American democracy

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American

Democracy The World’s Second

Biggest Sham

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American Democracy : The World’s Second Biggest ShamCopyright © 2009 by Shivaprasad SrikantiaAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, or otherwise without explicit prior permission from the author and

publisher.

Contains extracts from the book titled AMERICAN

CAPITALISM, AMERICANOMICS, & MULTINATIONAL

CORPORATIONS - The concealed economic

and political secrets of capitalism that made America

a superpower in less than one century, by Shiv Srikantia.

First Edition :

A06030610

EQUATION MERIDIAN (Publishing & Syndication)

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Limited edition

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American Democracy : The World’s Second Biggest Sham

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Presenting the World’s First Reference Handbook for Diplomats, Politicians, and Foreign Policy Makers living in an American-Centric world !

AMERICAN CAPITALISM, AMERICANOMICS, &

MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS - The concealed

economic and political secrets of capitalism that made America

a superpower in less than one century, by Shiv Srikantia.

International paperback edition : 530 pages

www.lulu.com/croydonbooks


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THE AXIOMS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

While it is believed that America represents the world’s oldest democracy, it is alsowidely believed that India represents the world’s largest democracy. However,neither nation can boast of an enlightened pool of citizens capable of understandingthe sophisticated tenets of democracy. While America represents a democracy ofuninformed citizens, India represents a democracy of illiterate citizens. Based onThomas Jefferson’s ideals, both these democracies would be looked upon as completeshams. The Indian democracy is the greatest sham. The American democracy is thesecond biggest sham.

In the real world scenario, religion, democracy, and honest public administrationcannot coexist peacefully. Within most democracies, religion tends to suppress freespeech. Religious societies persecute intellectuals. When societies support a largenumber of uninformed or illiterate people who are drawn to temples, churches,mosques, and synagogues, the death of democracy begins. In such democracies, thethe general consensus of the ignorant masses might turn out to be horribly erroneous.Ignorance, illiteracy, and religious faith could be hazardous for a democraticestablishment. In fact, even the American constitution clearly emphasizes theseparation of church and state. This is the most fundamental principle that needs tobe kept in mind by those wielding political power. However, Presidents, politicians,state government officials, federal government officials, and town officials routinelyignore the guidelines embedded within the constitution. Most citizens have not beenmade to understand the fundamental spirit of the constitution. Even during legal trialsin everyday life, defense lawyers gently remind the jury and point out how theconstitution has been violated.

Good liberal arts education gives ordinary citizens something to talk about other thanfootball, baseball, basketball, and the movies. Unlike science and business education,liberal arts education in a democracy empowers people with a remarkable body ofmoral and political wisdom handed down through generations. It also moves citizensaway from senseless violence, and instructs them to behave more responsibly.


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As America claims to represent the oldest democracy in the world, it would beworthwhile examining her democratic journey through the centuries. Incidentally,a wide array of books in American bookstores beckon citizens to learn about the newmoral and political dilemmas faced by America’s military-industrial plutocracy.Incidentally, William Hudson has written a book titled American Democracy in Peril:

Eight Challenges to America’s Future.

The Russians, North Koreans, and Chinese will point out that the principle ofdemocracy in itself is full of glaring internal contradictions. Democracies that respectthe rights of citizens often become too dysfunctional. Democracies that are repressiverun more smoothly than democracies that guarantee a lot of freedom. In fact, if welook closely, we observe that even the American democracy is somewhat repressive.Edgar Hoover, the most infamous director of the FBI is alleged to have abused hisauthority to maintain a well oiled American democracy. Many scholars believe thatEdgar Hoover brazenly violated civil liberties. For instance, during the Korean Warin 1950, Hoover wanted nearly 12,000 Americans to be imprisoned on frivolouscharges. To many self respecting American citizens, it seemed as if Edgar Hooverwas interested in establishing a police state by grossly overstating the threat fromdissidents and subversives. However, President Truman was clever enough to knowthat Edgar Hoover’s recommendations were absurd, irrational, and impractical.

In recent decades, American military commanders who fought wars did not knowwhat they were actually fighting for. The real reasons for military aggression washidden away as classified information by the civilian leadership in the White House.The reasons given to Congress, news media, and the military units were miles awayfrom the truth. In a democracy, public support has to be obtained through deception.On the other hand, dictatorships that seek no public support can afford to be moretruthful. In fact, dictators brazenly disclose their wily intentions.

