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Amazon.com Books
From Publishers Weekly
Even in a nation founded on the principles of freedom and equality, small, motivated groups wield inordinate amounts of power. The notion itself is straightforward, but the 11 historians contributing to this volume examine it rigorously, documenting the dominance of American ruling classes like the antebellum South's "slave power," the North's "Merchants and Manufacturers," the "nouveau riche industrialists" of the Gilded Age and the Cold War's "Foreign Policy Establishment." Each essay chronicles the myriad factors that led to the consolidation of power by one such set of aristocrats, and then explains the internal divisions and external changes that led to their downfall and empowered their successors. For example, a small clique of graduates from top New England boarding schools and universities coalesced into the "Establishment," dominating foreign policy with their worldview until "Vietnam raised questions that the foreign policy Establishment was not successfully able to answer." The most recent manifestation of this elite baton-passing, according to a convincing entry by Michael Lind, resulted in the "southernization of American society"-under which the country morphed into "a low-wage society with weak parties, weak unions and a political culture based on demagogic appeals to racial and ethnic anxieties, religious conservatism, and militaristic patriotism." The volume captures the essence of varied eras and their elites, but at times the narrative suffers from dry academic prose and a shortage of illustrative anecdotes. Curiously, the editors conclude that despite 200 years of cyclical history, no current challenge is arising to overthrow the currently prevailing "counterrevolution against the New Deal." In fact, in suggesting that "the democratic urge to rein in the dangerous ambitions of privileged elites has gone frail," they undermine the key lesson of the compilation itself.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Review
One of the enduring mysteries of American politics, from the days of the Constitutional convention to the Bush administration, has been how, in a democracy, wealthy elites have managed to exert a powerful influence on public life. In this book, some of our finest historians address this question and in so doing offer a host of new insights into our national past and present. Class is the feature of American life that dares not speak its name, but these essays go a long way toward explaining how it operates in American politics. (Eric Foner, De Witt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University)
This is a powerful set of essays on a sorely neglected subject: the history of the American elite in a world it has come to dominate. U.S. society has become less egalitarian in recent years, and Fraser and Gerstle's polished and provocative anthology helps explain how it got that way. (Michael Kazin, author of The Populist Persuasion: An American History)
Ruling America is a splendid collection of superbly written essays which probe the nature and importance of inequality in income and power over a 250 year period of American history. It succeeds in reintroducing concepts like "ruling class," "elite" and "establishment" into our political and historical vocabulary. It is an impressive accomplishment. (Nelson Lichtenstein, University of California, Santa Barbara)
Undoubtedly, Ruling America provides valuable insight into historical periods that trace the growing power of an elite ruling class, but perhaps its true value lies in the questions the narrative prompts about the balance of power in the world's most powerful nation...A pertinent reference for scholars in the fields of business, economic and political history. For business historians in particular, this book provides a solid foundation to explore the machinations of big business and government inside America's ruling class in the context of a triumphant agenda. (Shakila Yacob Business History 2007-11-01)
By S. Sherman on February 6, 2006The Other Side of 'People's History'/a>This extremely stimulating, highly cohesive collection of essays focuses on a topic underappreciated in American history -- the shifts in power from one elite group to another. The idea that small groups of very wealthy men play the major role in shaping the political dynamics of the US is every bit as subversive as the idea that the US has been the site of intense class struggles (the 'people's history' view).
After reading it, my sense of the trajectory of American capitalism -- from the merchant-slave owner alliance to the rise of industrial capitalism to the managerial revolution of the twentieth century to the recent shift to the South-Southwest -- was renewed. Its one of those books you finish and think -- how did I not know this already? It all seems so central, yet so neglected.
Although elite history inevitably has a strong economic focus, this book by no means neglects gender, race, culture and other social historical themes. The elites are always seen as historical actors, shaped by and shaping their contexts, rather than mechanically performing class roles. Nor is elite rule presumed to be natural, inevitable, or unchallenged.
While the book perhaps could have given more attention to elites at (or engaged with) such institutions as Hollywood, the news media, academia and other spaces for 'manufacturing consent', and perhaps underrates the importance of the consolidation of space for progressives in some of these institutions since the sixties, overall this is a very engaging collection I strongly recommend.
