Oligarchy

Good day, good people.

For devotees of the English language: Oligarchy is a noun. It means a government by the few. Power exercised by a privileged clique. You cannot take privileges from the privileged.

When I look through the charade and the illusion of our “democracy” I see an oligarchy. What do you see?

If members of Congress, state legislatures and elected officials are owned by big corporations, lobbyists and the wealthy, the few, is this an oligarchy? If it makes no difference who is elected to public office, to a corrupt culture of a Congress or state legislature which benefits the few, then we have an oligarchy. When the members represent themselves first, big corporations and lobbyists second, the wealthy elite third and their employers the taxpayers last to their disadvantage, logic dictates we are ruled by an oligarchy — the few.

I believe in capitalism. It is the best economic system available. But I am not in favor of the one percent of Americans having their every wish and desire granted to the disadvantage of the ninety-nine percent. This does not look like a democracy, but it does look like an oligarchy. The one percent of any group or entity dictating to the ninety-nine percent is unacceptable in a democracy. I believe in the freedom, liberty and equal opportunity of a liberal democracy. It is the best political system on Earth.

One of the many good things about the United States is you can be what you want to be. Acquiring wealth is admirable. To use the wealth to buy influence or conspire with others and lobbyists to buy influence with elected officials, members of Congress or state legislators is called bribery. It is unacceptable in a democracy, but normal in an oligarchy.

According to a recent Washington Post analysis, one hundred and thirty members of Congress or their families have traded stocks collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars in companies lobbying on bills that came before their committees. This practice is permitted under the current ethics rules. I believe this is called insider trading — a felony. Did the members pass this information to their employer the taxpayers at the time they decided to engage in insider trading so they could benefit financially, too? And here all the time, I did not believe members of Congress had ethics. When are the corrupticians going to be voted out of office?

And who are the members of the oligarchy? They are the CEOs in the financial services industry and their companies, the banksters and their banks, CEOs of big corporations and their corporations, the sovereigns, lobbyists and the wealthy elite. One percent of our population receives forty percent of the income. And the greed of some of the few did cause the recession in 2008 and the financial disaster to the middle class and the poor which followed. I do not see the few correcting their illegalities and their above the law attitudes in pursuit of obtaining more offerings for their god — Greed.

If members of the one percent do not engage in corrupting public officials, but invest money with entities that do, do they have an obligation to investigate before they invest, and if they do not are they co-conspirators? What if they do invest in companies knowing the entity engages in corrupting public officials they are co-conspirators?

I love the United States of America. It is the best nation on Earth. My friendship and love are surpassed only by my loyalty to my country. What I do not like to see is the democratic system corruptly manipulated for the benefit of the few to the disadvantage of the nonfew. So, I have become disenchanted and disheartened by our new dictator — Money. It is not even subtlety disguised as an oligarchy — it is a blatant oligarchy — no longer a democracy. And the members of it do not care what the nonmembers, the middle class and the poor, think because they know they are powerless to change it. The dreams and the economic engine of the middle class drive our gross domestic product, GDP, and it is being eroded. If this is not corrected, we will have just two classes — the haves and have not. Americans who believe they are still living in a democracy are deluding themselves. Wake up America, and call it what it is — an oligarchy.

Ronald Reagan’s deregulation policy and Bill Clinton’s signing the legislation in 1999 repealed the Glass Steagall Act. The act passed by Congress in 1933 prohibited commercial banks from collaborating with full-service brokerage firms or participating in investment banking activities. The banks started to engage in risky-proprietary trading with customers’ and shareholders’ money in order to juice their short-term profits. No matter how criminal their activity, they did not have to worry about being prosecuted. They were engaged in VICE — vertically integrated criminal enterprise. And as you know, the Department of Justice appears to be still absent. None of the criminal activity by CEOs and others whom caused the 2008 recession and other crimes have been brought to justice. They believe they are above the law and apparently they are right.

The final act of completing the power of our new dictator was the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United. Now our dictator, Money, can spend an unlimited amount anonymously through SuperPacs to achieve what he wants — try to purchase an election. It makes no difference who is elected president, governor or to Congress or a state legislature.

Our political system is corrupt. Unfortunately for all of us who care, the only people who can change the corruption are the members of Congress and state legislators. I do not see this happening in my life time. The last time I was in Washington, D.C., I saw the United States Capitol building. It has housed the meeting chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate for two centuries. There was a For Sale sign in front of it — not for the building but for the occupants. Jack Abramoff, the author of Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption From America’s Most Notorious Lobbyist, said he owned one hundred of the members of Congress. I wonder who owns them now, and who owns the other four hundred and thirty-five? And here all this time, I thought slavery had been abolished in America.

In my book Operation Downfall published in 2011, the man who is in charge of the oligarchy is Abel Live (pronounced Leave). He said to the vice president just before he had his employees assassinate him, “You may count on one sure thing in this life which is this: I don’t give a rat’s ass who’s president. He’ll do as I ask, loyal or not. Only nations and religions generate loyalty. Everyone else is a mercenary.” And he was right then, and he is still right today.

Our political status in the U.S. reminds me of Egypt’s. There are people there as in the U.S. who believe now that there is a president, Mohamed Morsi, they will have a democracy — not a probability or is it possibility. Egypt has been and will continue to have an oligarchy. Egypt’s military council is still in charge as it was during the Mubarak presidency, nothing has changed. The council receives thirty percent of GDP as a result of their ownership of corporations. As in the U.S., do you believe anyone in the oligarchies are willing to divest themselves of their wealth and power?

What is the solution to restoring honesty in government? Do you believe me naïve for asking the question? What is the solution to having our elected officials work for their employers, the American taxpayers? Because now, they work for themselves first, big corporations, lobbyists and wealthy donors second and at last the taxpayer. What does an honest politician with a moral sense who can survive with his or her ethics intact look like when forced to live in and withstand the corruption in a sewer? Do you need a posse or Sherlock Holmes to find him or her?

Members of Congress have become entrenched, uncompromising, intractable ideologue puppets of the few — the oligarchy. When does the money paid to a member of Congress or a state legislator by an entity become a bribe? When the marionette receives the money or when the puppet does what he or she is told to do by the entity? It makes no difference who is elected into a corrupt culture, it always wins. There is no longer public service among the elected — it is self-service. They live and work in a Me Society — the Takers. If there is no justice, history will repeat injustice ad infinitum and impunity will continue to reign.

You may vote for whomever you wish. But remember, no matter who is elected their allegiance will not be to their employer the taxpayer whom voted for him or her but to the dictator — Money.

What is your thought on the contribution you can make to restore our nation to a democracy? Do we need five or ten million men, women and children to surround the U.S. Capitol Building and not let them leave or anyone enter until they return to a democracy? And while they are in there with the air conditioning turned off to motivate them, they need to pass legislation for the public financing of elections. The amount of money spent on the 2012 Presidential Election by the one percent is obscene. It appears it will approach a billion dollars. Congress needs to eliminate all the loopholes in the tax code and implement the Simpson-Bowles report. And also, pass legislation which prevents the elected from receiving anything of worth except their salaries and the most important reward of all — the knowledge they are working for their employer the taxpayers for a change. And if they do take anything else of value, it is a felony and they go to prison.

I hope this post will give you something to consider. To be successful you must understand other people’s opinions and care about them.

I care about your opinion. Contacting me with comments and constructive criticisms at Daniel McNeet with honesty and pleasantness their constant companions will always be welcomed.

Google+