Dec 2, 2016

Debunking the Sponsored Fallacy of American "Representative Democracy"

By Michael Emero / filmsforaction.org
Debunking the Sponsored Fallacy of American "Representative Democracy"
I recently posted this, my latest article, up on a Reddit sub. One individual, playing the role of governmental apologist, responded to my writing- "They may be put on the ballot by party leaders but we still vote for them." Below is my reply, which hopefully helps educate others in debunking this inane rhetoric:
 
"With respect, this election completely sums up the total lack of logic in that statement. If I want water, but the sponsors only ever allow for the options of Coke and Pepsi, is it my fault I become diabetic? After all, I either voted "for" whatever I got, or I didn't vote- either way, blame is still mislaid upon us, the voters.
 
Our political system is completely corrupted by capitalism. Any individual with enough money, even if they are disliked, even if they are provably dishonest, even if they get that money from all sorts of questionable and foreign entities, can even become our President. Ethical oversight isn't just compromised, it's now dead.
 
The proof just happened; were you watching? A huge amount of the populace tried to get active in politics, because factors like the economy, war, jobs, homelessness, the environment, social justice, governmental corruption, domestic and foreign spying, climate change, and more have gotten bad enough to hit mainstream.
 
But they never stood a chance. Laws were already altered to change our news into infotainment, with no factual or balance accountability. The highest bidder literally determines what the average American knows or believes. Inconvenient realities are all spun away or blacked out, creating their own ignorant target audiences.
 
Attempts to circumvent this using social media helped Bernie so much that the Clinton campaign sunk millions into online paid trolls. Facebook changed its algorithms, Google was altering its results, and the primaries (run by Hillary's campaign manager from '08) were proven rigged. Ethics be damned; only winning mattered.
 
Even those serving as Sanders Democratic delegates were paywalled away. When grassroots movements collected enough to compensate, they were treated unfairly and frankly railroaded right out of the process. Big money and control over media narratives meant any form of real democratic representation was stillborn.
 
And the Democrats paid for it. The writing was on the wall, they just refused to look. Both Democrat and Republican parties are minority fractions of the public. Their numbers have gone down each year as the bases they cater to (the ignorant and the rich) have both shrunk. National polls show majority hate and distrust.
 
This isn't about voting a bad politician out; that provably no longer works. This game of whack-a-mole politics is now rigged before it begins. Money is being used to leverage- ever increasingly legally as the immoral get more power- bad political actors into office, even when the vast majority of the public do not want them.
 
The process is compromised. When you have a government run by two controlling minority parties who simply do not represent nor defend the interests of the majority, how can anyone call that democracy? When our only choices are different flavors of the same self-destructive dish of despair, in what way is that consensual rule?
 
And given that situation, I would think it's entirely in the realm of relevance, not pettiness, that these paid obstructionists to democratic representation live in privileged lifestyles while the masses struggle under the fallout of their unsustainable crony hypercapitalism. This is America run as a business without any conscience.
 
You want a better system? Let's build one. Our current laws are an absolute nightmare mess of 200-year-old half-racist self-contradictory legacy documents, with so much legislated red tape added that citizens need to hire an expert to defend themselves or even find out if they did anything wrong. Moneyed power rules.
 
We need to decide, once and for all, do we believe in and truly stand for equality or not? Are we equal as human beings, with equal voice and rights, or is it okay to allow the implementation of legalized oppression for the benefit of the elite few? Because Americans really can't keep claiming the former while exemplifying the latter.
 
This system made some headway when we had ethical civil servants holding it together. The ones who cared more about the people they represented than financial gain, or control over resources worldwide, or using focus-grouped talking points and slick speaking skills to win over key demographics, orchestrating insincere "wins".
 
Trust is the essential element we lack, and need. Humbler ego, more empathy. Because anything else isn't accurate or trustworthy representation, it's just more personal career and empire building with unlimited sponsorship. We've been suffering from that, but our ignorant apathy is ending; our emperors have no clothes.
 
In the age of climate change, widespread poverty, and nuclear weapons, enabling the ignorant who mistake uncouth bravado for strength is suicide. Responsibility cannot coexist with denial of facts. Prudence isn't racism and twitter rants. I wrote this article because I genuinely believe that America's own ignorance will end us all."
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