#American Oligarchy

[tomorrowusa]

There's only so much room in a cartoon. But I would have included the outfit worn by The Eyes – the secret police in Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale.

J.D. Vance is a radical extremist. Don't let anybody attempt to normalize him.

J.D. Vance’s Extreme Political Positions on Everything From Abortion to Staying in a Violent Marriage for the Sake of the Kids

[danu2203]

[aspiringbelle]

It is worth noting that there are candidates not on that list. While not being on the list does not necessarily make one a good person, it does show that any supporters you have are genuine.

Source

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Year after year and just keeps going

[thedearlydepart]

America started with the best of intentions. “Jefferson sought to establish a federal government of limited powers” (Library of Congress, n.d.), and even though a form of capitalism has always existed in America, I don’t think Jefferson or anyone at the time could have predicted the growth it would have and how dependent upon it we would become. I don’t think it was by design, but due to the inherent exploitative nature of capitalism and more to the point, the influence of wealth and corporations, America now functions more like an oligarchy..

Well, you may ask why we are having the conversation. Why does it matter how we classify or define the structure of our government? Psychology Today tells us, “Our frames of reference are extremely important for making decisions that are consistent with our values, aligned with our preferences, and relevant to our past experiences.” (Grawitch, 2021). If we think that our government is a democracy, a democratic republic, or anything of that ilk, it sets us up to make decisions that, in the best-case scenario, have no effect and, in the worst, have an opposite effect.

We have known it for a long time but haven’t had the words to explain it. Many people wouldn’t even understand what an oligarchy is. So, if you ask a regular person what kind of government we have, They have only been told that we are a democracy, that we are the only country with freedom and other patriotic epithets. In the Oxford Union Video, Cenk Uygur cites a study that says 93% of Americans say money corrupts politics. Coming to terms with the reality that it’s not and not understanding completely what that means is a scary thought. It’s even more terrifying when you realize you are already in it, and there isn’t anything you can do about it. Uygur also states that the most significant impact on policy and politics was donor contribution, NOT VOTING. So much so, according to Uygur (and substantiated by Politico), in 2008, Citigroup, via ex-exec Michael Froman, handed Obama’s team a list of people who would eventually become his cabinet members. (Wheaton, 2016).

As the video from our required readings suggests, We have a style of government in which we still vote, and that vote indirectly decides who will be our next executive. To some degree, one could argue that that means democracy still exists. However, the same video suggests that only the person who spends the most money (special interest groups and billionaires) essentially determines who will win a given election. (Counter Arguments, 2019). So, I feel it’s safe to say that We are an Oligarch.

References

Counter Arguments. (2019, April 1). America Is A Democracy. YouTube. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://youtu.be/lJUQKcnWzIg?si=u-BmxYU4YHmqnqEv&t=539

Grawitch, M. (2021, June 28). Your Frame of Reference Influences Your Decision Making. Psychology Today. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hovercraft-full-eels/202106/your-frame-reference-influences-your-decision-making

Library of Congress. (n.d.). Establishing A Federal Republic - Thomas Jefferson | Exhibitions. Library of Congress. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html

Oxford Union & Uygur, C. (2017, June 27). Democracy Is For Sale | Cenk Uygur | Part 5 of 6. Youtube. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://youtu.be/YrKeseMRABs?si=8JCu9dCmUulaQTTL&t=280

Wheaton, S. (2016, October 20). WikiLeaks trove shows Obama in 2008 prepping to move into the White House. Politico. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/wikileaks-obama-white-house-230114

[solarbird]

I just want to get it out there that Elon Musk keeps saying – in words – that the Trump plan is to crash the economy. He keeps saying it, because he thinks it’s a good thing. Ordinary Americans will have to “embrace the pain.” People like him won’t have to do that, of course not!

But, you know.

You.

The little people.

Then and only then, after a big crash, will the economy be allowed to recover under what one supposes would be a new hyper-austerity regime.

From all historical experience, this “austerity” regime would really be a looter regime. It’d also be deflationary, which is great if you’re a billionaire and terrible if you’re everyone else, since most people will make less and less over time, while the billionaires will keep more and more since the rich won’t be paying any taxes, and the value of their stored wealth – their idle, uninvested, non-productive money caches – will increase all on its own.

The MAGA government would be gambling on the idea that American memory is so short that they’ll forget before the collapse.