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December 10, 2014 | cepr.net
Thomas Edsall has as interesting piece this morning discussing the changing plight of working class whites in the United States and their increasing estrangement from the Democratic Party. He gets much of the story right. Certainly they can no longer be assured of a comfortable middle class existence. And, if they do manage to get middle class jobs, they certainly cannot guarantee that their children will be as lucky.
... ... ...
Anyhow, Edsall is right that the white working class, like the working class in general, has been poorly served by the Democrats in recent decades. It is not difficult to think of policies that would change this story. The question is whether the Democrats will buck their wealthy donors to pursue them.
Last Mover, December 10, 2014
Can Democrats Do More Damage than Free Markets Did?
To ask what any political party in America can do for anyone anymore begs the question with an assumed response from the usual sock puppets - that government can do anything at all beyond the usual warmongering.
As posed by Edsall the presumption is a zero sum game between Democrats and Republicans between political gains and losses that translate into economic gains and losses.
To ask the question in regard to the white working class just fuels more the obvious, that both parties are literally owned outright by the ultra rich who run the country from top to bottom.
Of course DB is correct to contrast the economics that drive the plight of single mothers and the white middle class and debunk irrelevant cultural myths trotted out by both parties as the cause. But no one important or in the white working class is listening.
American media and politics have reduced economics to a faux zero sum game where each side (for those who do vote) actually believes it wins when the other side loses, even though both sides continue to lose big time - other than the very few who end up as ultra rich.
If Edsall really wants to be effective he should ask how the white working class came to accept from both sides, the propaganda specifically designed to replace economics with irrelevant cultural issues.
As JFK might have said: Ask not what "free markets" can do for you. Ask what they did to you.
Larry Signor, December 10, 2014 9:05
Edsall Is Part of the Problem
Posing the problems of America as racial, cultural and moral is just pure idiocy. The Problem in America is economic inequality. The blame game follows from this tremendous economic inequality. We tore Thomas Piketty apart trying to discover where he was wrong. He wasn't wrong.
skeptonomist, December 10, 2014 9:21
A glaring omission from both Edsall's and Baker's pieces is taxes. When inequality was decreasing in the early-middle 20th century, tax rates were highly progressive. Obviously this did not impede economic growth. Democrats have usually collaborated or even taken the lead in the restructuring of taxes since 1964.
There is no evidence that inequality can be reduced without appropriate taxation. As the share of growth that goes to working people has been shrinking, they have been encouraged (by Republicans) to blame each other. This economic matter could be a winning political issue, but not only Democratic politicians but many "liberal" economists still subscribe to the obviously false assumption that high tax rates reduce incentive.
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Sep 02, 2014 | informationclearinghouse.info
This paper starts with summarizing the major theoretical elements in the definition of a global ruling class. It then examines how neoconservatives in the US took power and used regime change to install US-friendly governments in other regions. A strategy of tension is used to press the population into conformity. But the real revolution is to what extent factual politics escape any attempt to democratic control. Three case studies show how far the Deep State already goes. Democracy is on the brink of survival.
1. Theory
In an earlier paper (Hamm, B. 2010) I suggested an analytical framework for the study of power as it relates to the future of global society. This outline specifically addressed four questions:
- How is the global ruling class structured internally?
- Is it theoretically correct to use the term class for the ruling elite?
- What are the major instruments of power?
- How do these analytical insights impact on the probable future of human society?
Drawing on C. Wright Mills' seminal work on The Power Elite (1956), recent power structure research suggests an ideal-type model of four concentric circles:
- In the inner circle, we find the global money trust, the richest individuals, families or clans, all with fortunes well above one billion Euros.
- The CEOs of big transnational corporations and biggest international financial players make up the second circle. They are mostly concerned with increasing the wealth of the inner circle, and with it their own.
- Top international politicians, some active in governments and international institutions, some more in the background as advisors, plus the top military, compose the third circle. This political class has assignments: organize the distribution of the social product in such a way as to transfer as much as the actual power balance allows into the pockets of the inner and second circles, and secure the legitimacy of government by organizing the political circus of an allegedly pluralistic structure.
- The fourth ring will be composed of top academics, media moguls, lawyers, and may sometimes include prominent authors, film and music stars, artists, NGO representatives, few religious leaders, few top criminals and others useful for decorating the inner circles. They enjoy the privilege of close access to those in power, they are well paid, and they will make sure not to lose such benefits (Hamm, B. 2010:1008-9; see also Phillips, P., Osborne, B. 2013).
