We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Report: Gas Industry’s Campaign Donations Reach Record Levels

Click here to access article by Farron Cousins from DeSmogBlog (Canada).

Unfortunately, the author implies that the Republican party is mostly to blame, which suggests that if people would vote for Democratic party candidates, all would be well. His own data does not support this conclusion. Of course, there are minor differences between the parties. This must be so in order to maintain the illusion of "democracy". 
 
Aside from this criticism, the article offers the latest illustration of how capitalist "democracy" works. Theoretically people vote to put representatives in office to carry out their political choices. The reality is startlingly different. The people do not have any influence as to the representatives that are put on their ballots. These candidate representatives are selected and funded by capitalist political parties. If they are voted into office, they continue to be funded by capitalists as long as they serve the interests of capitalists, whose power is based on the private ownership of socially produced wealth, to reap ever greater profits and prospects of profits regardless of the effects on the rest of society or the environment.

In order to convince the people that this political process is legitimate and represents some sort of "democracy", this class of people must engage in massive ideological work throughout their control of education, media, and entertainment.