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

Saturday, January 8, 2011

The Meaning of Daley

by Russ Baker from Who What Why

Russ Baker is one of America's premier investigative journalists. His sensitive "antennae" points us to some real food for thought on how our government really functions in contrast to the news pablum that mainstream media feeds us. 

In this article he delves into Obama's recent appointment of William Daley for the important position of White House Chief of Staff. Daley comes from the Chicago political machine; but more importantly, Baker reveals all the other interests he is tied to--the real powers behind the throne. This is how American style "democracy" works. 

It is much like any production in the theater or cinema. The stage play, "Democracy in America", always retains the same producers, directors and screenwriters who are always recruited from sections of the ruling capitalist class, but it is performed with different actors.  In the play the latter act out their roles through various scenes of elections, after which they are selected and then play the role of government leaders. The directors and/or the producers always select the actors, and the latter are given their scripts by the screenwriters. Daley's role will probably be that of director and screenwriter, the banking institutions that of the producer.

If, like most Americans, you confined yourself to reading/listening/viewing mainstream media, you would think that these events on stage were reality, not just someone's or some class's version of reality. You would think that elections were important and a sure sign of a real democracy.