It is now possible to examine the degenerative evolution of the American democracyduring a period of 200 years, and build a set of guiding axioms. The first axiom ofgovernance is that a bad political decision by the White House administration wouldbe better than no decision at all. It is said that the earlier generation of AmericanPresidents took extremely bold decisions, and sincerely hoped that future Presidentswould correct many of their serious mistakes. As America was a military superpower,she had the political strength to withstand a lot of flak without buckling.


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Most American Presidents wanted to boldly exercise their authority and move on,without getting bogged down by minute details. Therefore, American Presidents oftenmade decisions in a hurry. In the White House and the Pentagon establishmentshandicapped miserably with a strong labor class heritage, human emotions rather thanintellectual reasoning guided military decisions. The decisions to use nuclearwarheads in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were driven by human emotions. The decisionsto go to wars in Vietnam and Iraq were made without carefully examining groundrealities or deeper political consequences.

Recently, a senior American military commander in Iraq resigned. According to therumor mill, he was disappointed with the quality of decision making at the WhiteHouse. Many decisions made from the White House have resulted in foreign policyfiascos and military blunders. In fact, a string of bad decisions have eventually gotAmerica entangled in nearly 50 military expeditions.

A few thoughtlessly framed American policies have drawn third world nationsunfairly into staggering levels of debt. Later, American politicians, capitalists, andopportunists have tried to negotiate debt reduction in exchange for permission toannex the nation’s mineral wealth or oil reserves. In some other instances, Americanpoliticians have tried to negotiate debt reduction deals in exchange for permission toset up military bases. In practice, these unethical schemes have worked very well. Ithas made America an economic and military superpower.

Thomas Peterson has written a voluminous book titled Major Problems in American

Foreign Policy. Incidentally, George Kennan, an eminent political scientist in theWhite House administration constantly criticized American foreign policy and thebrash way in which Presidents made decisions. In the last century, George Kennanwas every President’s worst nightmare. As he had a long life and lived for 101 years,policy makers had to face George Kennan’s criticisms for nearly 70 years.

American Presidents believed that even if they did something terribly wrong, thenations of the world would eventually back them. This is the second axiom. Duringthe last century, civilizations of the world had been ravaged by political revolutions,world wars, and economic failures. Nations of the world were desperately looking fora torch-bearer nation to follow. At such worrying times, the Statue of Liberty washighly symbolic. Lady Liberty stood tall as a figure of reassurance.


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The third axiom of international politics is that if a lie was told repeatedly, it wouldbecome more believable than the truth. Moreover, in the real world political scenario,information about foreign nations was not easily verifiable. Often, even the UnitedNations was not in a position to seriously verify allegations. Therefore, well devisedmisinformation campaigns would be extremely effective in helping achieve politicalobjectives quickly. Recently, the New York Times published an article thatvigorously suggested that military analysts who had appeared on American networktelevision channels to discuss the Iraq war had been meticulously tutored byPentagon officials. Therefore, in a strict sense, these analysts were not independentmilitary analysts as originally claimed by the news media and the Pentagon.

The article in the New York Times also alleged that many of the military analysts hadties to military contractors operating in Iraq. It seems as if the Pentagon had engagedin a well orchestrated propaganda exercise to sway public opinion in favor of the war.Essentially, misinformation campaigns carefully designed to manipulate publicopinion by concealing vital facts dupe the democratic system. Fortunately however,many military analysts who appeared on TV networks have expressed remorse forhaving intentionally mislead the American public on behalf of the Pentagon and theWhite House. However, a great deal of damage might have already been done toAmerica’s image in the international arena. After the military adventures in Iraq, theAmerican nation might have lost the trust of the international community. In the newmillennium, the world will be extremely suspicious of American politicians,bureaucrats, diplomats, Pentagon officials, business contractors, and aid agencies.Therefore, America might have to periodically demonstrate her savage military powerto be feared. The fourth axiom points out that placing the economic security of the Americannation in the hands of foreign nations would be imprudent. Therefore, allinternational trade laws had to be rewritten in a manner that would significantlybenefit American interests.

The fifth axiom aims at keeping mainstream society in a state of ignorance. Thecorporate news media had to be roped in to keep citizens either misinformed oruninformed This would give the ruling political class more leeway in framing foreignpolicies and national policies. An eminent scholar named Naom Chomsky expressedthe view that the American news media was actually engaging in the activity of


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manufacturing consent. There seemed to be an unholy alliance between corporatemedia and the politicians holding power. In its new role as a mouthpiece for theWhite House and the Pentagon, the American media was trying to steer publicopinion. With support from Wall Street, media tycoons like Rupert Murdoch seemedto be more interested in building personal wealth than in maintaining high levels ofjournalistic sanctity.