It appears that the degree of internationalization of the powerful correlates with their status on the ring hierarchy. The two inner circles have always been international. The third and fourth rings, however, tend to be much more nationally bound (by ownership and by elections) than the first and the second. The inner circle is not static but relatively solid. It builds on financial and social capital often accumulated by former generations (steel industry, banking, weapons, or oil barons). The major source of power is being borne to a family of the inner circle (for example, the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds, the Morgans, the DuPonts, the Vanderbilts, the Agnellis, the Thyssens, and the Krupps, to mention a few) [1].
There are also the nouveaux riches. Names like George Soros, William Gates, Warren Buffet, Marc Zuckerberg, Sheldon Adelson, or the Koch brothers come to mind (Smith, Y. 2013), and the Bush-Clan might also be mentioned here (Bowles, W. 2005); Russian or Eastern European oligarchs like Alisher Usmanov, Mikhail Chodorkowski, Boris Beresowski, Mikhail Fridman, Rinat Ahmetov, Leonid Mikhelson, Viktor Vekselberg, Andrej Melnichenko, Roman Abramovich; then there are Carlos Slim Helu, Lakshmi Mittal, Mukesh Ambani, Jorge Paulo Lemann, Iris Fontbona or Aliko Dangote from the so-called less developed countries. These parvenus tend to be politically more active, at least on the front stage, than the old rich families: George Soros with his Open Society Foundation and his permanent warnings of the evils of unregulated capitalism is the best known for his liberal leanings, while the Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson or Robert Murdoch are aggressively right-wing (Heath, T. 2014; Snyder, M. 2013; Webster, S.C. 2013). The oligarchs of the former Soviet block have almost all grabbed their fortunes during the presidency of Boris Yeltzin who, pathological alcoholic as he was, made room for large scale privatization of state corporations and raw materials after the collapse of the socialist regime. Shock therapy was pushed through under the influence of Western advisors, especially the Harvard privatization program with Jeffrey Sachs as the leading figure, as well the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Jegor Gajdar, Anatoli Tschubais (an oligarch himself) and Alfred Koch [2] were their local executives in Russia (Vaclav Klaus in Czecholovakia, Leszek Balcerowicz in Poland, etc.).
The strategy for the creation of oligarchs and social polarization is easy to understand since it has been practiced by the IMF time and again to this very day as part of their structural adjustment policy (later cynically referred to as "poverty reduction strategy"). What it amounts to is the abolition of all price controls and public subsidies, laying-off civil servants, limiting wages, devaluing currencies, and privatizing public corporations and infrastructure (the so-called Washington Consensus). Widespread poverty is the immediate result, and the other side of the coin is extremely concentrated wealth in just a few hands. If the number of victims multiplied by the gravity of damages done to each of them is used as an indicator, the IMF is certainly the most criminal organization on earth (Chossudovsky, M. 2001).
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August 21, 2014 | seva-riga.livejournal.com
As now citizen often lament "My God, what a bastard you (we) have elected". You chose them now eat you own food! - sardonically answer neighbors...
Why there is such rampant epidemic "democratilly elected psychopath"? From which niche they managed to crawl to power , most importantly, why they reach such a high positions in the corridors of power? Why the most unscrupulous, arrogant, vicious in our time appear at the top of the food pyramid?
I think that everything is very simple. After we created virtual economy based on financial speculation we create servile media. And if you can create virtual reality from any freak, why to use more expensive human material for servants of democracy?
Nobody need a competent, independent, squeaky clean civil servant. They can be managed! And it is the management of those freaks in power positions that is the name of the game. So nobody need those who always have their opinions and can be molded into desired form when necessary. Psychopath are completely different case, especially with vices that even out even modern tolerant society will not accept. That is, they should have the skeleton in the closet, well and properly documented, which is an important and even necessary condition for climbing the power ladder up.
Well for the sheeple, that is, excuse me, the electorate, the media will provide virtual reality based on some modification from the previously created clips will show one, two or three psychopath as completely suitable for the position. And the sheeple -- or, sorry, the electorate will be sure that no other politicians are qualified enough because (see principles of marketing) if you are not on the cover, then you are not in this game.
And to the question: "And why the hell you elected ?" the electorate responds, shrugging his shoulders: "They are all the same!". Of course they are. That was the idea. They all were created by the same incubator. Very similar to those which stamps "pop stars" who are not able to sing we can stamp politicians who are super-aggressive but are not able to think coherently. Because they are easier to manage, and if one misbehaves it is easy to push him in the closet and select another and just replace the image on TV screens and computer monitors.
