Late stage capitalism in the United States has a decidedly ominous character for the overdeveloped nations soon to continue along the same path. The nation’s government, through rigid adherence to its archaic system of governance and written laws, has been transformed into an oligarchy. Only half of its 240 million eligible voters regularly turn out. The rest don’t vote because they know their voices won’t be heard. Despite the framework of the constitution defending local practices and essential laying the groundwork for autonomous workers’ collectives, the United States government has stood on the side of corporations throughout its history and literally massacred labor movements looking for a voice. These corporations now hold the votes that matter; through lobbying their power grows ever more immense, unaffected by the voice of countless populist historical movements.
This system does not take into account the technological advances made in the 200 years since the country’s founding for true democracy. We can vote in real time for awards shows, reality programs, and singers, but somehow our elections are increasingly undemocratic through outside influences such as lobbying groups? The country has all of the makings of true democracy, yet it is acknowledged that “U.S. voter turnout trails most developed countries” (Pew Research, 2015). So why does that happen in the supposedly most democratic nation in the world according to the propaganda? Well for starters, the country doesn’t actually export or demand democracy as it claims. Those are quite simply lies and fronts for imperialist wars of aggression that usually support American business interests. Dictatorship is actually a more common outcome of the U.S. wars ‘in the name of democratic principles’.
In the United States, this lack of a praxis of true democracy combines with a strict adherence to archaic documents and ignoring the technological innovations that could make the U.S. live up to the promises it makes to represent a truly democratic nation. The U.S. has actually taken more steps backwards than forward. Corporate interests aside for now, the United States has worked to actively remove the civics education needed to learn as an informed voting population. The voting public is kept willfully ignorant by removing the first step to participatory democracy. Though it existed in the past, today 84% of U.S. states do not test for civics knowledge proficiency.
So where does a potential voter turn when the education system has led them nowhere? Surely in the information age, there must be government resources or websites to fill this gap and provide transparency to the U.S. elections process, its elected and potential candidates, and the legislation that is being worked on by these candidates, as a sort of electoral review by the population. Surprisingly, none of that information is widely disseminated or available to the population. Voters are expected to show initiative and use unsanctioned sponsors to determine the outcome of the entire nation’s politics. Surely this is not what that ‘founding fathers’ had in mind.
In fact, what it has become is corporate lobbyists becoming the most educated on the political scene, while the American public is misinformed by television and radio advertising that currently allows for countless millions to be spent on unverified propaganda. This leads prideful American voters to rely upon their gut instincts from an inundation of alternative truths from each political campaign, and creates a very ignorant and defensive voting population. And this just perpetuates a cycle of politicians bought and paid for by corporate interests to serve that very same entity instead of its citizens. So for all of the pundits wondering how Donald Trump got elected, you can see.
Donald Trump represents the American dream. A privileged white child not disadvantaged by racial prejudice, with access to his father’s inheritance for investment capital. He is crude (straightforward), associates with pedophiles (ladies’ man), and doesn’t read books because in America you don’t need to be very smart to become successful. You just need to take advantage of primitive accumulation and it is a boon if you have narcissistic personality disorder to help your exploits remove any humanity felt for your exploited victims (including sexual exploits). Trump knew what America wanted. He promised the working class a throwback to an era of prosperity which they have never experienced, and transparency to the political game it turns out Trump himself was only playing for his own personal benefit. That is America’s essence.
Children of the Revolution 