Democracy Alert

Truth & Transparency = A Stronger Democracy

December 21, 2016 by Ted Leave a Comment

Poisonous Plutocracy Pushes Economic Inequality

The biggest political issue receiving no attention by the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates is the powerful plutocracy that has captured the government to produce rising economic inequality.

Both major parties have enabled, promoted and supported this Upper Class plutocracy. Myriad federal policies make the rich super-rich and the powerful dominant in both good and bad economic times. Meanwhile, despite elections, the middle class sinks into one big Lower Class as the plutocracy ensures that national prosperity is unshared.

Why no attention? Why no explicit reference to a plutocracy that makes a mockery of American democracy? Simple answer: because both major parties and their candidates are subservient to numerous corporate and other special interests that use their money and influence to ensure that their elitist priorities prevail. Make no mistake. Barack Obama with all his slick rhetoric is just as much a supporter and benefactor of this Upper Class plutocracy as Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

Everyone that is not in the Upper Class who votes for any of these presidential candidates is voting against their own interests. They have been hoodwinked, conned, brainwashed, exploited and manipulated by campaign propaganda. They elect people for the visible government while they remain oblivious to the secret government - the powerful pulling the strings behind the stage. Money makes more money, financing more political influence.

One of the biggest delusions of Americans is that if they retain their constitutional rights that they still live in a country with a working democracy. Wrong. American democracy is delusional because the two-party plutocracy makes citizens economic slaves. This represses political dissent. It is 21st century tyranny. Two-party presidential candidates, unlike our nation's Founders, lack courage to fight and revolt against domestic tyranny. Placebo voting distracts citizens from the political necessity of fighting the plutocracy.

Economic data show the plutocracy's assault on American society. Consider these examples.

The top 20 percent of households earned more, after taxes, than the remaining 80 percent in 2005, while the topmost 1 percent took home more than the bottom 40 percent.

No American state has seen the gap between rich and poor widen faster than Connecticut. From 1987 through 2006, the top fifth of the state's households saw their incomes increase by 44.8 percent, after inflation. Incomes for the bottom fifth fell 17.4 percent. On the other coast, just three of every 1,000 Californians in 2005 reported at least $ 1 million in income. But they got $ 213 of every $ 1,000 Californians earned in 2005 income. The state's top 1 percent - average income $ 1.6 million - pay 7.1 percent of their incomes in income, sales, property, and gas taxes. The poorest fifth of California households pay 11.7 percent.

Real hourly wages for most workers have risen only 1 percent since 1979, even as those workers' productivity has increased by 60 percent. Higher efficiency has rewarded business executives, owners and investors, but not workers. What's more, American workers now work more hours per year than their counterparts in virtually every other advanced economy, even Japan, and without universal health care.

A typical hedge fund manager makes 31 times more in one hour than the typical American family makes in a year. In 2007, the top 50 hedge fund income-earners collected $ 29 billion - an average of $ 581 million each. John Paulson took home $ 3.7 billion from his hedge fund labors. These figures do not count profits from selling shares in their companies. Importantly, hedge fund players contributed nine times more to the Senate Democratic fundraising arm than they gave to Senate Republicans in 2007.

In 2009, Americans who make over $ 1 million a year will save an average $ 32,000 from the Bush tax cuts on capital gains and dividends. The average American household will save $ 20.

Between 1986 and 2005, the income of America's top 1 percent of taxpayer jumped from 11.3 to 21.2 percent of the national total. Their federal income taxes dropped from 33.13 percent of total personal income in 1986 to 23.13 percent in 2005. From 2001 to 2008, the net worth of the wealthiest 1 percent grew from $ 186 billion to $ 816 billion.

Economic inequality and injustice reflect a political disaster, even with regular elections. It has resulted from government decisions on tax cuts, spending, trade agreements, deregulatory measures, labor unions, corporate handouts, and regulatory enforcement. All crafted to benefit the rich and powerful and leave the rest of us behind. It has happened under Democratic and Republican presidencies and congresses. Bipartisan domestic tyranny propels greed driven plutocracy.

What do we desperately need? A national discussion and referendum on inequality-pumping plutocracy, that none of the major presidential candidates shows any interest in having. Certainly not Barack Obama with his vacuous talk of change (but not about the political system) and John McCain's incredulous talk of reform.

And it is delusional to think that populist global Internet connectivity producing what is called personal sovereignty threatens plutocracy. Networking among the rich and powerful strengthens the global plutocracy, placing it above national sovereignty. More than produce an army of revolutionaries to overturn the system, the Internet has fragmented every imaginable movement. Individuals indulge themselves with their own or social websites or fall victim to conventional politicians. Technology and media owned and controlled by plutocrats serves them while it shackles and deceives the multitudes.

Only one presidential candidate sees our core national problem and the need for revolutionary thinking and action to correct the system: Ralph Nader who said recently, "We need a Jeffersonian revolution." Plutocrats should heed these wise words of John F. Kennedy: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." With all the guns and pain Americans have, the ruling class should worry and start reforms. To start, let third party and independent candidates into televised presidential debates. If the stage can be filled with a bunch of primary season candidates, why not more than two in the general election?

For electoral dissent, stop being a presidential romantic; use your vote to fight the plutocracy. Reject the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. Put an end to serial disappointments. Time is running out. Talk is cheap. Action is crucial. Violent revolution is an option.