The sixth axiom of governance aims to keep mainstream society strapped to hugecredit card debts, car loans, and home loans. American citizens have actually rakedin a staggering $ 900 billion in credit card debt. In a democracy, debt has the abilityto subdue individuals and make them submissive. A citizen crippled with credit carddebt would be less inclined to revolt or challenge American political philosophies andpolicies. Therefore, credit card debts have paralyzed voters and taken away the fizzfrom the American democracy. Without political effervescence, American democracynow tastes as flat as draft beer.

The seventh axiom of governance aims to nurture an extremely competitive society.The constant threats of layoffs and corporate downsizing would make mainstreamsociety insecure. Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor has written a booktitled Supercapitalism. According to Robert Reich, most American workers arestruggling to keep up professionally. The lurking fear of layoffs would weaken theresolve of mainstream society to stand up and protest if their democratic rights weregradually withdrawn. The eight axiom aims to muzzle the voice of young Americans with an idealistic viewof the world. American diplomat George Kennan advised college students inAmerica not to get involved in politics. Looking back in history, World War I wasactually started by a Serbian student who fired shots at an Austrian royal couple. TheHungarian Revolution against Soviet communists was spearheaded by students inBudapest. In Czechoslovakia, the Velvet Revolution was also spearheaded bystudents in Prague. In China, students had lead a protest at Tiananmen Square andembarrassed the Chinese government. In Indonesia, violent student protests arecommon.

The ninth axiom aims to build an extremely overworked society. Americandemocracy was built on a fast-paced capitalistic economic system that behaved like


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a bicycle. When the economic bicycle was not peddled fast enough by mainstreamsociety, it wobbled and fell sideways. In contrast, a slower economy that walked onits feet would have been stabler. Overworked citizens peddling the Americaneconomic bicycle had no time to participate effectively in the democratic system. Thisgave the American President and the scheming capitalists a free hand.

The tenth axiom aims to muzzle the voices of the American intelligentsia. Politiciansand capitalists had always felt threatened by wayward intellectuals with superiororatory skills. Scholars, philosophers, and intellectuals with advanced degrees wereincarcerated in college campuses. In universities, the practice of granting tenure wasprimarily conceived to keep the intellectuals under political control. Citizens withextraordinary philosophical insight and strong oratory skills began finding lucrativecareers in religious evangelism. In fact, those with powerful oratory skills were gentlyweaned away from political activism and installed in churches. This way, mainstreamsociety was kept more religious and less politically astute.

Middle class Americans were never told that a good college education could catapultthem into exciting careers that assured political power and fame. Working classcitizens were never told that college education could turn them into highbrowintellectuals capable of steering the American democracy in the right direction.Instead, working class college bound Americans were assured that a college diplomawould eventually translate into money making opportunities that would extricatethem from a life of poverty. Essentially, this was a flagrant departure from the basicprecept of a college education philosophically enlightening the human mind andopening up mind boggling career possibilities.

American college education failed to veer away citizens from consumerism withouta dignified social purpose. Instead, American working class college education set inmotion a social culture where young citizens developed a craving for earning andspending money. A bigger problem began to emerge when impoverished third worldnations began to see American colleges as the trend setters. Many Asian nationsbegan emulating America’s working class college education system.

College students in America felt terribly alienated when the government imposed aban on LSD, and refused to legalize marijuana. The American government condonedthe use of land mines, biological weapons, and napalm bombs, but banned the use of


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LSD and marijuana. This example graciously reinforces the theory that the law, ascrafted by either capitalists or communists, is just another arm of politics. In general,laws might have to do very little with amorality. In fact, President Richard Nixonexpressed the view that young Americans had begun to lose faith in their country andin America’s foreign policy.

If American, Asian, and European colleges were imparting the right type of educationto produce citizens who were independent thinkers, civilizations would not havefought so many wars or struggled so hard to extricate themselves out of poverty. Outof thousands of colleges scattered all over America, Asia, and Europe, only a fewcould boast of providing an education that was intellectually stimulating. Adisproportionately large number of graduates from Reed, St John’s, and Franklin &Marshall have carved out careers for themselves in Washington D.C. These graduateshave eventually been enticed into money making by special interest groups. Theirpurpose in life, of strengthening the American democracy, has been temporarilyderailed.