Because you control the process, not those who vote. To be more exact those who create virtual reality on TV screens. And the camera can be very selective. So election of pre-chosen phychopath is guaranteed no matter what -- sheeple will not vote for the most worthy candidates because it has no idea about the real worth. It will vote for the person who in the focus of TV cameras.
Although, of course, there are exceptions. And carefully selected phychopath, sometimes can suddenly show their teeth. And through the solid barrier of the official media suddenly breaks normal person with a point of view inconvenient to neoliberals. But please notice how rarely this happens those days! Literally within statistical error margin. The system works...
Unfortunately, the art of incubating moral freaks for political positions reached the level of self-sustainable process and termination of this process requires some kind of revolution. A reboot of the entire system of neoliberal social relations. That can happen by what international community calls "global systemic crisis", one feature of which is rejection of neoliberalism as a social system. But as long as oil is still flowing and lubricates the current neoliberal society we are probably long way to this point. .
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April 21, 2014 | Washington Times
America is no longer a democracy - never mind the democratic republic envisioned by Founding Fathers.
Rather, it has taken a turn down elitist lane and become a country led by a small dominant class comprised of powerful members who exert total control over the general population - an oligarchy, said a new study jointly conducted by Princeton and Northwestern universities.
One finding in the study: The U.S. government now represents the rich and powerful, not the average citizen, United Press International reported.
In the study, "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups and Average Citizens," researchers compared 1,800 different U.S. policies that were put in place by politicians between 1981 and 2002 to the type of policies preferred by the average and wealthy American, or special interest groups.
Researchers then concluded that U.S. policies are formed more by special interest groups than by politicians properly representing the will of the general people, including the lower-income class.
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence," the study found.
The study also found: "When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose.
Larry -> Scott Richie81
Stop sending billions to Wall Street and the banks. They don't like us either
Richie81 -> optimistic4thefuture
Gangsters in suits
Shari Peterson -> Richie81
What's the difference? Corporatism is still prevalent, war culture, big brother, militarization of our nation, siding with big pharma/big biotech with ridiculous protections, aligning with oil/gas industries. And so on.
Nothing ever changes. Voting doesn't change anything; if it did they wouldn't allow it.
Sarah Goodwich -> Richie81
Neither, the empire fools them into thinking they have power, when they have none. It's called "keeping the people enslaved by making them think they're free."
Rope_Necktie -> adplatt126
The Tea Party certainly accomplished getting you to bad-mouth them, so they must be doing something right.
adplatt126 -> Rope_Necktie
I didn't badmouth the Tea Party here. And I supported some of its initiatives, particularly early on. I was even at the March on Washington. I'm just acknowledging reality, cold, hard reality. The Tea Party changed nothing. That's not bad-mouthing it. That's just a fair assessment.
I understand that there are honest people out there, all over the country, who banded together and believed in America and believed they could change something. But they can't and they didn't. The corporate owned media will crush any true dissent by whatever nefarious means at their disposal. I knew that from the outset.
What the Tea Party fails to acknowledge as of yet, because they are still wedded to misguided notions of American greatness and fail to see the ways in which business can corrupt many thing from honest governance to functioning democracy, all the way down to basic sense and ethics, is that it isn't big government that is the enemy of ordinary Americans, but the entire government and power structure in America. It's our own government that is the real enemy of America and indeed our primary threat.
That should be pretty obvious to anyone not watching cable television. And if anything good about America is to be preserved, the government must go. It's time for Tea Partiers to accept that whatever country they grew up in, well that country is gone, and it's high time to dismantle this totalitarian nightmare once and for all. I'm talking the whole empire. Anyone still harping on R and D, left and right, is behind the times.
A lot like still debating phlogiston. Reality has moved on. It's time for Americans to move on from their conceptions of "America" as well, because this nation has no governmental or for that matter civilizational connection to the America of the past.
The social Marxist value system of the elite class and now the bulk of the citizenry is much closer to that of the Soviet Union than anything America traditionally has been. These are revolutionary times pal.
gobnait -> adplatt126
How could they when they met opposition from their own party, Einstein?
adplatt126 -> gobnait
"From their own party"? You mean the banks, banksters, multi-nationals and criminal thugs that own the country and most of both parties? I thought that was my point. This is tyranny. There's no choice.
adplatt126 -> Dennis
No, many of the prescriptions are BS. But their message is not entirely wrong. This power structure is beyond criminal and this government is beyond tyrannical. It should be immediately dissolved for the good of everyone in the country. They're not wrong that Americans have no say. That's not BS. This paper virtually proves this truth.
