De Tocqueville's observation during Andrew Jackson's presidency was, "The nations of our time cannot prevent the conditions of men from becoming equal, but it depends upon themselves whether the principle of equality is to lead them to servitude or freedom, to knowledge or barbarism to prosperity or wretchedness". My contention, after events on Charlottesville, VA is that servitude, barbarism and wretchedness are winning. We may have already lost our democracy and simply do not know it!
The crisis in our democracy extends to our foreign relations, being degraded by our own president, whose right wing fringe of supporters have no problem with entertaining first strike policy in dealing with North Korea. As Edward Luce points out in The Retreat of Western Liberalism, "we have put arsonists in charge of the fire brigade". I can only conclude that the origin of this absurdity is a president who does not understanding the meaning of the term "nuclear winter". But there is precedent here, is there not? Witness Lyndon Johnson conspiring with Robert McNamara and the US Navy to start the infamous Vietnam war, staging a phony attack in the Gulf of Tonkin. The erosion of democracy is not a sudden single event.
One of the greatest forces in this erosion is money. The Supreme Court in Citizens United case (5-4) five years ago decreed that, "Spending is speech, and is therefore protected by the Constitution — even if the speaker is a corporation" This led to creation of the super PACs, which act as shadow political parties accepting unlimited donations from billionaires, corporations and unions and use it to buy advertising that buys elections. Couple this with the enormous concentration of wealth in the 0.1% and it spells control of democracy by the super-rich, not the people. It means corruption of the legislative branch of government at all levels.
One of Luce's central contentions is that an example of our failing democracy was the financial crisis of 2008, specifically due to failure of the regulators. This was coupled with a degradation of corporate treatment of employees, indignity and lack of respect. Certainly the desire to take back control of their lives was a theme in the recent presidential election. Luce notes that nearly 60% of the workforce is now paid hourly. The disparity in incomes and the contraction of the middle class is a critical failure of the rich. He sums by saying that the rich need to emerge from their post-modern Versailles. The failure of democracy to maintain a balanced income between haves and have-nots is why the people have lost faith that their system can deliver.
We know there is no way to measure the health of a democracy-- no litmus test, but we do know what forces are at work to destroy it. The concentrated power of lobbies for example. We the people seem powerless in the face of the NRA [National Rifle Association] and the big Pharma lobbies. Even after the killing of 20 children and 6 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the senate refused to pass even the most common sense gun control legislation. The power of big Pharma is evidenced in the congress preventing the government bargaining the price of drugs.
The most egregious example of loss of democracy and polarization is gerrymandering--the practice of fixing district boundaries to protect the political interests of incumbents. "Fixed seats" means no compromise and is the core of the Tea Party. This condition together with the effort of Republicans to infringe upon voting rights of blacks and minorities may prove irreversible. Indeed, the Republican Party as Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein note in It's Even Worse Than it Was, has become ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional under-standing of facts, evidence, and science; and dismissive of legitimacy of its political opposition, all but declaring war on the government."
Let me stress that neither party is without blame. The tampering with senate rules by playing majority voting against 2/3s, the dissolution of process--witness absence any healthcare reform hearings in this congress, and the poor record of congressional oversight of intelligence and national security agencies is sickening. But the crowning force tearing down democracy is the lack of constructive effort by the two party system. The Republican Party is primarily to blame. As David Brooks pointed out in a recent editorial in the NewYorkTimes, (Aug 29th) "..the Republican Party has changed since 2005. Their party has become a vehicle for white identity and racial conflict". "It's ironic that race was the issue that created the Republican Party and that race could very will be the issue that destroys it".
It has been said many times that democracy is an experiment, which like any experiment may very well fail. More depressing is the absence of a force that will turn it around. At this point in time, I just don't see it happening; not while the Koch brothers are running the show.
One of Luce's central contentions is that an example of our failing democracy was the financial crisis of 2008, specifically due to failure of the regulators. This was coupled with a degradation of corporate treatment of employees, indignity and lack of respect. Certainly the desire to take back control of their lives was a theme in the recent presidential election. Luce notes that nearly 60% of the workforce is now paid hourly. The disparity in incomes and the contraction of the middle class is a critical failure of the rich. He sums by saying that the rich need to emerge from their post-modern Versailles. The failure of democracy to maintain a balanced income between haves and have-nots is why the people have lost faith that their system can deliver.
We know there is no way to measure the health of a democracy-- no litmus test, but we do know what forces are at work to destroy it. The concentrated power of lobbies for example. We the people seem powerless in the face of the NRA [National Rifle Association] and the big Pharma lobbies. Even after the killing of 20 children and 6 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the senate refused to pass even the most common sense gun control legislation. The power of big Pharma is evidenced in the congress preventing the government bargaining the price of drugs.
The most egregious example of loss of democracy and polarization is gerrymandering--the practice of fixing district boundaries to protect the political interests of incumbents. "Fixed seats" means no compromise and is the core of the Tea Party. This condition together with the effort of Republicans to infringe upon voting rights of blacks and minorities may prove irreversible. Indeed, the Republican Party as Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein note in It's Even Worse Than it Was, has become ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional under-standing of facts, evidence, and science; and dismissive of legitimacy of its political opposition, all but declaring war on the government."
Let me stress that neither party is without blame. The tampering with senate rules by playing majority voting against 2/3s, the dissolution of process--witness absence any healthcare reform hearings in this congress, and the poor record of congressional oversight of intelligence and national security agencies is sickening. But the crowning force tearing down democracy is the lack of constructive effort by the two party system. The Republican Party is primarily to blame. As David Brooks pointed out in a recent editorial in the NewYorkTimes, (Aug 29th) "..the Republican Party has changed since 2005. Their party has become a vehicle for white identity and racial conflict". "It's ironic that race was the issue that created the Republican Party and that race could very will be the issue that destroys it".
It has been said many times that democracy is an experiment, which like any experiment may very well fail. More depressing is the absence of a force that will turn it around. At this point in time, I just don't see it happening; not while the Koch brothers are running the show.