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THE CORPORATE DEMOCRACY

While visiting New York City, acute hunger once drove Secretary of State ColinPowell to get out of his limousine and buy a frankfurter from a street vendor. In anonchalant manner, the street vendor ignored the social stature of General ColinPowell and demanded a dollar. The vendor was either a bumbling ignoramus, or asophisticated intellectual confirming his deep understanding of the basic axiom ofAmerican democracy as envisioned by the founding fathers.

In the last century, nations in Europe were letting intellectuals lay the foundation fora healthy democracy. However, after the Great Depression, the American nationdesperately began turning to capitalists and business tycoons to revive the economy.Thereafter, American capitalists began imposing new ideas on the political system ofthe nation. The founding fathers would have wanted patriotic American citizens toforthrightly condemn warfare. However, during the world wars, when many specialinterest groups in America began benefitting economically from warfare activities,militarism became a tender obsession. Thereafter, American citizens were carefullymanipulated by the plutocrats into believing that they must unconditionally supportwars.

No self respecting American citizen would have supported the Vietnam War or thesecond Gulf War in Iraq if they knew the correct reasons behind these militaryexpeditions. However, erudite citizens in America who sensibly expressed the anti-war sentiments of the founding fathers were unjustly described as being unpatriotic.There was also a feeling that American corporate media, with ties to wealthycapitalists, was trying to assist political candidates who support big businesses. Fornearly five decades, the common citizenry in America were kept ill-informed by thecorporate media. This left an entire generation of American citizens in a state of

debilitating ignorance. Later, a second generation inherited the ignorance of theearlier parental generation.

In the new American democracy, the interests of the multinational corporationsmattered most. Though America has tried to project herself as a giant economicpower, nearly 20 percent of American citizens do not have adequate health insurance.After World War II, American businesses such as Exxon, Chevron, Bechtel, andHaliburton became politically powerful. Thereafter, American foreign policies were


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being designed to help multinational corporations profiteer. The outside world andthe United Nations slowly learned to see American democracy as a society guided bya powerful cartel of multinational corporations. Political scientists were amazed thata superpower democracy of 300 million citizens could be brought down on its kneesby a cartel of big businesses.

Living in the quiet shadow of American and European multinationals, small membernations at the United Nations have lost relevance. These nations have also lost theirpolitical bargaining power. In the international political space, American and Britishoil companies are politically and economically more powerful than national states inAsia, Africa, Middle East, and South America. It was ethically flawed capitalism andcorrupt democratic ideals that created such powerful business entities.

Research by American psychiatrists has established that there is a direct correlationbetween creativity and criminal instincts. Psychiatrists have enthusiastically pointedout that criminals show exceptional creativity which could be channeled for the goodof mankind. Creative people also show deep criminal tendencies. If creative mindsare not given challenging opportunities within the legal framework of society, theirminds might turn to criminal activities. A nation’s best creative and intellectual talentis probably locked away in the prisons. In America, the Federal prison on AlcatrazIsland and businesses in Wall Street hold America’s best creative talent.

Herbert Marcus, an American political philosopher had casually expressed the viewthat modern industrial societies were repressive. Industrial corporations, like themilitary, gained brutal control by being uncouth and repressive. In the new worldorder ushering globalization, American multinational corporations are becoming morepowerful than small nations. Moreover, eminent statesmen, politicians, and diplomatswho do not tow the line of American and European multinational corporations arerendered powerless. On the other hand, politicians who help big businesses andmultinational corporations land foreign contracts are rewarded with lucrative joboffers. Incidentally, Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was offered a highpaying job by JP Morgan Chase.

Richard Nixon introduced tax legislation that allowed American multinationalcorporations to reduce their tax liabilities significantly. While poor citizens inAmerica began paying a tax of about 15 percent, American oil companies were


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paying about 5 percent in taxes. The average American corporation was paying about9 percent in taxes. These tax rates intentionally made multinational corporations verywealthy. Along with wealth came political clout and the power to shape foreignpolicies.

Ruthless free-market corporate competition often lead to fatal restructuring andreckless downsizing. Most fundamentally, American and Japanese societies havefailed to understand that aggressive competition is just a zero-sum game that candestroy the softer cultural fabric of society. While endorsing competition, a civilizedsociety must never forget that every winner eventually burdens the society with amiserable loser. Therefore, as the effects of winning and losing cancel each other out,a competitive society’s bottom line remains unaltered.

Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric who made corporate layoffs trendy becamea national hero in the golf course. Gradually, corporate layoffs and social insecuritybegan destroying the civic tranquility of American homes. Professor Alan Blinder ofPrinceton University has estimated that corporate outsourcing could lead to the lossof more than 30 million jobs in America. As American families began living in fear,merciless capitalism made middle class American families insecure anddysfunctional. Young citizens who lost faith in society began acquiring self esteemby excelling in violent computer games or creating dreadful computer viruses.

Many Asian, Middle Eastern, and European economies have made themselvesexcessively dependent on the American economy. They have become slave

economies. A political disagreement with America could hurt their slave economies.To a significant extent, American consumerism might be supporting some sectionsof the European economy.

Until the industrial revolution, American lawyers made a living defending theconstitutional rights of ordinary citizens and criminals. After the industrialrevolution, the lawyers discovered that defending the unconstitutional rights ofbusiness corporations was a more lucrative occupation. In the twentieth century,lawyers smelt more money in corporate law. Almost 60 percent of Congressmen arelawyers, and many of them practice corporate law. American Congressmen havebecome an integral part of the corporate fraternity. Through underground socialnetworks, both houses of Congress are actually controlled by multinational


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corporations.

American social culture, with primary emphasis on money making, began producinga new political ruling class more interested in promoting capitalism than in renderingrighteous administrative services to society. When this happened, America’s publicschool systems and health care systems began to break down. The new class ofleaders who wished to make American multinational corporations extremelyprosperous included Robert McNamara, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, PaulWolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney. In fact, Robert McNamara and PaulWolfowitz were so intensely interested in money matters that they managed to jostletheir way into the World Bank. While engaging in diplomatic dialogs with leaders ofother countries, the new political ruling class had a knack of precipitating economicdisputes which had the potential to escalate into wars. Fortunately however, thesewars could benefit the American economy.

In the big league political setup, George Shultz, Casper Weinberger, DonaldRumsfeld and Dick Cheney were former business executives. It is said that HenryKissinger had shown a great deal of interest in buying oil company stocks. ThoughPresident Richard Nixon did not demonstrate an extraordinary interest inaccumulating money, his Vice President probably did. In 1973, his Vice Presidentpleaded guilty to tax evasion. The American nation has been a trend setter incorporate driven international politics. Over a dozen corporate executives have heldsenior positions in the White House. They have crafted foreign policies with a sharpeye on economic gain.. Incidentally, Tom Watson Jr., the iconic President ofInternational Business Machines (IBM), was sent to the Soviet Union as theAmerican ambassador.

In any intelligent democracy, where money can command political power, the socialinfluence of business tycoons should never be underestimated. The participation oftycoons and multinational corporations in democratic politics is imminent. Therefore,their participation should be legitimized through appropriate legislation, and latercontrolled through close supervision. Perhaps, well laid down regulations can beutilized to influence the political behavior of major multinational corporations.

In the new millennium, political emphasis will be on the economy. The crystal ballindicators point to corporate executives, business cartels, and banking fraternities


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shaping vital policies. Instead of battling the waves of corporate incursion, it wouldbe more sensible to ride along politically with the waves. Republican politics inAmerica is currently embracing this philosophy.

Unlike European culture, the extremely insular American social and political cultureswere not cut for hard core international politics. Most American Congressmen knewvery little about international affairs. The more intelligent of the American Presidentsdesired to focus on domestic issues and stay away from international issues. After thetwo world wars, the diplomatically inept American political leadership becameincreasingly dependent on military solutions. American B-52 bombers and missiles,rather than tactful negotiations, were becoming critical to American diplomacy in thepost World War II era. With such a political make over, the best scientific brains inAmerica had to be quickly sucked up by the defense contractors and put on weaponsdevelopment programs.

Often, modern societies handsomely reward people who can lie convincingly anddodge the regulatory authorities. In business and politics, it is the law of the junglethat is often upheld. Political scientists often point out that the law is just another armof clever politics designed to keep power in the hands of the ruling elite. Technically,a government is just another political creation. The fundamental point to note is thatgovernments and business corporations are fictitious entities that cannot be sent tojail.

