All our institutions have become rich people's playgrounds.

[KlatooBNikto]

If we look at the senate, to a man or a woman,it looks like a club for rich people.They have no idea of how ordinary Americans live and work, have no conception of our worries or concerns.These are all abstract ideas for them, spoon fed to them by their speechwriters. No one that is so disconnected from our everyday worries and concerns can be expected to represent us.

The same holds true for the Press.By and large, the Press, especially the TV newscasters, are multimillionaires,whose contempt for ordinary Americans shows in the way they treat the news itself. They select items that are acceptable to the Administration, in essence becoming a mouthpiece for the Party in power.

One can add many more institutions to this list but the major damage to our democracy is being done by the two I have listed.

[Ian David]

1. Did you just notice this now?

[Sandpiper]

2. The influence of big money has completely corrupted our political process

Whether your representive has a D or and R next to their name, they won't give a private citizen the time of day if they aren't bringing a $2,000 check.

And the media is now a wholly owned subsidiary of big business, and megaphone for the powerful, whose only desires are to keep us members of the peasant class stupid, cowed, and buying more of their products.

Jaded? You bet.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. which is why the internet is a vital tool

How many folks come here daily to find out what is going on instead of relying on the TV or radio? I know I do. I can get links to foreign journals, liberal talk radio, and important articles that are often overlooked by those in the pocket of corporate America. I send out information to others who are still buying the 'liberal media' or 'unbiased media' hype, and hope to open their eyes. I think it will happen on Social Security, because they are retired, and see any changes in it directly effecting them-sadly, with many, that's the only reason they will react.

[jarab]

4. As you enumerate ...

also don't forget that we have no access to our elected ones while lobbyists own them with 24/7 access. Now, there's a good place to start a campaign of activism.
...O...

[AliciaKeyedUp]

5. This isn't new

Elites led us into a revolution in the first place.

[Selatius]

6. Don't you just love the God-blessed US of A?

You're a nobody here if you're not rich, nobody if you're not the powerful abuser instead of the powerless and the abused, nobody if you see people as human beings instead of assets to be exploited or liabilities to be dropped, and nobody if you refuse to subjugate yourself to the pursuit of the Almighty Dollar.

Enough ranting though, time to slave and die for your master's profit margins. Be the good American.