The Plutocracy Continues in the USA

Below is my email reply to an organic farmer friend regarding his comment (in an email) on my last post here on this site.  He & I agree on the Plutocracy, but differ as to the contributions to that by Repubs and Dems.  He thinks the former are much more responsible than the latter.  My reply below is edited somewhat.

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I mostly agree with your comments.  But, even though FDR's Populism was significant, he was not ideal.  Even he admitted that sometimes he had to side with Big Biz.  Plus, I agree with Chomsky's thoughts on Nixon---because Tricky Dick was an opportunist, and because he sensed the mood of the people in the early '70s (except for the Vietnam issue), he became---for the wrong reasons--- the last of the New Deal politicians (in a way).  

I know it sounds outrageous, but think about it.  Nixon signed into Law (he could have vetoed these):  OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Act/Administration, 1970), NEPA (Nat'l Environmental Policy Act, 1970), the precursor to the Clean Water Act (the Fed Water Pollution Control Act of 1972), the Clean Air Act (1970), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972), the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974---proposed by Nixon, signed into Law by Ford), the Endangered Species Act (1973), and he created the EPA in 1970, after signing NEPA.

Repub actions aren't all bad.  Plus, though they do it less than Repubs, Dems gerrymander voting districts, too...and Dems manipulate Primaries, too... and Dems suppress Populist candidates, too.  And until a few years ago, Dems in Congress also practiced Insider Trading on Wall Street.  Dems also have an interventionist Foreign Policy, and Dems also often are warmongers and Empire Builders.  And Dems also support questionable regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Honduras (never mind corrupt Netanyahu's Israel).

The whole system is rotten, not just the Repub side of the overall Plutocracy.  Those who keep blaming "the other side" are not helping to correct the situation.  All they're doing is prolonging the squabble and distracting from the overall problem, which is Plutocracy/Oligarchy/ Empire Building.  It's not about Republicans or Democrats; it's about Plutocrats...and they're found in both major Parties.

It all continues with the ultimate Plutocrats, Trump & His Crew.  What few crumbs he has thrown to everyday people are vastly outweighed by his favoring of the Oligarchy.  Plus, the deregulation blitz ultimately will harm us both financially and physically.  The Don continues with his blatant lies, and apparently, some people believe every word he says.  On the Dem side, Schumer & His Crew continue to pretend to be Populists...when in fact, they are Plutocrats and/or puppets of the Plutocracy.

Then, too, we now have the Mega Banks and Mega Hedge Funds more empowered than ever before.  A number of fairly well known & reputable people have stated in the past that if the public ever discovered how the Big Banks really operate, then there would be a revolution in the streets tomorrow.  By the way, keep in mind that a revolution does NOT have to be violent.  A massive, national boycott of Mega Banks would do wonders toward restoring the Financial Sector to sanity.  We don't do it essentially for only one reason--- convenience.  Shame on all of us.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Four Things You Need to Know About Neoliberalism

1.  It's not new and it's not liberal.

2.  It's sweeping over the entire world.

3.  It's a political and economic philosophy favoring the Rich & Powerful at the expense of the rest of us.      [Essentially, at its core, it's Crony Capitalism, AKA, Fascism.  Both FDR and Mussolini defined Fascism as the power of BIG Business married to the power of the State...an almost perfect description of Neoliberalism.]

4.  Here in the USA, it is subscribed to by almost all high-level Republicans AND Democrats.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Why the USA is a Soft FASCIST State

Some would say that I should omit the word "soft".  I leave it in place because we still have a considerable amount of Freedom here... although, that is changing fairly rapidly.  Adherents of the so-called Right think we still have a Republic as our form of government; adherents of the so-called Left think we still have a Democracy.  If you're no longer drinking the Edward Bernays style Propaganda Kool Aid, it's readily apparent that the USA has neither of those forms of government.

First, let's examine the false belief that we're still a Republic.  The bedrock of the Republic of the USA was the U.S. Constitution... and obedience to its provisions.  All three branches of our Fed Gov't (at the highest levels) have been ignoring large portions of the Supreme Law of the Land for decades and decades.  That practice has become increasingly more blatant in the last thirty years or so.  It makes no difference at all if the Administration is Republican or Democrat... or should I say, Republicrat or Demopublican.  In 1901, a Supreme Court Justice Harlan warned of "Legislative Absolutism", a term he coined and by which he meant passing Laws that were unconstitutional.  He said (in a dissenting opinion) that there were two governments in the USA now (1901):  one obeying the Constitution, and one not.  It only has gotten worse since then.

The list of violations of our Supreme Law of the Land by the highest levels of the Fed Gov't is virtually endless.  I've described many of those violations on this Blog in the last almost eight years.  I don't intend to re-list them now.  One Representative in DC even admitted to an interviewer, "Half of what we do [in Congress] is unconstitutional."... at one time (several years ago), a recording of that was on YouTube.  There is no question whatsoever that the Fed Gov't violates many of the provisions of the Constitution... no matter which political Party is in power.  The icing on the cake is the provision of the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) which gives the Feds the power to detain indefinitely, without access to an attorney and without a trial, any U.S. citizen chosen by one person, the President... and even to execute that person on the say-so of only one person, the President.  No due process, no attorney, no trial, no appeal.  That's according to many legitimate news sources, including an article in Forbes.  When Obama signed the last NDAA into Law, he stated something like, "I would never do that."... I'm not reassured.

Without obedience by the Feds to the provisions of the Constitution, there is no Republic of the USA.  It exists in name only.

Second, let's examine the false belief that we're a Democracy.  I'm referring to a truly participatory democracy.  Yes, we get to vote... well, some of us anyway.  Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of national political candidates are selected, groomed, and financed by the Oligarchy.  That means it doesn't really matter who gets elected.  Even FDR wrote to a friend back in the '30s, "In this country, Presidents are selected, not elected."... so are most Congress people.  The whole process is dominated by those in the Power Structure by means of ballot-access laws, Cronyism, rules of various kinds that further restrict Third Parties, and Propaganda from both the Government and the Corporate Media.  On top of all that, there is Black Box Voting--- rigged voting machines.  See the site, blackboxvoting.org and the documentary by the same name.  See especially the documentary.

Both Mussolini and FDR defined Fascism as:  the marriage of BIG Business to the State.  That's precisely what we've had in the USA for years and years.  We just recently had an example of that on 12-15-14 (this past Monday).  The Senate passed the already House-passed $1.1 trillion spending Bill into Law.  Attached was an amendment written by lobbyists of Citibank that essentially rolled-back the paltry protections against the Financial Sector that were in Dodd-Frank.  The Amendment also provides that any future losses on risky investments suffered by Mega Banks will be reimbursed by the Feds (meaning, the taxpayers).  So, if the speculative Wall Street Banks fail again, they'll be bailed out again.  That's Crony Capitalism, aka, Fascism.  It's not only at the national level.  At every level of government in this country, elected officials kowtow to their primary constituency... BIG Business.

A few different, scholarly, legitimate studies in the past several years have shown that anywhere from 70% to 95% of the public is ignored when elected officials formulate public policy.  In other words, the opinions of most of us do not count in the minds of those elected by us.  The primary constituencies of most politicians are the Super-Rich.  That's Fascism.

Sorry to say, but we live in a Soft Fascist State.  As far as I can tell, the same applies to most developed countries.

Not just my opinion.  Be Well