Dennis -> adplatt126
"It should be immediately dissolved for the good of everyone in the country" And be replaced by what??? This form of Govt is still the best ,flawed, still the best ..... Fix the problem term limits ,don't allow the politicians to gain wealth while in office, no retirement.... etc
adplatt126 -> Dennis
Nope, not the best. Not even functioning. No democracy remaining really. This government is literally mandating by law social decline on a historic scale. It should be replaced by autonomous, ideally demilitarized regions. An extreme form of federalism perhaps. The key component is that power, military and monetary is completely decentralized. The best way to achieve that is to dissolve the government and permit new currencies and districts to arise organically and by market processes. Local elections need to be instituted so that government can actually be managed instead of doing literally all of the managing, which it's currently doing, and there should be both proportional representation and public referenda to veto dangerous criminal legislation. I could go on, but at the end of the day, the end of the Republic is the beginning of something better. Because it can't get any worse than this government. This government is systemically corrupt. The U.S. is better than nothing. It's a banana republic with tremendous military power and a citizenry as deluded as the perfectly controlled totalitarian nations of old. Which makes it a very scary banana republic. It should be dismantled post haste. It's already turning its weapons and its tactics on its own citizens through paramilitary campaigns and massive psychological operations, not to mention mass surveillance. Dismantle it and do it now.
Dennis -> adplatt126
Dude you might as well go to a far off wilderness and stay off the grid .... as they say Aint happenin...the direction this country is going will change...But all this info of big corporations in control ,which I dont believe, is no different than the 1800-early 1900's when the Hurst. getty's and the tycoon's of that age had influence
adplatt126 -> Dennis
Nonsense. Did Hearst set up a surveillance state rivalling perhaps only the Nazi state apparatus? Did Rockefeller contrive a massive system of thought and speech control like Political Correctness for ensuring everyone accept at all times and completely Lysenkoist propaganda? Did Carnegie let the whole third world flood into the nation and then prevent states from defending themselves from a foreign invasion? Did a mere 17 percent of the American population of the early 20th century believe the Federal Government ruled with the consent of the people?
Over 1100 fat cats went to prison for their role in the crash of '29. In this most recent crash, only one man, one (who turned himself in and confessed ironically) was sentenced. One. The country will not change.
It will only get worse until the power structure that is perpetuating this totalitarian system and insulating itself from its own crimes, is dismantled. Even if it's held up by wealth and historic advantages for a bit, its utter criminality is no less criminal. Nor should anyone for any moment claim that those who speak out against it are merely speaking to themselves or doing so futilely. Besides, it's only futile on television. And the primary purpose of those on television is to deceive the people into thinking an illegitimate government is legitimate, and that any noble resistance to it is madness, silly, insane, hopeless etc.
The pundits serve first the state and its tyrannical designs. In private circles on the other hand, everyone with a head knows something is terribly amiss. They're gradually figuring out how amiss but they don't know what to do about it. I'm providing a rational solution. Secede, resist, dissolve. Do not bow. Do not comply.
Dennis -> adplatt126
you confuse the 2 subjects I said......"But all this info of big corporations in control ,which I don't believe, is no different than the 1800-early 1900's when the Hurst. Getty's and the tycoon's of that age that had influence"...... pertaining to the story. No I dont like what the feds are doing conserning to ILLEGALS and to PC correctness....but again I see the pendulum swinging the other way...... AND from what i read there was no one that went to prison for the 29 crash......"Did anyone go to jail for precipitating the 1929 collapse?
No. The rampant speculation and eventual crash of 1929 weren't caused by fraud or illegality, but by unreasonable optimism and loose financial regulation. Federal prosecutors eventually brought charges against a couple of the era's most important and aggressive bankers, but the lack of pre-existing rules undermined the government's efforts". so it seems that the last crash was from illegal means BUT it was started by the demorats demanding that banks loan to people with bad credit
Richie81 -> Dennis
If you don't believe it than get your head out the sand and pop your lil bubble as well. 6 companies own every single thing you read in a news paper, see on the news and on the web. There is a reason for that. Don't be naive.
