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- Ligne n°22 : Duty to Warn
- Ligne n°23 : Thursday Jul. 10th, 2014
- Ligne n°24 :
- Ligne n°25 : Articles
- Ligne n°26 :
- Ligne n°27 : Thoughts on Patriotism, Real Democracy, Corrupt Crony Capitalism, Elections
- Ligne n°28 : and Politics in America
- Ligne n°29 :
- Ligne n°30 : Add a Comment »
- Ligne n°31 :
- Ligne n°32 : by Gary G. Kohls, MD
- Ligne n°33 :
- Ligne n°34 : This week I am devoting most of my column to the writings of several
- Ligne n°35 : progressive, anti-imperialist (economic or military), anti-racist,
- Ligne n°36 : anti-fascist (that is, anti-corporatist and anti-militarist),
- Ligne n°37 : pro-democracy, pro-environment, pro-sustainability writers with whom I
- Ligne n°38 : resonate. These writers have been saying for years exactly what many of
- Ligne n°39 : us have been thinking about for a long time—and they are saying it far
- Ligne n°40 : better than I ever could. The excerpts below are from
- Ligne n°41 : BlackAgendaReport.com and Fubarandgrill.org.
- Ligne n°42 : Before the last presidential election (in 2012), Black Agenda Report
- Ligne n°43 : managing editor Bruce Dixon wrote the following criticism of America’s
- Ligne n°44 : two-party system, which still rings true. Dixon wrote:
- Ligne n°45 : “Your vote really is your voice, and in the modern era, every
- Ligne n°46 : government on earth claims to rule with the consent of the people. This
- Ligne n°47 : bestows upon the vote a unique kind of legal and symbolic power. The
- Ligne n°48 : gap, however, between this legal, this symbolic power of the vote and
- Ligne n°49 : any real ability to change things for the better is a vast one. The
- Ligne n°50 : authorities rightly fear the people’s voice, and so have contrived law
- Ligne n°51 : and custom to ensure that we are seldom heard and almost never heeded.
- Ligne n°52 : “They would never dream of allowing us to vote on the price of gas,
- Ligne n°53 : food, housing, credit or college tuition. But they don’t mind at all
- Ligne n°54 : letting us choose between corporate-funded Republicans and
- Ligne n°55 : corporate-funded Democrats. The powers that rule our economy, our media
- Ligne n°56 : and our politics won’t let us vote on whether to bring the troops home
- Ligne n°57 : from 140 countries and the seven seas, or whether to continue spending
- Ligne n°58 : more on weapons of death and destruction than the other 95% of humanity
- Ligne n°59 : combined. But they will let us choose between an ignorant, crazy or
- Ligne n°60 : racist Republican who promises to give banksters, polluters and
- Ligne n°61 : corporate criminals a free pass, and a sane, smart, level-headed free
- Ligne n°62 : market liberal Democrat who does exactly the same thing, no matter what
- Ligne n°63 : he promised.
- Ligne n°64 : “The authorities won’t let us vote on whether the broadcast spectrum
- Ligne n°65 : should be privatized, whether we should have the right to start and
- Ligne n°66 : join unions, whether to create millions of good-paying green jobs. They
- Ligne n°67 : won’t allow voters to decide whether corporations deserve more rights
- Ligne n°68 : than flesh and blood people, or whether the president should be able to
- Ligne n°69 : kidnap, torture, imprison and murder people without trials or even
- Ligne n°70 : charges. But they will let us choose between a white guy and a black
- Ligne n°71 : guy. As long as it’s their white guy, and their black one as well.”
- Ligne n°72 : Why We Need a Viable Third Party That Does Not Bow Down to Corporations
- Ligne n°73 : and
- Ligne n°74 : Other War-Profiteers
- Ligne n°75 : Dixon expands his thoughts on patriotism, democracy, corrupt crony
- Ligne n°76 : capitalism, elections, and politics in America in his Fourth of July
- Ligne n°77 : 2014 edition. The entire essay can be accessed at
- Ligne n°78 : http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/why-elections-still-matter-exc
- Ligne n°79 : ept-when-they-dont.
- Ligne n°80 : Democrats and Republicans Have Created Ballot Access Hurdles
- Ligne n°81 : “In states like Georgia where I live, third party candidates face
- Ligne n°82 : incredible obstacles to even getting a candidate on the ballot. A Green
- Ligne n°83 : Party congressional candidate, for example, has to get 20-25,000
- Ligne n°84 : signatures on a nominating petition to appear on the ballot, and a
- Ligne n°85 : statewide candidate needs more than 60,000, distributed in a
- Ligne n°86 : complicated formula among several core counties, while Republicans and
- Ligne n°87 : Democrats simply pay a nominal fee. These are laws passed on the state
- Ligne n°88 : level by Democrats and Republicans working together.
