After some thirty years of teaching political ideologies and concepts of democracy, both ideal and real as played out in U.S. government and law, I have come to the realization that the fabric of democracy has weakened to the point of disintegration. The problem stems not only from the “tweedle-dee. tweedle-dum” nature of two major political parties, observed already by several correspondents, but also by the increasing power of pressure groups, corporations and moneyed classes in the U.S. These special interests have taken over all three branches of government as well as the Fourth Estate and media. The result is that average folks become cynical and apathetic, not even bothering to vote in elections.
I suppose one could argue that this industrial/military complex is not different from the l950’s, or early 20th century for that matter. However, in both those periods, labor unions did provide a real or potential counterweight to the robber barons. Unions are dead today. Newspapers were many and varied; today they are owned by media giants that make no distinction between news and entertainment.
In addition, a sense of community, noblesse oblige, and even guilt that encouraged the likes of Andrew Carnegie to donate millions of dollars for libraries, concert halls, and schools no longer exists. In contrast, billionaires today take their money to off-shore islands to avoid taxes, outsource jobs to third world and emerging global economies, and cut employees and benefits to pay higher dividends to their stockholders. Cheating, cooking the books, and inside trading are so common that "ethics" is a fantasy with no basis in corporate behavior.
Sadly, the most victimized in this cruel system are not just the poor and disadvantaged, but also the American middle class that lives under the illusion that their kids might someday be able to live like sports professionals and vulgar celebrities that flash across our TV and movie screens. Even if not that starry-eyed, they presume their children will have all the advantages they enjoyed – low cost college education, two vehicles (one a SUV) in the garage, and a yearly trip to Disneyland. Ah, Disneyland, the place of dreams and fairy-tales….the perfect escape for us who have no health insurance and little access to reasonably cost medicine. The other escape is gambling at one of the many casinos cropping up all over the landscape.
In the days when I taught high school students that the middle class and a high literacy rate were basic to a democratic society, I had no idea that so many U.S. citizens of the 21st century would be lobotomized by inane, mindless media, formulated to “dumb-down” the citizenry. Given this mess here at home, with what conscience can the Bushies say we are going to bring democracy to Iraq!