Dennis -> Richie81
Again it is no different that before and no one person/group controlled the USA ....... The news agencies have been filled with one type of mindset ,they have refused to hold "their" guy to the standards that was once there ....... No one is digging into the mess that is there like they did with Watergate,,,, Which at that time was really not that big of a story..... until it exploded
Richie81 -> Dennis
Watergate is nothing compared to the things Bush and Obama have done. Read this if you still dont think so.http://www.newscientist.com/ar...
Dennis -> Richie81
Ooh please Bush never harassed the Libs with the IRS he NEVER sold guns to the Cartels ......I'll give you the part of the NDAA.....
Richie81 -> Dennis
Which had nothing to do with terrorist or 9/11 and that war killed 1 million innocent woman and children. The economy also did crash on his watch. One is not better than the other. At the top they are all the same and have the same policies. Thats why Obama has nearly doubled down on all Bush's FAILED policies.
Dennis -> Richie81
I knew that if you talked long enough I would see where you were coming from..... Iraq had wmd's even clinton said so.... the democrats also voted to go into Iraq after hearing the same thing..... 1 million that's BS with a capital ..... you are starting to sound like the Liberal BS talking points.... why don't go further and say that 9-11 was done by Bush ..you know you want to
Richie81 -> Dennis
So because Clintom said so its true? There were no WMD's found in Iraq and that id a fact? If there were please tell me whem and where they were found??? Yes the democrats did too, that should show you right there that at the top Dems and Reps are for the same major policies when it comes to banking, wars and spying.
1 milliom is another fact. It had to do with the sanctions as well. Before you argue you should really do some research. There is a video of a reporter asking Madeline Albright if the killing of these woman and children were worth it and she says yes.
I will tell you this about 9-11, I dont know what happened but I definitely dont believe the official story. Your telling me a guy (OBL) who drove around in trucks with AK47s strapped to the top of them and lives in a bunker in a mountain was able to bypass the greatest military to ever exist and bypasd the most guarded airspace on earth? Now that's a conspiracy if I ever heard one. Don't forget the guys with box cutters too.
Dennis -> Richie81
because "they" didn't find them..... so it means Saddam never had them ...... Great logic..."Saddam realized, this time, the Americans are coming," Sada said. "They handed over the weapons of mass destruction to the Syrians.".....you go one believing what you want.... I dont believe in conspiracies....I know OBL did try what 2-3 times to damage the WTC ...he finally found the way to do it ....remember that hijacking and ramming planes into buildings had NEVER been done like that before...... The enemy are the extreme Muslims ...But I have said that ANY muslim will become extreme.....they just need to become a radical believer
Richie81 -> Dennis
He did invade Iraq after 9/11 off of false pretenses.
Richie81 -> Dennis
Flawed??? Are you kidding? It's a disgrace to what this country was founded on. There is a reason the founding fathers had so many quotes about times like these. There is also a reason why they are not taught in schools. They'd rather you pledge allegiance blindly.
Dennis -> Richie81
So what would you replace instead of this Constitution and this form of Government??
Richie81 -> Dennis
I wouldnt replace the constitution. I would re-enforce it line by line. The reason we are in this mess is because we are getting away from what our founding princioles were. To big to fail is fascism not capitalism. Corporations arent people and should not be able to bribe politicians. We should have more choices than just two (Dem&Rep). We need term limits on ALL politicians.
lihartke -> adplatt126
Like ANY NEW political party you will NEVER win every race. Trying to beat out powerful incumbents with the full force of the establishment against you is not an easy task. If you think there are MIRACLE candidates out there you are mistaken. One by one there will be a wedge put in this gov't until they are forced to do the will of the people. Democrats shoved healthcare down our throats when we clearly said no. A leader who is supposed to be representing the people but votes against them should be HUNG. GOD BLESS THE TEA PARTY. You go ahead and be enamored by your party and I will sit and laugh at you as you are told to sit down and shut up while they steal us blind and tell us to eat cake. Enjoy the Empire we have built for them -FOOL.
contrarian35 -> adplatt126
Well, in fairness, the Tea Party had no prayer of meaningful legislation because they held a minority. But they sure did block a lot. I actually believe that the conservatively minded are our last bastion of hope, and hope that they clean sweep the Senate with this election. But believe fundamentally that Soros has a firm rig on the elections, so I am not holding my breath.
