The United States likes to
portray itself as the bastion of freedom and champion of
democracy, but if this were really true then there would be
at least 6 or 8 different parties to choose from at election
time, and given that it is now a country of over 300 million
people a choice of at least 10 different parties would be
more appropriate, but instead there are just two. Why is
this? The reason comes down to the "concentration of power"
issue that we addressed in an earlier article with respect
to corporate America and the systematic disenfranchisement
of its population.
The reality is that the two remaining political parties, the
Democratic and Republican parties are in fact one, and the
only reason that the ultimate step is never taken and the
parties merged is that with one party to vote for and an
election being completely superfluous, even Joe Sixpack
would realize that he is living in a dictatership. So the 2
remaining parties continue to dumbbell around each other for
ever, maintaining the thinnest facade of democracy, and
controlling the country for their elitist masters via their
duopoly of power.
The plutocratic elites who control the United States and
both the Democratic and Republican parties also have
complete control over the media, whose job it is to maintain
the illusion of democracy, especially during the farcical
circus of the election campaign. They do this by playing up
contrived and trivial differences between the parties and by
playing up personalities who the voting public can identify
with, a recent example of this crude but effective approach
being the Alaskan hockey mom Sarah Palin suddenly being
thrust forward into the limelight, and intended to provide a
counterpoint to the sagging old man who would be President,
John McCain. At a time of life when he should be content to
sit in a rocking chair on his front porch, and dead head the
roses and perhaps give occasional advice to troubled young
people, McCain intends to try to run a country of 300
million people.
He looks like one long haul flight would finish him off.
Although Obama would seem to be the better choice for
President, on account of his youthful energy, generally
positive dynamic attitude and eloquent use of English, the
sad fact is that he is in the pockets of his plutocratic
masters just as McCain is and must end up doing their
bidding - if he wasn't his funding would have dried up and
he would have been run into a ditch long ago. So with both
parties and both candidates completely compromised and
representing the same vested interests, it is clear that
voting will accomplish absolutely nothing and change nothing
- it is a complete and utter waste of time.
The entire election campaign is a charade whose real
purpose is to continue the elites' stranglehold on power,
whilst at the same time maintaining the illusion that the US
is a free and fair society, but otherwise it is a total
waste of time and energy. The lack of any substantive
difference between the parties is worth making clear at this
juncture, because it means that it is largely irrelevant to
the markets who wins the election, and it is the purpose of
this article to point this out.
It is always good to end an essentially gloomy article on
a positive note. Whoever wins the election and becomes the
next President has got to be an improvement on the crass and
imbecilic George W Bush, who only got the job through
extreme corruption and graft. If nothing else, election day
does provide a chance to socialize and may even present the
opportunity for single readers to find a partner. The
following chat up lines are tentatively suggested...
Male voter in line to female voter:
"You do realize this is a complete waste of time don't you?
- we won't change anything..."
Female voter: "Well, yes, but what
the heck..."
Male voter: "Might I suggest that
we go back to my place and try something a lot more
meaningful"...
Feedback would be welcome from readers who try this chat
up line whilst at the polling station, even - and especially
- if you end up getting kicked shins and/or a black eye. As
long-time readers know I am always ready to adjust my
thinking...
By Clive Maund