The government is just an imaginary legal entity created to protect the ruling class ofpoliticians, bureaucrats, and state officials. A government cannot be punished withprison term for engaging in illegal activity, just as a business corporation cannot bepunished with jail term for engaging in illegal activity. When the government is foundto be at fault, the politicians and government officials would not have to face chargesor endure prison terms. Similarly, the corporation is another fictitious legal entitycreated to protect business executives and high net worth individuals. Fundamentally,the corporation functions as a fictitious entity that can limit the economic andpolitical liabilities of high net worth individuals. When a business corporationdefaults, or is accused of wrongdoing, the promoters cannot be held liable.

Deeper thinking will reveal that democratic societies can be managed by eithercapitalists or socialists. However, American politicians endorse the view that


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democracy and capitalism are natural partners. In a truly democratic society, evensocialists, communists, and fascists must have a say. A nation cannot claim to havea sophisticated democratic system when socialistic ideologies are repressed.However, socialistic ideologies can be constructively criticized or challenged in ademocracy. A democratic society cannot achieve its fair objectives with an anti-intellectual operational framework that is strong enough to completely repressessocialistic ideologies. We must remember that the working classes from France,Britain, and Russia demonstrate a fair amount of scholarly thinking which haseventually helped them contribute to political thinking.

Democratic societies in France, Britain, and India have strong socialistic components.The Labor Party is Britain broadcasts socialistic ideologies. In France, a democraticsociety with socialistic ideals had a stake in the Airbus Industrie that was directlycompeting with Boeing in America. In democratic India, the government has a stakein many engineering companies, oil companies, and telephone companies. ForAmerican capitalists with a narrow world view, this might seem preposterous.

France had an intellectual culture that exhibited a soft corner for socialists andcommunists. Unlike the Americans, the French wanted to have a spirited democracywhere the capitalists and socialists could be pitted against each other. In someEuropean nations, philosophy was taught to high school children. In France, adultswere served with a dose of philosophy along with their morning coffee.

Nothing would go unnoticed on the French horizon. After R.K. Rowling released herbooks on Harry Potter, the French intelligentsia examined the books to see if thestories promoted capitalism. While Americans relished watching football teams beateach other up, the French relished watching the capitalists and socialists beat eachother up. Incidentally, the French consider themselves the most intellectually refinedrace in the world. There may be an element of truth in this.

French and British colonists were zealous capitalists. However, in the British andFrench democracies, the common people of France and Britain condemned thecolonizing agendas of their capitalists. The French capitalists had colonized Vietnam.French capitalists had also invaded Libya and humiliated the Libyans. Mainstreamcivilian society in France had strongly disapproved colonialism, but the Frenchpoliticians and capitalists had remained undeterred. In the Soviet Union, mainstream


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Russian society disapproved communism. However, Joseph Stalin was not listening.

Democracies actively spearheaded by eminent intellectuals, scholars, politicalscientists, and sociologists would have ensured lower levels of national ignorance andhigher levels of functional illiteracy. Those spearheaded by persuasive intellectuals,eminent sociologists, and brilliant economists would have ensured more equitabledistribution of wealth, income, and social justice. On the other hand, moderndemocracies actively spearheaded by politicians and business tycoons might createeconomic, social, and intellectual divides within a society. This could lead to civicdiscontent and social uprisings.

European leaders try to articulate complex ideologies in scholarly language. Theirspeeches readily find an appreciative audience within working class mainstreamsociety. As America is still a young nation, it may take time for a critical mass ofworking class Americans to become politically and philosophically astute. Today,when American politicians address the people, their speeches have to be confined toelementary ideas. Devoid of intellectual content, these speeches fundamentally targetthe ignorant underclass.

In America, White Anglo Saxon Protestants were an elite class who were unlikely tosupport honorable political candidates in favor of social reform or educational reform.Upper class Protestant Americans did not want to confront the issue of poverty in theghettos or the neglect of public schools. The affluent classes did not want tax dollarsto be spent on educating poor immigrant children. In fact, wealthy Americanphilanthropists were willing to help Ivy League universities and colleges withendowments, but were unwilling to provide funds for secondary and high schooleducation. They wanted the American government to take responsibility for publicschool reform, but were unwilling to support political candidates interested incarrying out reform on a war footing. With these enigmatic attitudes towards socialreform, the American nation was becoming extremely divided intellectually andeconomically.

If we look closely, the American Constitution in its most pristine form actuallyendorsed racism and condoned slavery. Through the drafted constitution, capitalismand racism became somewhat native to American democracy. Just as Europeancultures were overly class conscious, American culture was overly race conscious.