And even if they do sweep in, there will still be GOP establishment fighting for big business, so either way, you're looking at a fight. It is not all lost, though, until they have our guns too. And that is not going to be a fight won easily. Of this, I am absolutely sure.
Sarah Goodwich -> Jimtaryon
It makes no difference which despot holds power, it's still despotism.
The USA has been an oligarchy ever since Lincoln, since that's when the People lost their consent to government; and now government holds all the power, since their elected officials aren't bound to obey them; and the People can't do a thing about it other than elect someone ELSE who's not bound to obey them.
But no one will dare fault Lincoln, so we're screwed.
AceTrace -> Sonshine
And look no further than our diabolical Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for that. He's corrupt down to his bone marrow, amassing wealth & power for himself, his family and his cronies. The rest of us be damned.
Richie81 -> AceTrace
All of them are corrupt at the top. From Bush to Obama, they are all the same. It don't matter though, because most American are to naive and will just continue to fight each other over political parties while be screwed and laughed at by both.
Edward98 -> AceTrace
Both parties are in this together.
Richie81 -> Edward98
Yes they both are and its sad to see the left and right bickering at each other instead of their own parties who are actually responsible for all this.
AceTrace -> AceTrace
From the article: "One concluding finding in the study: The U.S. government now represents the rich and powerful, not the average citizen, United Press International reported."
RightWingFoamControl -> Sonshine
Money is being used to undermine all American citizens political power. Congress has gathered so much power that it no longer cares about what the American people want.
Larry Scott -> Sonshine
CONGRESS? your mean that bunch of sycophants on sale to the highest bidder? Neither the right or left can trust them. Maybe if Putin invaded Long Island they could get together long enough to vote something for the USA as they did for Ukrainians. Billions of dollars for them while we taxpayers can't get them to do anything but call each other names.
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marknesop.wordpress.com
patient observer, June 22, 2014 at 6:20 pmNo less of a university than Princeton has declared democracy is dead in the US:Jen, June 22, 2014 at 7:00 pm
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy
I wonder about the methodology but can't say the results are surprising.Here's a link to the Princeton University / Northwestern University report if you want to see how the researchers carried out their study:yalensis, June 23, 2014 at 2:49 am
http://www.princeton.edu/~mgilens/Gilens%20homepage%20materials/Gilens%20and%20Page/Gilens%20and%20Page%202014-Testing%20Theories%203-7-14.pdfUSA no longer a democracy?
"I am shocked! Shocked!"
(Claude Rains)
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Yuri Kochevenko: IMHO the Maidan already did its dirty work. Event worse then Maidan is difficult to imaginet. If we speak about Klitschko, then it is worth remembering that the Maidan was not organized by our "legal" political opposition. The later was forced to catch up with events. They were not able to guide Maidan, only to run after him, aside from the instinct of political self-preservation. This is probably the worst of all possible situations.
So Maidan, by and large, was disadvantageous to the opposition, because they would get all those chairs sooner or later. But the Maidan, in addition to catastrophic problems that the new government faced, added the feeling of fear and uncertainty in their future.
The political elite is a single organism, no matter under which political brands they walk. The essence of the elite is that this is a club which is very difficult to join. And only if you are already is it, you can negotiate with other members of the elite. Maidan is a threat to the whole political elite. And this is not a good development, as a sharp elimination of the old elite will lead to redistribution in the spirit of the 90's, without changing the quality of the elite. Qualitatively change the system only through a gradual evolutionary dismantling the old elite, through the personal responsibility of the voter. Recent elections have clearly shown, as we are far from that. However, this is a topic for a separate discussion.
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Kunio [12] have conducted studies on south east asia, while Mancur Olson[18] based his study on Russia economy in 80-90s. But then we know that similar situation can be extended to either USA or Japan economy,[1][6] i.e. that clan capitalism or ersatz capitalism can be found in all national economies both in deve loping countries and developed countries alike. The old phrase that 'money is the root of all evil' can be extended to become 'the root of all evil is money, power and clan.' To put emphasis on this framework, we should say that there is no such thing as a perfect building or house, because each house imposes particular defect or imperfection, just like in Le Corbusier's imperfection architectural style in the past decades.[17]The question then is to start with such defects as norm, and then work based on that situation. We hope that this article can be considered as star ting point for imperfect economy study (not only asymmetric information), based on starting hypothesis that there is no such thing as 'normal economy.' All economy is influenced by a number of clan groups and also numerous sub-groups which join to those clans' back wagon, and those create an ersatz- capitalism infected economy.