- Ligne n°89 : Access to media is limited by private owners of print, broadcast, cable
- Ligne n°90 : networks
- Ligne n°91 : “Cable networks are laid and maintained beneath public streets and
- Ligne n°92 : roads, with massive public subsidies and gobs of corporate welfare, but
- Ligne n°93 : are privately owned by a handful of greedy corporations. Broadcast
- Ligne n°94 : spectrum wasn’t invented by any clever engineer working for a
- Ligne n°95 : corporation, it’s a property of the physical universe, like sunlight.
- Ligne n°96 : But the same handful of greedy telecoms own that too, along with most
- Ligne n°97 : of the print newspapers.
- Ligne n°98 : “The private owners of these public resources have decreed that the
- Ligne n°99 : only candidates and causes who can afford campaign commercials are
- Ligne n°100 : those bankrolled by wealthy individuals and greedy corporations, often
- Ligne n°101 : with legally anonymous cash. With no interest in an informed public,
- Ligne n°102 : the billionaires who own print, cable and broadcast outlets have, for
- Ligne n°103 : several decades, been firing reporters and spending less every year on
- Ligne n°104 : journalism. Reporters refuse to cover third party candidates in
- Ligne n°105 : partisan elections, lest their careers end prematurely. In nominally
- Ligne n°106 : “nonpartisan” races like mayor in most medium and large cities, the
- Ligne n°107 : owners of media all but refuse to cover the existence of candidacies
- Ligne n°108 : not endorsed by local elites.”
- Ligne n°109 : In a response to Dixon’s piece, a blogger wrote, “The first thing we
- Ligne n°110 : need is a massive coalition of leftists of all stripes, even
- Ligne n°111 : left-liberals and anti-imperialist, populist, right-wing libertarians.
- Ligne n°112 : We need a true movement of the 99% and that means bringing into the
- Ligne n°113 : coalition libertarian types who decry so-called ‘crony capitalism’ and
- Ligne n°114 : not capitalism per se. If in the short-term we can just take some small
- Ligne n°115 : pockets of space and power for ‘regular folks’ then that will be very
- Ligne n°116 : helpful toward our final end goal of completely transforming society.
- Ligne n°117 : Local and (possibly) state elections MIGHT, depending on a variety of
- Ligne n°118 : factors including our strengths, weaknesses, resources (money, human,
- Ligne n°119 : etc.) and those of the enemy arrayed against us in that particular
- Ligne n°120 : space or arena, be helpful in growing a populist movement.”
- Ligne n°121 : In another, more lengthy response to Dixon’s piece, Mark E. Smith of
- Ligne n°122 : Fubarandgrill.org commented. (Note: Smith’s website’s name references
- Ligne n°123 : the U.S. military grunt’s derogatory appraisal of the Pentagon’s
- Ligne n°124 : bureaucratic inefficiencies. FUBAR is short for “f----- up beyond all
- Ligne n°125 : recognition,” as in SNAFU, which is U.S. military lingo for “situation
- Ligne n°126 : normal: all f----- up.” His thoughtful essays can be found at
- Ligne n°127 : http://fubarandgrill.org.)
- Ligne n°128 : Smith writes, “I think we are all agreed that there are times and
- Ligne n°129 : places when voting can be useful and that there are times and places
- Ligne n°130 : when it is not. Where we differ is when and where such places may be
- Ligne n°131 : and how to determine which is which.
- Ligne n°132 : “I’m often accused of being opposed to voting and this is my usual
- Ligne n°133 : response:
- Ligne n°134 : “A democratic system of government is one in which power is vested in
- Ligne n°135 : the hands of the people. That’s the dictionary definition and most
- Ligne n°136 : people will agree to it.
- Ligne n°137 : Is America Actually a Pseudodemocracy
- Ligne n°138 : “An undemocratic system of government is one in which power is vested
- Ligne n°139 : in the hands of the government [Author’s note: or in the hands of
- Ligne n°140 : corporations or their wealthy elites]. That government could be a
- Ligne n°141 : dictatorship, a monarchy, a plutocracy, an oligarchy, or even a
- Ligne n°142 : pseudo-democracy, but if power is vested in the hands of the government
- Ligne n°143 : [Author’s note: or corporate elites] rather than in the hands of the
- Ligne n°144 : people, the system does not meet the definition of a democratic form of
- Ligne n°145 : government.
- Ligne n°146 : “In a democratic form of government, where power is vested in the
- Ligne n°147 : hands of the people, voting is the most precious right of all, as it is
- Ligne n°148 : the way that the people exercise the power vested in them, either
- Ligne n°149 : directly by voting on issues, budgets, and policies, or indirectly by
- Ligne n°150 : voting for representatives who are obligated to represent their
- Ligne n°151 : constituents and can be directly recalled by the people at any time
- Ligne n°152 : that they fail to represent the people who elected them.
- Ligne n°153 : “In an undemocratic form of government, where power is vested in the
- Ligne n°154 : hands of the government rather than in the hands of the people, voting
- Ligne n°155 : is totally worthless and a waste of time, as the people do not have
- Ligne n°156 : power and the government doesn’t have to count their votes, can
- Ligne n°157 : miscount and/or ignore their votes, can overrule the popular vote, and
- Ligne n°158 : elected representatives are not obligated to represent their
- Ligne n°159 : constituents but can represent their personal beliefs or philosophies,
- Ligne n°160 : their big donors, or whatever they wish, and cannot be held accountable
- Ligne n°161 : as long as they continue in office, which is the only time that people
- Ligne n°162 : need them to represent the interests of the people.