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Therefore, from a more realistic perspective, there should be no negative connotationsassociated with either American capitalism or racism. These may be aberrationswhich might get ironed out as industrial civilizations gradually attain philosophicalenlightenment.

Quite often, the American intelligentsia and the ruling club of capitalists andpoliticians did not see eye to eye. Soon, the intellectuals in America withdrew intotheir shells. After intellectuals withdrew from public debates, American democracybegan to be commandeered by special interest groups, Wall Street tycoons, andPentagon officials.

Like the emperors of ancient Rome, Presidential candidates in America beganorganizing pompous fund raising banquets. If fund raising was banned, only thewealthy classes would have been able to fund Presidential election campaigns. Fundraising enabled the poorer classes of citizens to collect millions of dollars fromAmerican businessmen and Wall Street tycoons. Later, big businesses that generouslydonated money for election campaigns got a chance to help politicians frame nationalpolicies and foreign policies.

All over the world, the college educated citizens are reluctant to vote. Political leadersare not elected by the scholarly elite. In fact, the scholarly citizens tend to distancethemselves from politics. The political leaders elected by the illiterates might beincapable of finding practical solutions to the complex problems of the third world.Eventually, the poor choice of leadership explains why there is such a great deal ofmismanagement of domestic economic affairs in third world countries.

In most third world countries, Presidents, Prime Ministers, and political leaders getelected by the illiterate and ill-educated masses. In many African countries,incompetent dictators get elected and run the government administration. At present,political leaders everywhere are generally the choice of the less educated masses ofa nation.

While class struggles were common in European culture, the vast majority of theEuropean working classes idolized royalty that brutally persecuted them. However,it was the rebellious minority among the poor European classes that fled to America.Bewildered by the dominance of working class values in mainstream society, the


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intellectuals in America began distancing themselves from local politics, socialissues, economic issues, and international affairs. In fact, intellectuals starteddistancing themselves from mainstream American society.

Most intellectuals in America began getting involved in politics only after they retiredinto societies of senior citizenship. The American democracy has now become ademocracy established on the silence of the intelligentsia. American politicians arealso flaunting an anti-intellectual attitude. As intellectuals were capable ofquestioning traditional opinions and norms, the new generation of politicianscondemn intellectuals.

When a few intellectuals began confronting politicians, the newer generation ofpoliticians pointed out that intellectualism was extremely undemocratic. Americanpoliticians claimed that intellectualism nurtured elitism and social inequality.Eventually, American society became industrially progressive and intellectuallystunted. American middle class culture consistently failed to nurture a passion forphilosophy, politics, poetry, literature, and art. In other words, the vital culturalelements that commonly go into building an erudite and cultivated democratic societywere neglected. It is important to understand that intellectualism is not directly relatedto formal education. Intellectualism is about acquiring a philosophical bent of mindand learning to think independently.


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PLUTOCRACY AND THE BIG BRASS

In the American democracy, an ensemble of 300 million well meaning citizens leavecritical policy issues to 3 ethically frail politicians in the White House. Economistshave developed the Public Choice Theory that suggests that politicians, governmentbureaucrats, and a small group of wealthy citizens control the decision making in ademocracy. These decisions may not accurately represent the wishes of the wellmeaning public at large.

Many foreign relations policies of the government benefit only the politicians,bureaucrats, and capitalists. Moreover, politicians and bureaucrats have the freedomto utilize tax dollars to bring benefits to themselves. George Stigler, an eminentAmerican economist was of the opinion that special interest groups, capitalists,businessmen, and politicians would not hesitate to utilize the government machineryto evolve policies and regulations that would collectively benefit them. In manycapitalistic societies, political leaders with government machinery at their disposal,can pursue their personal agendas.

In a plutocracy, wealthy capitalists and business cartels indirectly govern the nationby forming alliances with politicians. From a democracy of passive citizens, Americabegan steadily turning into a plutocracy. In the process of rapid industrialization, thevery fundamentals of American democracy were being menaced by an emergingplutocracy of big businesses, oil magnates, Wall Street tycoons, and lobbyists.Wealthy capitalists and business tycoons in America attempted to interfere with thedemocratic systems. They began guiding election processes through huge financialcontributions.

