fixed and re-designed to run efficiently and prudently, just like any other big machine that runs poorly or becomes obsolete or dangerous.
This situation will right itself through trauma. I see a government ENRON on the horizon, with an associated house cleaning.
The next president will come and go along with his appointees and politicos. The event to watch is the collapse of the MIC.
For more details see:
http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com
Thanks for the comments. You make good points about a self-perpetuating system - MIC - that is out of control. I'd like to know what form you believe the Enron-style "trauma" will take.
Post a Comment