Quoted from a recent article: "This echoes some other crony capitalism contexts - Russia comes to mind - but differs from others, such as many cases in Latin America, and is unusual in a country with as much recent political stability as America."[1] That is what is supposed to happen in US.
What does happen in russia?
There are a number of viewpoint arguments have been pointed out to explain problems in Russia economy, i.e. neoliberalism, (neo-)keynesian , and clan capitalism argument. Of course, the neoliberalism proponents would argue that liberalism advises have never been put into practice, as quoted from an article:
"In short, the neo-liberals explain the collapse of the Russian economy in terms of the perverse inc entives provided by the policies and practices of the Russian government: failure, corruption and criminality is rewarded, while legitimate business activity is penalized. The collapse of production and investment is the result of the absence of the 'order and good govern ment' that is the necessary foundation of liberal capitalism."[2]
And the keynesian proponent will argue that excessive liberalization and privatization has been put into effect in the past decade without sufficient preparation and transition, which then make the situation even worse.
The third argument, that is by clan capitalism proponent, would say that clan groups always take place amidst the transition process and their activities include sabotaging numerous amount of development fund from external sources for their own clan groups. At the end of the transition process, then the economy takes the form of strengthened and consolidated clan capitalism, where excessive power is obtained by a few number of clan groups only, while leaving the rest of the public remain in suffering condition. A short description is given as follows:
" Under crony capitalism selected economic elites receive preferential treatment and privileges, thus making support from the state rather than market forces a crucial factor for maintaining and accruing wealth ."[3]
Then one need to define what is clan capitalism. A useful term is suggested by Kosals[4], that is clan capitalism , which possibility to become worsening further and become oligarch capitalism [4, p.8]. The purpose of clan is as described as f ollows:
" First of all, such clan isn't a group of relatives but it is business entity with for profit activity...The general strategic purpose of the cla n is to accumulate the resources and to expand its power and influence in the field of operation. Every clan intends to reach a stable position and to control external environment, to create favor external socioeconomic and political conditions. Many clans desire to become a monopoly to protect internal operation." [4, p.11]
According to Kosals, elements of the clan include [ 4]:
- chieftain: that is charismatic leader which control all operations of the clan;
- the core: key persons which are closest collaborators of the chieftain.
- skilled professionals: that is specialists who a re hired with high salary.
- ordinary members: those are specialists and manual workers employed in business entities.
- agents of influence: people outside it but serving it because of their unique positions in the media, law enforcement agencies etc.
Quoted from Kosals: "the most powerful clans are in industries dealing with extraction, processing and export of natural resources (oil, ga s, metals); FSB; financing; military; law enforcement agencies; defense industries." [4, p.20 ] Other quote: "The biggest clans at every level headed by so called oligarchs. There are around one - two hundreds of oligarchs at every level, therefore, obviously, near one thou sand oligarchs are operating in Russia totally" [4, 23]
The situation apparently do not happen only in Russia, but also in Latin America. Quoted from Kosals: "Cronyism is one of the specific features of clan capitalism. It was examined in detail within analysis of the specific model of capitalism developing in Latin America crony capitalism." [4, 27]
That is why, one need to take a look further on the impact of clan capitalism and its respective negative impact to overall economy of a given country. One should begin that clan capitalism which is inevitably infectious but already epidemic in numerous states, either in the form of shadow economy, crony capitalism, ersatz capitalism, clan capitalism, or even oligarch economy. One can even hypothesize that actually clan capitalism is more than exception as often assumed; it is market economy governed by small business entities which is an exception. There is no such thing as free market economy, as all economies are cronies-infected.
Clan capitalism is a chronic disease, but the fact is that all economies suffer from more or less the same chronic disease. See Appendix I for responses to a questionnaire.
... ... ...
Another thing worth to consider is to study the pattern of 'clotting' of those clan groups among other democracy and economy institutions. In this regards, one can remember Amartya Sen's hypothesis sometime ago that is: that democracy can affect distribution of wealth in a given nation, and that bad democracy may bring unequal distribution of products, which make many people in a nation suffer much more.If we extend this hypothesis a bit further, then one can hypothesize that (i) there is always tendency for clan groups to influence democracy system including news /media as the fourth pillar of democracy, in order to alter the course of distribution of resources for their advantage .
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