Well, that, and…

And I give this credence because, well, one, yeah, Trump’s plans will crash the economy. But I also give it credence because of something Trump said before even running for office. He said this:

When the economy crashes, when the country goes to total hell and everything is a disaster, then you’ll have riots to go back to where we used to be when we were great. – Donald J. Trump on Fox and Friends, 2014

Because Elon’s saying that’s the plan this time. It wasn’t the plan last time maybe, but it’s the plan this time. And “go back to where we used to be” was white supremacy with women as men’s property. That’s what he wants.

Trump’s Director of Whitehouse Personnel just today called to end voting rights for women, saying that women shouldn’t vote and that the 19th Amendment “might have to go.”

I mean really, at this point in the campaign, what people generally need to be focusing on is getting out the vote. But sometimes things happen that are big enough to talk about, like the explosion of race hate coming out of the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. And that raw hatred – and their doubling down on it on Monday and Tuesday – is the most important item this week, absolutely.

But for the “fuck you I got mine” crowd amongst your friends, particularly the ones who are perfectly happy to laugh at racial hate jokes and really kinda like it since hey, it’s not their problem, well…

I would think that intentionally crashing the economy might give them something to care about.

Just maybe.

Because Elon keeps saying it, out loud. Elon, who would be in a Trump administration, who would be the one doing the broad strokes of fiscal planning, keeps saying that they will crash the economy, and that they will do it on purpose.

That might be something to tell your more racist family and friends.

Maybe – just maybe – they’ll care about that.

5 days remain.

[bookwyrmonastring]

I have good news!

There's so many hardships and tragedies in the world. Too bad no one's found the warlock that's causing this

[novelistparty]

did you know that bill fucking gates paid for tons and tons of Hawaiian beach sand to be shipped to his shitty mansion on the shores of Lake Washington near Seattle and still we don't have universal healthcare??? that that "champion" of global health hasn't bought himself a few senators that'll vote to provide care for everyone in his own country....

[etherealhoneypie]

me placing my vote today

[lovingbeta]

Socialism is bad as long as it’s for working people. When it’s for the rich, it’s capitalism.

[sataniccapitalist]

"Master Plan": New Lever Podcast Series Traces How Oligarchs "Legalized Corruption" in U.S.

[nando161mando]

This is oligarchy

This is fascism

[lenbryant]

LOL. Oligarchs 'R Us. TrumPutin, Inc. is about to roll right over us all.

[belongstolove]

Vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party and Minnesota governor Tim Walz stopped in Window Rock, AZ where snipers lined the monument and three Diné citizens were brutalized by his staffers during the Harris/Walz campaign stop. Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren announced the public event the day before, 10 days before the general election.

While standing in the crowd, a Diné woman was continuously harassed by authorities and attacked by a Walz staffer, while another Diné man was brutalized and arrested. Meanwhile, Buu Nygren, President of the Navajo Nation, was getting heckled about his missing Vice President and another woman chanting for Trump in the crowd. It was clear that campaign staffers weren’t clamping down on "disruptors", rather, they were targeting Diné people--on their own homelands--policing anyone who supports Palestine.

[benjaminallhope-fulltimemind]

This is disgusting and disheartening, these people have entered our nation legally and yet are treated no better than slaves. The federal program is rife with loopholes and a severe lack of oversight and enforcement that allows these abused and exploitation to be widespread. For example employers can provide food at a cost but it must not charge the workers beyond a certain amount (around $11 or $12) yet these employers flagrantly ignore these regulations and charge up to $200 which can total half a paycheck from supremely subpar food. Employers are also supposed to allow workers access to stoves and fridges for the purpose of cooking and storing food yet pictures and videos have circulated of locked fridges and cabinets in these farms and labor camps. If a worker tries to report violations or speak out retaliation is common, a simple punishment is abusing the worker to another camp or simply discharging them from the program often without legal recourse or ability to challenge the actions. and to the people who go 'well they aren't US citizens so why should we care?' this is almost no better than slavery, to condine inaction or resisting reform is to invite an 'acceptable' form of slavery which pollutes and rots our nation just like it did during the 18th century. Plus it also creates economic disadvantages for American labor, this isn't a mandatory program these farms and the national associations that help run this program simply want dirt cheap labor that they can exploit and abuse with little hassle. If they could they would enslave fellow US citizens to do the labor for free, that's why it's imperative to end the loopholes and make sure everyone in our nation citizens or not aren't being exploited!!

[howifeltabouthim]

The world would be better off without its oligarchs.

Rachel Khong, from Real Americans