undefined | Better HN

0 pointsTheOtherHobbes10y ago0 comments

You realise it's not either/or?

The US is a plutocracy. It's in no sense a working democracy. There's a public voting circus every couple of years, but policy - which is the only thing that really matters in politics - is largely defined by Wall St, the Fed, and by mil-ind corporate lobbying groups.

All of the above are politically unaccountable and legally untouchable. See for example the ridiculous excuses made to prevent the passage of:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Transparency_A...

0 comments

thothamon10y ago

This sort of thing is said all the time, but we do see significant policy changes based on voting, such as the switch to Barack Obama from George W. Bush. It's not clear to me that the corporations drove that in a major way. Another example is Herbert Hoover to Franklin Roosevelt. I imagine you wouldn't suggest that the corporations wanted the Socialist ideas proposed by Roosevelt.

Just because an election or a vote doesn't go your way, or the government doesn't shift dramatically every election, doesn't mean the nation does not have a working democracy.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse