General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe world elite are colluding to destroy democracy
After all, when you have gamed the system and engineered the largest transfer of wealth in history, a transfer from the middle class to the top that only took a few decades, it only makes sense to secure your position by destroying the one institution that might reverse your gains: democracy. When the right wing echo chamber rails against government what they're really talking about is democracy. Reagan: "Government (democracy) isn't the solution, government (democracy) is the problem. Well in my opinion, government (democracy) is the solution.
When Nigel Farage met Julian Assange
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/23/when-nigel-farage-met-julian-assange
From the article:
And 9 March was the day that all these worlds came together when the cyber-libertarian movement that Assange represents collided headfirst with the global rightwing libertarian movement that Farage represents. When Nigel Farage tripped down the steps of the Ecuadorian embassy a visit that he did not expect to be photographed or documented a beam of light was shone on a previously hidden world: a political alignment between WikiLeaks ideology, Ukips ideology and Trumps ideology that is not necessarily just an affinity. It is also, potentially, a channel of communication.
David Golumbia, an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in the US who has studied WikiLeaks, describes it as the moment when the lines suddenly become visible. He says: It was like the picture suddenly came into focus. There is this worldwide, rightwing, nationalistic movement that is counter to the EU, and this is present in the US and Europe and Russia, and we are just starting to understand how they do all seem to be in communication and co-ordination with each other.
Sculpin Beauregard
(1,046 posts)TomCADem
(17,390 posts)The Alt-Right and Left Have bothed railed against the global financial powers and the corporate establishment. For example, sounding like a Justice Democrat, Trump repeatedly attacked Hillary Clinton of working for the "global elite" and bankers:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/us/politics/trump-comments-linked-to-antisemitism.html?_r=0
Donald J. Trump on Thursday accused Hillary Clinton of guiding a global power structure that has rigged the economy against the working class, language that some suggested echoed anti-Semitic themes.
Mr. Trump made the accusation in a speech in West Palm Beach, Fla., in which he also defended himself against several accusations of sexual harassment, published by The New York Times and others.
Early in the speech, he said that a global elite had stripped the United States of its wealth in order to line the pockets of corporate and political interests. The Clinton machine is at the center of this power structure, he said.
Weve seen this firsthand in the WikiLeaks documents in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors, he said, referring to the group that has, most recently, published thousands of hacked emails from Mrs. Clintons campaign chairman.
Even more recently, the Alt-Right has alleged that President Obama is still secretly guiding a global deep state that is mobilizing opposition to Trump's agenda in order to protect the interests of the global elite.
lutherj
(2,496 posts)hyperbole to say that "The Clinton machine is at the center of this power structure." At the center are people like the Koch brothers, the Mercers, the IMF, Goldman Sachs, etc. The "Clinton machine" simply acts as concierge to the global elite.
Anyway, my point is not that wealth has been transferred to the 1% on an unprecedented scale (I take this as self-evident and uncontroversial -- see Thomas Piketty and Paul Krugman among others), rather my point is that the 1% regards the idea of democracy with contempt, and is actively working to overthrow it. They see themselves as metaphysically superior to the working people, and so why should they be beholden to the masses?
TomCADem
(17,390 posts)True, I think the lesson is not what you do, but you say. Even though Hillary Clinton ran on a very progressive platform that was developed with significant input from the left, Trump was eager to play to the anger of voters against the elite, people of color, people of different religions, the deep state, etc. Of course, it did not matter that Trump was a self-described billionaire who spent his entire life exploiting the 99 percent while Hillary had spent most of her life in public service.
If actions spoke louder than words, then Democrats should rest easy, because Trump's actions clearly show that he and Republicans are all about enriching the 99 percent. Their healthcare proposals alone are just a means of financing a huge tax cut to the rich. But for many of his supporters, facts don't matter. Instead, you just speak to their anger and give them someone to hate and look down upon.
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/286334-trump-vs-the-global-elite
Donald Trump has found a new enemy in his quest for the White House: the global elite.
In a series of economic speeches, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has railed against the forces of globalization, arguing that changes in the economy have betrayed workers and wiped out the middle class.
At the center of the "rigged economy," Trump argues, are "powerful corporations, media elites and political dynasties" and his likely general election opponent, Hillary Clinton.
"Hillary Clinton and her friends in global finance want to scare America into thinking small and they want to scare the American people out of voting for a better future," Trump said Tuesday in a speech near Pittsburgh.