How America Became an Oligarchy

[Crewleader]

April 07, 2015


Democracy Succumbs to Globalization

How America Became an Oligarchy

by ELLEN BROWN

“The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. . . . You have owners.”

— George Carlin, The American Dream

According to a new study from Princeton University, American democracy no longer exists. Using data from over 1,800 policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002, researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page concluded that rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now steer the direction of the country, regardless of – or even against – the will of the majority of voters. America’s political system has transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy, where power is wielded by wealthy elites.

“Making the world safe for democracy” was President Woodrow Wilson’s rationale for World War I, and it has been used to justify American military intervention ever since. Can we justify sending troops into other countries to spread a political system we cannot maintain at home?

The Magna Carta, considered the first Bill of Rights in the Western world, established the rights of nobles as against the king. But the doctrine that “all men are created equal” – that all people have “certain inalienable rights,” including “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” – is an American original. And those rights, supposedly insured by the Bill of Rights, have the right to vote at their core. We have the right to vote but the voters’ collective will no longer prevails.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/07/how-america-became-an-oligarchy/

[Doctor_J]

1. The signs could not be more clear.

Huge majorities of Americans want universal health care, clean air and water, no fracking, living wage, affordable housing and education, gun control, and so on. Yet our "representatives" move the country away from all of these.

Rec

[daleanime]

2. K&R.....

[blkmusclmachine]

3. n/t

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Grim future of total control:

The road to the New World order will be paved in blood, terror, and tyranny. The NWO’s armies will be something out of a sci-fi movie, complete with robot enforcers and no rights as a human being. The New World Order is almost here and we can see their army already starting to form. And it’s coming together in our own back yard.

The coming Empire requires the destruction of all sovereign nations and the world carved up into military zones of control whose boundaries have no relation to ancient established borders or to ethnic homelands.

The coming Tyranny requires total control over people’s thoughts and movements from the cradle to the grave and to do this they will use all the knowledge they possess and every technological invention available to enslave mankind.

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2014/08/the-atrocious-future-armies-of-the-new-world-order-video-3012784.html

[Crewleader]

5. Middle East Revolution & Inflationary Depression Coming-Paul Craig Roberts

(There is much more in the video interview.)

http://usawatchdog.com/middle-east-revolution-inflationary-depression-coming-paul-craig-roberts/

[Sherman A1]

6. Started in 1981

gee........what a surprise. I unfortunately remember it all too well....

[mother earth]

7. The single most important issue of our time is going to take a social movement.

K & R to Ellen Brown & TY, crewleader.