- Ligne n°163 : “In an undemocratic form of government, voters can hope that their
- Ligne n°164 : votes might be counted, can hope that their elected officials might
- Ligne n°165 : represent them, but have no power to ensure that their votes are
- Ligne n°166 : counted or that their elected officials actually represent them.
- Ligne n°167 : “Which system we have—democratic or undemocratic (i.e.
- Ligne n°168 : pseudo-democratic)—makes all the difference.
- Ligne n°169 : “In a democratic system, voting is precious and essential. In an
- Ligne n°170 : undemocratic system, it can be fatal, as it can allow the destruction
- Ligne n°171 : of the economy, military adventurism, obstacles to basic human rights
- Ligne n°172 : such as jobs, education, food, clothing, shelter, and health care, and
- Ligne n°173 : other tragic consequences of allowing government to exercise
- Ligne n°174 : uncontrolled power rather than vesting power in the hands of the
- Ligne n°175 : people.
- Ligne n°176 : “Most people in the U.S. today are opposed to our government’s ongoing
- Ligne n°177 : wars of aggression. Even those who are uninformed and uneducated, who
- Ligne n°178 : aren’t aware that historically, the way that most empires fell was
- Ligne n°179 : because they became militarily overextended, sense that there is
- Ligne n°180 : something wrong with spending trillions of dollars on foreign wars
- Ligne n°181 : while basic domestic needs go unmet.
- Ligne n°182 : “But because we do not have a democratic system of government, we have
- Ligne n°183 : no power to end the wars. The best we can do is vote for candidates we
- Ligne n°184 : hope might end the wars, but… there is nothing we can do about it
- Ligne n°185 : because our government has the power to start or end wars, and we do
- Ligne n°186 : not. If wars were on the ballot, it could only be as a nonbinding
- Ligne n°187 : referendum, as there is no Constitutional way to force the government
- Ligne n°188 : to obey the will of the people. The Constitution vested power in the
- Ligne n°189 : government rather than in the hands of the people.
- Ligne n°190 : “I do not oppose voting any more than I oppose breathing. I oppose
- Ligne n°191 : voting only when it occurs within an undemocratic form of government,
- Ligne n°192 : thus legitimizing an undemocratic form of government and consenting to
- Ligne n°193 : be governed undemocratically, just as I oppose breathing only when in a
- Ligne n°194 : toxic or anaerobic environment where breathing can be fatal.
- Ligne n°195 : “Just as I would want to try to help anyone trapped in a toxic or
- Ligne n°196 : anaerobic environment to hold their breath until they could escape, I
- Ligne n°197 : want to try to help people trapped in an undemocratic form of
- Ligne n°198 : government withhold their votes until they can escape. If I tell a
- Ligne n°199 : drowning person to hold his breath until he can get his head above
- Ligne n°200 : water, I am not condemning breathing. If I tell people not to vote
- Ligne n°201 : until they have a democratic form of government, I am not condemning
- Ligne n°202 : voting.
- Ligne n°203 : “…my thesis is that the way to decide if voting is useful or not is to
- Ligne n°204 : determine whether or not it is taking place within a democratic form of
- Ligne n°205 : government where the votes are the voice of the people and are the
- Ligne n°206 : final say in deciding policy. If the votes are not the final say, they
- Ligne n°207 : are no say at all, just a trick and a trap to get people to relinquish
- Ligne n°208 : their power and vote for their own oppression.”
- Ligne n°209 : I conclude this column by paraphrasing a useful item from an anonymous
- Ligne n°210 : blogger that I also found on the Fubarandgrill.com website:
- Ligne n°211 : “The U.S. government is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the big
- Ligne n°212 : multinational private corporations that fund it, and no matter who is
- Ligne n°213 : in office, it will continue to do the bidding of the wealthy global
- Ligne n°214 : elites intent on continuing to murder millions of innocents and pollute
- Ligne n°215 : the entire planet for profit. Those profits all go to the wealthy
- Ligne n°216 : elites and their puppets, with ordinary people never seeing any
- Ligne n°217 : benefit. Ordinary people in the U.S. are being taxed to pay for the
- Ligne n°218 : troops and mercenaries that are committing these genocides on behalf of
- Ligne n°219 : private corporations.”
- Ligne n°220 : Dr Kohls is a retired physician who practiced holistic, non-drug mental
- Ligne n°221 : health care for the last decade of his career. He is involved in peace,
- Ligne n°222 : nonviolence and justice issues and writes about mental ill health,
- Ligne n°223 : fascism, corporatism, militarism, racism, imperialism, totalitarianism,
- Ligne n°224 : economic oppression, anti-environmentalism and other violent,
- Ligne n°225 : unsustainable, anti-democratic movements.
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