Is America an Aristocracy Under the Guise of a Democracy?

This is a question that would not have held as much weight a decade ago in the previous administration. However, as we're closing in on 2012, we have come to a point where We the People are losing control of the steering wheel that drives our nation through history. At the rate our "money" is being printed, our nation's wealth gap is growing, and our voices are falling on deaf ears in Washington, it wouldn't come as a surprise to me if people began asking what kind of system is really carrying this country forward, because it is clearly not a true, representative democracy.

We are, right now, fighting two, enormously expensive wars against the will of the American populous: The Iraq War and the War on Drugs. In early 2005, we learned of the $1.4 billion vacation Halliburton took on the taxpayer's dime. Soon afterwards, we learned that Dick Cheney directly profited from Halliburton's no-bid contracts and spending frenzy in Iraq. Since this scandal, American support for the War in Iraq started a more rapid decline. By October of the same year, more than half of America was in favor of ending the war we are just wrapping up now. Who should be calling the shots when it comes to a war we are fighting with our loved ones and our money? Where was our representation when we said "nay" to the War in Iraq?

In October, 2008, a Zogby poll was released showing 76% of voters believed the War on Drugs was a complete failure. Since then, an estimated $38 billion has been spent fighting the War on Drugs each year. What's worse is, not only are our tax dollars not going where we want them, but we're funding our own nation’s war against our own people. I have much to say on this issue, however, someone has already said it best. Below is a very well-delivered video of Graham Hancock speaking on this issue.

(BRIEF LANGUAGE WARNING) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk3EBmiURgw

It completely baffled me to read Hillary Clinton say she didn't want drugs legalized for personal consumption simply because "there is just too much money in it," when she had no problem receiving over $500,000 in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry. They are the situations like these that cause me to raise an eyebrow and ask myself how our nation's leaders can promise to lead The United States towards such a bright future, yet be so hypocritical in the process.

Where was our representation when we said "nay" to the War on Drugs?

When you begin to add the desire for wealth into the equation, it all adds up (no pun intended).

All of us as consumers were slapped in the face when President Obama bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and General Motors. These companies should be bankrupt right now. The American people's buying and spending habits announced to these companies, "We no longer demand your services." However, when companies like these spend tens of thousands of dollars to put Barack Obama in the white house, you can bet your last dollar they will expect some sort of monetary compensation from him when they need it and he has the ability to give it to them.

We now live in a system where tax dollars can go to the largest campaign contributor and an entire company's votes can go to the highest bidder. Granted, this is nothing new, but in this day and age, it is more transparent than ever. In my opinion, this transparency is what sparked the Occupy Wall Street movement. People really started to see how much louder our currency speaks over our ballots. When you have top 10% of the nation controlling 93% of this nation's wealth and conducting multi-million dollar transactions with such ease, people are going to start asking questions when the same top 10% tier of the wealth divide receive bailouts, tax breaks, and no-bid defense contracts while 99% of the American people have no control over what our money is being spent on and who it's being shipped out to.

Who or what is to blame for this quagmire that we have found ourselves in? Many blame the free market based economic system we're built on. But that's just it: a capitalist economic structure is only an economic platform a problem is built on, not the problem itself. It is true that our capitalist foundation provided the framework for our current aristocracy to be built on it. However, the aristocracy we are now governed under stemmed from greed, not capitalism.

Greed (both on a corporate and individual level) is not a product of our economic system. Capitalism does not create greedy citizens. Greedy citizens create greedy citizens. Greedy families create greedy families. Although I believe our society is house of cards on the verge of a possible collapse, I do not believe capitalism is the issue. I believe the primary issue stemmed from decades of teaching of poor values such as materialism, unfriendly competition, and excessive pride (arrogance). In my opinion, these are fundamental ingredients that, over time, have lead people to establish class statuses and assign top priority to their physical assets.

Feedback is, of course, welcomed. I’d love to know what you all think!


Written by: Steven C. Manausa




References:

http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock

http://www.zogby.com/news/2008/10/02/zogbyinter-american-dialogue-survey-public-...

http://reason.com/blog/2011/02/07/hillary-clinton-we-cant-legali

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24708976

http://www.mybudget360.com/top-1-percent-control-42-percent-of-financial-wealth-...