The American republic has been destroyed. We no longer possess a democratic form of government. We operate under an oligarchy, which is when the rich control everything. Today corporate interests dominate every institution, and have thoroughly corrupted our political system. Can we the people salvage the republic? Can we defeat the corporate plutocrats? Sadly, the answer appears to be a resounding NO!
How did this happen? How did we the people lose our representative government? The answer to that question is fairly complex, but two factors tower over others in importance. First among these is education, the cornerstone of any representative system. As Jefferson famously wrote, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free…it expects what never was and never will be.”
Tragically, too many Americans fail to understand this fundamental point. Many Americans mistakenly believe freedom is protected entirely by the second amendment to the Constitution. This is a naive and wholly inadequate conception of political freedom. The big business interests took over the republic without firing a shot. We lost the government and our massive stockpiles of weaponry were impotent when faced with a corporate coup (as Chris Hedges calls it). We lost control of the government because of our ubiquitous ignorance. James Monroe warned us when writing in 1817, “Let us by all wise and Constitutional measures promote intelligence among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties.”
Are we addressing the education deficiency? Not really. Most of the discussions about education are concerned with improving math and science skills. There is little talk of improving civics education, and we are unlikely to accomplish that task. Assata Shakur addressed the problem with political education when writing, “For the most part, we received fragments of unrelated knowledge, and our education follows no logical format or pattern. It is exactly this kind of education that produces people who don’t have the ability to think for themselves and who are easily manipulated.” The lack of civics training for the majority of Americans makes it a near certainty that our political dysfunction will continue unabated. In fact, it’s probably going to get much worse. A citizenry must be educated and informed in order to sustain representative government, and this citizenry’s attempt to perform the task is akin to baking a cake without eggs, flour, or sugar. It just isn’t going to work.
The second factor which led to the loss of the republic is a broken media system which does not perform its critical function of informing we the people. As James Madison wrote, “…a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.” Today, six behemoth corporations control almost the entire media infrastructure: Disney, Newscorp, Viacom, AT&T, Comcast, and CBS. Under such circumstances, is it surprising that Americans receive far more propaganda than useful content? No. No it isn’t. We have hyper-partisan outlets reporting incessantly about the corruption of the other side, while ignoring or excusing their side’s malfeasance. This corporate media market has created a nation of brain-dead partisans. Teams red and blue care more about hurting the other side than helping the country. The American people have been thoroughly divided and conquered by the pernicious purveyors of propaganda (say that fast four times).
These two factors, a broken education system that fails to train people for citizenship, and a corporate media that spins partisan idiocy eight days a week, have led to the loss of the republic. Can we salvage this mess? Can we restore our representative government of, by, and for the people? No. No we cannot. In order to achieve that end we would have to educate and inform the citizenry, and there is little reason to believe that will happen. Prove me wrong America. I triple dog dare ya!