[Contact Joel S. Hirschhorn through http://www.delusionaldemocracy.com]

Filed Under: Plutocracy Tagged With: Economic, Inequality, Plutocracy, Poisonous, pushes

December 15, 2016 by Ted Leave a Comment

Might Narcissists in Powerful Positions Destroy Our Democracy Intentionally?

Some narcissists who are in positions of power, but believe more power should yet be theirs, seek to make the entire world their stage. But what will they risk to achieve this end? Will they dismantle the world's greatest democracy?

Today, I suspect the founding fathers of this country must be rolling in their graves. For years, we have talked about the wonderful system they put into place, especially because of all of its checks and balances.

I suppose this presented an irresistible challenge to some suffering from pathological levels of narcissism, however. Could the greatest democracy in the world withstand the tinkering of brilliant men like them?

Yes, this was probably a challenge simply too good to resist.

The honorable men who were our founding fathers undoubtedly wanted to believe that only honorable men would lead this country in future times, too. Obviously, though, they weren't naïve about human nature, especially the nature of the narcissistic, or those men who would be Kings.

Yes, they likely realized some people might be inclined to manipulate our government for their selfish ends. And yes, some of these same people might lie or cheat their way into positions of power, only to display their true colors after much damage was already done to this great nation.

The founding fathers realized this country had to be protected from people who might be inclined to demonstrate that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Except really, don't most people tend to behave consistently? Thus, as the narcissistic attain more wealth and power, they will engage in even more self serving behaviors--with the intent of gaining even more wealth and power yet. Kind and benevolent people, on the other hand, will likely use their wealth and power for philanthropic endeavors.

While our forefathers would probably be dismayed by what is happening today, I suspect that some of the instigators of these destructive actions are laughing loudly and gleefully. They are probably bursting with pride because they have shown their ability to manipulate a system once thought to be immune to such manipulations.

Like the hacker who might bring a major company to its knees by infiltrating its computer system and data processing, could our country fall because of the games narcissistic leaders play?

No one likes to think of that possibility. But as I watched Ken Burns's powerful documentary on PBS about World War II in recent days, a film told from the perspective of American citizens who fought in the war plus family members at home who prayed for their survival, I was reminded of how the actions of one man led to the destruction of millions upon millions of people.

I suspect when most of us have given thought to this World War, we were inclined to think primarily of the millions that died in the concentration camps. Did we overlook the millions who died trying to rectify what one man had set into motion?

Hitler might have died in the war he brought on. But before he shot and killed himself, did he sit back and bask in the knowledge he had been the cause behind so much havoc, death, and destruction worldwide? I suspect he might have done so. Certainly, he assured himself quite a place in history. And for some people, even negative attention is better than no attention whatsoever.

Certainly, I hope an increasingly destructive scenario doesn't get played out in this country and other parts of the world. But since the game of narcissistic leaders might well be to see how much more power they can confiscate, including in our country where the founding fathers had tried to ensure this never happened, in doing so, they could destroy our democracy.

Do they themselves seek to be destroyed? I suspect not. However, many narcissists will march forward to the point of self destruction in their quest for more money, more power, or those spoils of war. Also, they really don't care who or what they take down with them. I also suspect that rather like the suicide bombers, they might believe their lives had ended in glory.

Indeed, we can't afford to sit back, complacent in the belief that the destruction of our country is an impossibility.

Diane England, Ph.D. is a clinical social worker with degrees in family studies and child development. Discover articles about his narcissism, addictions, and abuse plus her likely codependency as well as recovery through personal development and spiritual growth at http://www.NarcissismAddictionsAbuse.com .

Filed Under: Democracy Tagged With: Democracy, destroy, Intentionally, Might, Narcissists, Positions, Powerful

December 14, 2016 by Ted Leave a Comment

Donald Trump’s Russian Connection – Follow the Trail

Donald Trump's Russian Connection - Follow the Trail

First we had the hacking of the Democratic Party emails. The email release was designed to hurt Hillary Clinton in the election. What I thought was very curious about the release was the question of why the leak did not also include emails that were damaging for the Donald Trump campaign. I can't believe that Donald Trump with his inflammatory, insulting talk and love for social media did not have a huge catch of emails that might embarrass Trump for racist, sexual, homophobic or anti-women comments. Well now we have the answer from the New York Times. In a front page story In the December 10,2016 New York Times Russians Hacked The GOP But Hid It Agencies Decide

They say that "American Intelligence Agencies have concluded with "high confidence" that Russia acted covertly in the latter stages of the presidential campaign to harm Hillary Clinton's chances and promote Donald J. Trump, according to senior administration officials.

This finding comes from an earlier investigation which came to the conclusion "with high confidence" indeed the Republican National Committee's computer network was hacked in addition to the Democratic National Committee's computer network.

The Republican's explanation for total difference in leaks of information harmful to the Democratic campaign and the Republican campaign was that their system was not hacked. Now the security agency's findings explode that Republican fiction!

Filed Under: Trump Tagged With: Democracy, Donald Trump, election, elections, hacking, New York Times, NYT, Putin, Russia, Trump, vladimir Putin

December 2, 2016 by Ted Leave a Comment

Trump Lies and the Media Plays Dead

Trump Lies and the Media Rolls over and Plays Dead

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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