Our Fake Democracy EDITED to add attribution. SORRY!
Last edited Sat Jun 24, 2017, 01:03 AM - Edit history (1)
'We tell ourselves stories in order to live, as Joan Didion said. We do this as a nation, as individuals, as families even when that construct is demonstrably false. For the United States, the biggest institutional lie of the moment is that we have a government of the people, responding to majority will.
On almost every single concern, Congress whether its the misnamed Peoples House, or the Senate, laughably mischaracterized as the worlds greatest deliberative body is going against what most of the country wants. And Congress is doing this because there will be no consequences. We have a fake democracy, growing less responsive and less representative by the day.
The biggest example of this is the monstrosity of a health care bill, which a cartel of Republicans finally allowed us to peek at on Thursday. The lobbyists have seen it; of course. But for the rest us, our first look at a radical overhaul of one-sixth of the economy, something that touches every American, comes too late to make our voices heard.
Crafted in total darkness, the bill may pass by a slim majority of people who have not read it. Inevitably, with something that deprives upward of 23 million Americans of health care, people will die because of this bill. States will be making life and death decisions as they drop the mandated benefits of Obamacare and cut vital care for the poor, the elderly, the sick and the drug-addicted through Medicaid. The sunset of Obamacare is the dawn of death panels. . .
Trump is president, of course, despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million people. Almost 60 percent of the public is against him now. In a parliamentary system, hed be thrown out in a no-confidence vote. In our system, hes primed to change life for every citizen, against the wishes of a majority of Americans. Try calling that a democracy while keeping a straight face.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/opinion/our-fake-democracy.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)And never in my life has the tone and direction been so grave.
I felt the same when Reagan et al changed laws
Your frustration is understandable.
I'm still wrangling with the decade old statistic that 1 in 6 American children are food insecure.
OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts)In a republic, a constitution or charter of rights protects certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away by the government, even if it has been elected by a majority of voters. In a "pure democracy," the majority is not restrained in this way and can impose its will on the minority.
Democracy vs Republic - Difference and Comparison | Diffen
www.diffen.com/difference/Democracy_vs_Republic