Crisis in Democracy
JOE MAYER
The function of government is "to protect the minority of opulent from the majority." The person who uttered these words was also concerned that "the rights of property" must be defended against the masses and the state. These quotations come from the United States Constitutional Convention and expressed the concerns of founding father James Madison. Recall that only white male property owners could vote in our nation's first attempt at democracy.
In the tradition of Madison the U.S. has experienced, in the minds of ruling elites, periodic "crises in democracy." Any direct action on the part of the public which attempts to influence or change legislation to conform to majority desires is considered illegitimate by the powerful. Historically some of these recent crises occurred with civil rights demands, Vietnam protests, and the women's movement. Current Iraqi war protests and demonstrations supporting immigrants' rights also fit the category of "crisis." In the three mentioned as historical "crisis" both democratic and republican presidents supported the status quo over "crisis" demonstrators. Current public outrage has sent Bush and Congress to embarrassingly low levels in opinion polls, but still power clings to imperial designs.
Elites in power do not believe in the rights of citizens to participate, beyond periodic elections, in the political process. Only other elites with the power of money are given hearings and access. Previous "Ponderings" have mentioned the following problems that continue to fester as government refuses to give U.S. citizens solutions that public opinion has for years desired: health insurance coverage for all; more strict environmental protection; more equitable tax policy; electoral reform to remove money's exaggerated influence; reigning in military spending and transparency in government decision making. In most cases these and other popular ideals can't even get a hearing. When citizens push they become, in the eyes of the elected, the enemy. Apply Madison's "the rights of property must be defended" to each of the above and we begin to understand the depth of the problems progressives face.
The Trilateral Commission was founded in 1973 by elite private citizens in response to the "crisis in democracy" due to civil rights protests, the Vietnam protests and the women's movement. "Tri" stands for the U.S., Europe and Japan, but has since expanded to include elites from a few other countries. Members include government and business elites dedicated to the rights of capital.
In 1975 this private Commission published a study "The Crisis In Democracy" which defines citizen participation in decision-making as a danger to democracy. This danger must be corralled if elite control is to reign unimpeded. The Commission is considered to be "liberal" among other elite organizations. What influence does it have on the Democratic Leadership Council, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Senatorial Campaign Committee?
One of the Commission's decisions in the 1970s was to reign in and control a press that it felt was too "populace." How effective is this Commission? Consider what has happened to media ownership in the U.S. over the past thirty years. Consider also the corporate media's refusal to expose and condemn the lies and falsehoods that has led to our imperial stance, our belligerent foreign policy, the erosion of rights, the Supreme Court appointment of a president, and the U.S. dismissal of International Law.
The Commission and elites around the world are finding global control more difficult today, especially in Central and South American countries. Indigenous majorities are uniting to take over countries previously ruled by money, imperialism, the World Bank, the IMF, and the World Trade Organization. Motivation for these restive movements has come from unjust dominance of resources by the elites, extreme wealth inequalities, and the suppression of rights and wages — just what is happening in the United States today. U.S. dominance of this region has centered on maintaining privilege, discouraging and even forbidding social reform, preaching democracy but interfering with its implementation, and the forced acceptance of trade policies detrimental to these nations and peoples.
Only Progressives united in justice with the exploited of the world can bring about a true democratization of world governments.
The function of government is "to protect the minority of opulent from the majority." The person who uttered these words was also concerned that "the rights of property" must be defended against the masses and the state. These quotations come from the United States Constitutional Convention and expressed the concerns of founding father James Madison. Recall that only white male property owners could vote in our nation's first attempt at democracy.
In the tradition of Madison the U.S. has experienced, in the minds of ruling elites, periodic "crises in democracy." Any direct action on the part of the public which attempts to influence or change legislation to conform to majority desires is considered illegitimate by the powerful. Historically some of these recent crises occurred with civil rights demands, Vietnam protests, and the women's movement. Current Iraqi war protests and demonstrations supporting immigrants' rights also fit the category of "crisis." In the three mentioned as historical "crisis" both democratic and republican presidents supported the status quo over "crisis" demonstrators. Current public outrage has sent Bush and Congress to embarrassingly low levels in opinion polls, but still power clings to imperial designs.
Elites in power do not believe in the rights of citizens to participate, beyond periodic elections, in the political process. Only other elites with the power of money are given hearings and access. Previous "Ponderings" have mentioned the following problems that continue to fester as government refuses to give U.S. citizens solutions that public opinion has for years desired: health insurance coverage for all; more strict environmental protection; more equitable tax policy; electoral reform to remove money's exaggerated influence; reigning in military spending and transparency in government decision making. In most cases these and other popular ideals can't even get a hearing. When citizens push they become, in the eyes of the elected, the enemy. Apply Madison's "the rights of property must be defended" to each of the above and we begin to understand the depth of the problems progressives face.
The Trilateral Commission was founded in 1973 by elite private citizens in response to the "crisis in democracy" due to civil rights protests, the Vietnam protests and the women's movement. "Tri" stands for the U.S., Europe and Japan, but has since expanded to include elites from a few other countries. Members include government and business elites dedicated to the rights of capital.
In 1975 this private Commission published a study "The Crisis In Democracy" which defines citizen participation in decision-making as a danger to democracy. This danger must be corralled if elite control is to reign unimpeded. The Commission is considered to be "liberal" among other elite organizations. What influence does it have on the Democratic Leadership Council, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Senatorial Campaign Committee?
One of the Commission's decisions in the 1970s was to reign in and control a press that it felt was too "populace." How effective is this Commission? Consider what has happened to media ownership in the U.S. over the past thirty years. Consider also the corporate media's refusal to expose and condemn the lies and falsehoods that has led to our imperial stance, our belligerent foreign policy, the erosion of rights, the Supreme Court appointment of a president, and the U.S. dismissal of International Law.
The Commission and elites around the world are finding global control more difficult today, especially in Central and South American countries. Indigenous majorities are uniting to take over countries previously ruled by money, imperialism, the World Bank, the IMF, and the World Trade Organization. Motivation for these restive movements has come from unjust dominance of resources by the elites, extreme wealth inequalities, and the suppression of rights and wages — just what is happening in the United States today. U.S. dominance of this region has centered on maintaining privilege, discouraging and even forbidding social reform, preaching democracy but interfering with its implementation, and the forced acceptance of trade policies detrimental to these nations and peoples.
Only Progressives united in justice with the exploited of the world can bring about a true democratization of world governments.
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