Not in their name.
What is the most powerful political force in the world? Or to phrase the question another way who are the most powerful people in any nation? Think about it. It’s not a trick question. Who holds the most power in any country? The monarch? The President or Prime Minister? The leaders of the central banks or the so called captains of industry? Trade unionists, activists, terrorists even?
All wrong.
It’s the people – the masses, you and me. One of the first maxims I learned when I started studying politics and political theory years ago was “You get the leaders you deserve.” What this means is that if you’re apathetic and don’t really care or pay any attention to the political sphere of your surroundings, then you have no right to complain if an idiot becomes leader. Or if your rights start getting eroded and the system takes a turn in a sinister direction. Tough matey. You let it happen by doing nothing.
Look at Ukraine for example. Their election in December was a sham. A complete farce. The people realised this and they stood up in huge numbers and protested. It was impossible for the corrupt officials to ignore this protest and a new election was called. This led to Viktor Yushchenko becoming President last week.
Compare that with Russia. The UN said the election there was also a sham. Putin jailed his main opponent a few weeks before the election. The people for whatever reason just got on with their lives. It’s difficult to compare the two of course due to the size of Russia and the turmoil it’s been through over the last century, but you get the picture. Putin has now sold the rights to Russia’s vast oil and gas deposits to his mates. Trebles all round. And roubles.
A better example could be the US. Bush won his first election last December. The 2000 election that saw him declared leader was a sham. One of Bush’s cousins, a political analyst on Fox News declared result for fox sake. Washington Post reporters, using the Freedom of Information Act obtained all of the disputed Florida ballots and proved that Bush LOST Florida. Gore should have been president. The rest of the liberal media moaned and created a bit of a fuss, but on the whole the people did nothing. The rest is history of course. Clinton’s budget surplus of $240 billion is approaching a deficit of $1 trillion. Tax cuts for the rich and an illegal, immoral war in Iraq are the main reasons. Enron collapsed throwing thousands onto America’s creaking (soon to be privatised) social security system, and wiping out the life savings of the majority of employees who owned shares. Has there been massive corporate reform in the US – have a guess. There was plenty of vote irregularity last year and a few brave politicians stood up to challenge the result, but the Bush family is too powerful, it’s web to broad for anything to stop the juggernaut rolling on. Four more years. Four more wars? Four more tax cuts for the rich? Four more constitutional rights taken away? We shall see.
So this cheers me up no end. It is a Statement of Conscience and a Pledge of Resistance to be signed by ordinary Americans who do want to say ENOUGH. (thanks Muzz) I’m obviously English so can’t sign it, but if I can help them by getting even one American citizen to sign, I’ll sleep more soundly.
We live on a small planet. Bush is harming all of us. We all have to let him know that he cannot continue to get away with it.
Then, we can have a good look at Mr Bliar……
All wrong.
It’s the people – the masses, you and me. One of the first maxims I learned when I started studying politics and political theory years ago was “You get the leaders you deserve.” What this means is that if you’re apathetic and don’t really care or pay any attention to the political sphere of your surroundings, then you have no right to complain if an idiot becomes leader. Or if your rights start getting eroded and the system takes a turn in a sinister direction. Tough matey. You let it happen by doing nothing.
Look at Ukraine for example. Their election in December was a sham. A complete farce. The people realised this and they stood up in huge numbers and protested. It was impossible for the corrupt officials to ignore this protest and a new election was called. This led to Viktor Yushchenko becoming President last week.
Compare that with Russia. The UN said the election there was also a sham. Putin jailed his main opponent a few weeks before the election. The people for whatever reason just got on with their lives. It’s difficult to compare the two of course due to the size of Russia and the turmoil it’s been through over the last century, but you get the picture. Putin has now sold the rights to Russia’s vast oil and gas deposits to his mates. Trebles all round. And roubles.
A better example could be the US. Bush won his first election last December. The 2000 election that saw him declared leader was a sham. One of Bush’s cousins, a political analyst on Fox News declared result for fox sake. Washington Post reporters, using the Freedom of Information Act obtained all of the disputed Florida ballots and proved that Bush LOST Florida. Gore should have been president. The rest of the liberal media moaned and created a bit of a fuss, but on the whole the people did nothing. The rest is history of course. Clinton’s budget surplus of $240 billion is approaching a deficit of $1 trillion. Tax cuts for the rich and an illegal, immoral war in Iraq are the main reasons. Enron collapsed throwing thousands onto America’s creaking (soon to be privatised) social security system, and wiping out the life savings of the majority of employees who owned shares. Has there been massive corporate reform in the US – have a guess. There was plenty of vote irregularity last year and a few brave politicians stood up to challenge the result, but the Bush family is too powerful, it’s web to broad for anything to stop the juggernaut rolling on. Four more years. Four more wars? Four more tax cuts for the rich? Four more constitutional rights taken away? We shall see.
So this cheers me up no end. It is a Statement of Conscience and a Pledge of Resistance to be signed by ordinary Americans who do want to say ENOUGH. (thanks Muzz) I’m obviously English so can’t sign it, but if I can help them by getting even one American citizen to sign, I’ll sleep more soundly.
We live on a small planet. Bush is harming all of us. We all have to let him know that he cannot continue to get away with it.
Then, we can have a good look at Mr Bliar……
posted by phylos @ 17:31
1 Comments:
Thanks for your comments Dev.
There are indeed many British people at a loss to understand the election result in the US. We don't have the same sort of patriotism in the UK that seems to have engulfed your country, and in no way do we see Tony Bliar as a 'war leader'. We have a healthy degree of cynicism. But I hope you understand that our problem really isn't with the American people per se, but rather it’s your system and the ever increasing global power exerted by the US which troubles us. We do understand that the vast majority of Americans just want to get on with their lives untroubled by government as much as possible. Maybe from a distance we can see better than many of your fellow citizens how Bush is removing freedoms in the name of patriotism and the war on terror. I’m ‘lucky’ enough to have access to several US news channels and I sometimes wonder if they are reporting on the same planet that I’m watching.
It is reassuring to know that people like yourself exist, and I hope in sufficient numbers to begin to make a difference. From what I understand the US political system is in many ways easier to gain access to than ours. People just need to take a lead. A few years ago a friend and I started am anti-racism group in one of the whitest, most middle class areas of the UK and were astonished at the support we received. People were just waiting for somebody else to make the first move. Be that person in your community.
All power to you.
P
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