written 15 September, 2024
published 29 September, 2024
While democracy is central in the American mythos, exclusive gain has been rooted in America from the beginning. Arising from the erroneous belief in separation, it perceives a hostile world, so control seems imperative. Thus, concentration of power and wealth is deemed essential for survival of a ruling elite, with the axiom "all for ourselves, and nothing for anyone else". The "founding fathers", wealthy landowning men, fought the revolution to eliminate control by a small overseas elite, and created control by a larger domestic one instead.
Noam Chomsky's "Requiem For The American Dream" lists 10 practices which have been used to concentrate power in the last century.
1: Reduce Democracy. The ideal of democracy is the empowerment of the entire population. Since exclusive gain produces wide spread poverty and misery, the democratic threat is the poor will rise up, demanding a larger portion of the economic pie. The elite works to avoid this.
2: Shape Ideology. The economic crash of 1929, the result of wealth inequity and financial excesses, brought a wave of democratic policies to restore the country, spreading wealth through governmental actions. This endured until the early 70's, when businesses began complaining they were "losing control", as worker's rights, civil rights, women's rights, and environmental concerns worked to limit the unfettered greed inherent in the so called "free market". Socialism was demonized as an "excess of democracy", and critics were derided as unpatriotic, amplified by increased media concentration.
3: Redesign The Economy. Production shifted overseas, chasing cheaper labor and fewer regulations, maximizing profit while destroying the democratic power of domestic unions. As the economy shifted from manufacturing to financing, New Deal financial regulations deterring reckless bank activities were removed, allowing governmentally insured deposits to be speculatively invested. Short term profits were prioritized.
4: Shift The Burden. The progressive tax structure, which redistributed wealth and reduced economic inequity, was dismantled. As the wealthy pay less, the poor pay more, working longer at more jobs to afford to live. Instead of a strong middle class as our social foundation, wealth now supposedly "trickles down".
5: Attack Solidarity. Compassion, an innate human trait, is a threat to exclusive gain. Social Security supports economic solidarity, creating a stronger society, but is described as on the "verge of bankruptcy", and targeted for privatization. However, most of the income of the wealthy does not contribute, exacerbating this apparent economic crisis. An educated public makes a stronger society. Reducing taxes precludes governmental support of free education, once quite common, making education a privilege, because a less educated public is more easily controlled. A healthy population makes a healthy society, and should be a basic human right, but American health care is mostly privatized and expensive.
6: Run The Regulators. Regulations attempt to limit the damage of unrestrained capitalist greed. But regulations are now often written by the regulated industry. The regulators become part of doing business, described as "regulatory capture".
7: Engineer The Elections. Corporations are now "people", and donate unlimited election funds, sometimes totally anonymous, thanks to years of effort by Republicans on the Supreme Court. The Senate and the Electoral College were designed to be undemocratic. Republican policies are unpopular, so gerrymandering and voter purges are their electoral response.
8: Keep The Rabble In Line. The labor movement has been a constant opponent to the exclusive gain of the elites. Consequently, businesses have worked to destroy unions, increasing wealth inequity.
9: Manufacture Consent. Power is always in the hands of the collective, so efforts are made to keep them divided. The public relations industry accentuates societal differences and obscures similarities. It also supports the distraction of the consumer industry, keeping people in debt, struggling to buy the "next new thing".
10: Marginalize The Population. Public policy controlled by the wealthy is prioritized to meet their needs, but not those of the majority. This leads to desperation, depression, and rage. Trump taps into that rage, even though he has no policies to help his faithful, as he is one of the elite.
All democracies eventually go one of two ways: increasing authoritarianism until eventual collapse, or sustained effort to reduce economic inequity. The climate crisis adds a new imperative, which will speed the collapse if we ignore it much longer. Any real climate solution has to be globally inclusive, eliminating the foolishness of exclusive gain everywhere. This election will tell the tale. How will you vote?