President Woodrow Wilson had warned that American capitalists wanted to gainenormous political clout. However, much to everyone’s surprise, Woodrow Wilsonbegan allowing Wall Street tycoons to guide economic policies. In fact, he helped apowerful caucus of bankers create an organization known as the Federal Reserve.Thereafter, the power to control the supply of money was gradually taken away fromCongress. At a later time in history, President John Kennedy expressed the view thatthe creation of the Federal Reserve was completely unconstitutional.

The founding fathers of America hailed from aristocratic families. In America, wealth


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automatically bestowed political authority. American President Theodore Rooseveltdoubted wealthy capitalists. Theodore Roosevelt felt that a corrupt alliance existedbetween big businesses and politicians. In fact, he initiated anti-trust lawsuits onmany major American companies. After the office term of President TheodoreRoosevelt, American capitalists wished to gradually eclipse the authority of the WhiteHouse.

There is a strong feeling that big businesses in America wish to wield a great deal ofpower over the nation’s political leadership. There is also a feeling that Americancorporate media, with unethical journalism, is trying to assist political candidates whosupport big businesses. The corporate news media likes to focus attention onpoliticians who seem to be willing to form alliances with big businesses. Lately, eventhe American government has been uncomfortable with the extent of influence of bigbusinesses and corporate media on American politics.

In recent decades, Congress has been marginalized by American Presidents.American politicians hobnobbing with capitalists have tried to ignore the legislativebranches of the American democracy. Congressmen are unable to influence actionsof the White House. Political experts Tom Mann and Norman Ormstein have nowwritten a book titled The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How

to Get It Back on Track. This book examines how the Republicans and Democrats gottogether and butchered the American democratic system.

In the twenty first century, the Democrats have become wiser. Former DemocraticVice President Al Gore has written a book titled The Assault on Reason. This bookpatiently explains the weaknesses of American democracy and suggests solutions.Congress is in the process of passing tougher laws to modify the rules of lobbying inCapitol Hill. Under the new rules for the twenty first century, even shady politicalcampaign contributions might be perceived as outright bribery. Now, it is up to theAmerican fraternity of lawyers to cleverly discover the loopholes and figure out a wayto circumvent the rules of lobbying and campaign funding.

Big businesses and oil tycoons wanted to acquire political clout and diminish theeffectual power of the White House. In the dark corridors of power, multinationalcorporations in the Fortune 100 list were striving to become political institutions. Atevery step, American businessmen, lobbyists, and special interest groups began


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assisting the White House in crafting national and foreign policies. By the end of thetwentieth century, the extent of meddlesome interference had reached epicproportions.

In the last century, business tycoons redefined American capitalism and establishednew rules for the American democracy. Today, American capitalism is not just aboutmarket forces, stock markets, and the style of running an economy. Its outreach is fargreater. American capitalism also establishes the way the government and the officeof the President function. In a capitalistic society, money influences politics andpolicy. This is fundamental to American capitalism. When citizens of a nation choosethe American brand of capitalism, they are choosing a political system where moneyinfluences decisions. In American capitalism, election campaigns are generouslyfunded by rich capitalists, special interest groups, and big businesses.

In America, business and politics are close cousins. Politics has become an interestingmoney game like poker. Many American companies like to hire executives with anestablished track record of savage political clout. In the annals of White Housepolitics, big time politics had given a man named Dick Cheney many heart attacks.Therefore, a Texas based multinational hired Dick Cheney as their chief executiveofficer. For a very good reason, Dick Cheney had never completed his collegeeducation. According to British philosopher Bertrand Russell, man is born ignorant,but is made stupid by education. Brooks Atkinson, an eminent American journalist,had pointed out that it took five years to recover from a college education.

A capitalistic intrusion into the White House political command structure occurredwhen George Bush chose Dick Cheney, the CEO of Haliburton Corporation as arunning mate. Symbolically, Dick Cheney’s entry into the White House signaled thesuccessful corporate taker of the White House. For citizens seeking more details, LouDubose has written a book titled Vice : Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the

American Presidency. From a political scientist’s perspective, American capitalistshad managed to weaken the credibility of the White House. Though America was asuperpower, the American President in the Oval Office had a very small group ofadvisors. Not only was a small team more prone to make serious errors in judgement,it was also inclined to be influenced or intimidated by capitalists and big businesses.It was easy for special interest groups, big businesses, and tycoons to influence asmall team of advisors in the White House. It is said that very few American


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Presidents have been able to win the confidence of the common people or receivedpraise, until they were safely buried away in a cemetery in their hometown.

American democracy

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