World Watches As The American Democracy Breathes Its Last

[Peter Lemkin]

October 7, 2013
The World Watches As The American Democracy Breathes Its Last
By michael payne
The people of the world watch in awe and amazement at what is happening in and to America; they are watching as the self-proclaimed greatest democracy in the history of the world is imploding right before their eyes. They see a country that has lost its vision and its stability, weighed down by a government that is no longer capable of governing.
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The people of the world watch in awe and amazement at what is happening in and to America; they are watching as the self-proclaimed greatest democracy in the history of the world is imploding right before their eyes. They see a country that has lost its vision and its stability, weighed down by a government that is no longer capable of governing.
Yes, this is the same America that never tires of making it known to the world that it is the greatest democracy in history, one with a government that has been working tirelessly to spread it across this planet whether other nations want it or not -- often by the use of aggressive military force. The demise of this "model of democracy" must be a truly shocking turn of events but for many nations who are tired of the hubris and bullying it would seem to be a very welcome example of poetic justice.
If America has, in fact, lost its democracy then what will replace it? That question has already been answered. The fact is that this nation has already evolved into a full-fledged corporatocracy, an economic and political system controlled by corporations or corporate interests. The masters of Corporatism have used their unlimited and unrestrained money and power to take command of the government. In military terms, it might be called a bloodless coup.
Their #1 objective has been to completely paralyze the government and neuter its primary functions. The main sub-objectives include: the total destruction of the Affordable Care Act and any and all social programs, the removal of all restrictions on Wall Street and the corporate world, the watering down or elimination of rules and regulations governing mining, emissions, and safeguards for water and air pollution; they have suffocated the government's involvement in the creation of jobs. In effect they are working within the government to destroy the functions of government; and they have succeeded brilliantly.
A good example of how this transformation from a democracy to a corporatocracy has been accomplished can be evidenced by the fact that we are currently in the midst of a national crisis as the shutdown of the government continues and a debt ceiling crisis looms on the horizon. If we still had a strong, viable democracy this kind of crisis would never have occurred but we don't and so this is what happens.
The way that this Congress now functions is diametrically opposed to that of what the Founding Fathers had originally envisioned. It's so very inept and useless that it's almost hilarious and it reminds me of the time I heard an analyst on a cable news show use a reference from a 1970's song by Stephen Sondheim: she said in joking about some governmental issue, they should "Send in the clowns" but the other host stopped her and said, "They're already here sitting in the chambers of the House and the Senate."
And if you doubt that this is a fair and accurate assessment of the situation, what about the fact that we currently have a real clown, the Speaker of the House, one individual out of the 535 members of the Congress who, evidently has the power to singlehandedly shut down the government and hold the people of America hostage until and unless he get his way and is allowed to destroy ObamaCare. Only in America; what a country!
Yes we sure have a lot of clowns in this Congress but what they are doing is really not funny. They have effectively torn down our fragile democracy which is now hanging by a thread. They act as if the Constitution is, as G.W. Bush once "allegedly" stated, "It's just a ---damned piece of paper." To many of these pseudo-lawmakers it's just that and the oath that they took when they entered office, that "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States" is nothing more than a mechanical statement that means absolutely nothing.
Just how bizarre has this political condition in America become? I'd almost bet that someone in America is working on a re-write of the Star Spangled Banner and changing the lyrics that say, "The land of the free and the home of the brave to "The land of the oppressed and the home of the silent and submissive."
And while we're talking about changing some of the terms that no longer seem to fit the America of today should we consider making a change in the name, United States of America? The word united is defined as: a single entity, people working together to achieve common goals, something inseparable and synergetic. Is that what we see going on in America as the Red and Blue states have almost nothing in common and quite visibly their separate congressional members are continuously trying to undermine each other?
And thinking of why this Senate is such turmoil and disarray one reason is that the tiny, relatively inconsequential states of Alabama and Mississippi with a combined population of about 8 million have a total of 4 senators and those of New York and California, huge and dynamic states with a population of nearly 57 million, also have 4. That's not representative democracy, that's ludicrous and it's one of the main reasons why that body of government can't extract itself from its state of perpetual gridlock.
Can anyone recall any one of the other 31 industrialized countries of the world that has ever had its form of democratic government shut down by one individual that took it to the brink of defaulting on its financial obligations -- not once, but again and again? That just doesn't seem to ever be an issue in these various "democratic" countries and governments.
The world watches as America heads for a gigantic collision with itself; it sees a nation that has wasted its wealth on wars, one that has failed to properly fund its greatest domestic needs and is now ready to throw its democracy along with the Constitution overboard because they are both getting in the way.
The world watches as the massive divisions between the government and the people of America grow ever deeper and wider; as the emergence of a police state becomes more apparent each and every day; as the once famous American Dream turns into a nightmare. They see a once proud nation of creative and innovative individuals lapse into a state of decay and decline.
Now many would say that things are really not all that bad, that life in America is still pretty good, things are still relatively stable, and its people, for the most part, lead fairly comfortable lives. And while that's certainly true for those Americans at or near the top of the income spectrum an increasing number of Americans are no longer living the American dream, they are caught up in a living hell with no way out. This is not a nation where the motto "One for all and all for one" exists.
The nations of the world apparently can see what many millions of Americans can't see because "We the people" largely remain in a state of denial and refuse to accept the reality of just how bad conditions in Washington have become. Americans watch as their government is taken over by the Corporatists, the Constitution continues under attack, the manufacturing sector is pillaged in the name of corporate profits; they watch as the government continues to print fiat money and borrow hundreds of billions of dollars from China and other nations, and the debt continues to escalate.
They watch as Wall Street is given freedom to turn the stock market into a gambling casino and its white collar criminals create trillions of dollars of derivative schemes that have the power and potential to ignite a financial collapse. They see rogue politicians in the act of shutting down the government and preparing to allow America to default on its debt.
But as much as I blame the takeover of the government and our democracy on the power of the Corporatists there are those who say that the responsibility for this national catastrophe should be equally shared by the people of America; those many, many millions of people who don't vote in national elections, who refuse to get involved in the political process in any way and who readily accept and condone what is happening because of their great hatred of the government. And this assessment may be entirely correct.
But, then again, we can discuss, debate, accept or deny the reality of this very dire situation but it all boils down to what clearly has happened to America; it's as simple as this: when the people of this country lost control of their government, they lost their democracy.
Michael Payne

Submitters Bio:

Michael Payne is an independent progressive activist. His writings deal with social, economic, political and foreign policy issues. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and a U.S. Army veteran. His primary objective is to inform readers of the fact that this nation's agenda of perpetual war is leading it down a path to financial ruin; and that the proliferation of unjustified wars and a military empire must be ended. Secondly that we must find the ways to expel Corporate America from our government and political system before it destroys our democracy.