Lifting the Veil: Obama and the Failure of Capitalist Democracy

[Carl]

Lifting the Veil: Obama and the Failure of Capitalist Democracy (http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/lifting_the_veil_obama_and_the_failure_of_capitali st_democracy_2011/)



http://vimeo.com/20355767

This, is a good video.

[madfranks]

The failure of "capitalist democracy"? I think it depends on how you define your terms. I don't believe capitalism is compatible with democracy. How can there be a truly free market (capitalism) when folks are allowed to vote themselves special privileges and benefits not afforded to others (democracy)?

[Hypertiger]

The owners of the market decide how free it is.

All life and everything in the Universe capitalizes on Truth to sustain the existance of all an everything in the Universe.

All in the absolute capitalist system are absolute capitalists.

All are trying to take more power than they give (chop down trees faster than the regrow) to sustain their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

Absolute capitalist democracy is rule of the majority of absolute capitalists over the minority of absolute capitalists.

The powerful over the powerless.

the winners of the game over the losers of the game.

Like in what absolute capitalists call the free market.

The rich/powerful/positive/winners live off the yield of power derived from the poor/powerless/negative/losers.

The powerful or top grow richer in power by taking more power than they give from the bottom who grow poorer in power by giving more power than they take.

That is how the absolute capitalist free market works.

[Santa]

The Capitalists are the owners of the International Central Banks.

Everyone else on earth is a sucker.

[Carl]

The failure of "capitalist democracy"? I think it depends on how you define your terms. I don't believe capitalism is compatible with democracy. How can there be a truly free market (capitalism) when folks are allowed to vote themselves special privileges and benefits not afforded to others (democracy)? There is no such thing as a "truly free market" and even if there were, capitalism would insure its enslavement in short order.

[Hatha Sunahara]

Somewhere in this vast array of presentations in this video there was a discussion about the 'centralization of power'. This, I believe is the failure in the politics. It is not capitalism or democracy that causes this political failure, but the centralization of power because it results in corruption, as Lord Acton has observed 'Power Corrupts, Absolute Power corrupts absolutely.' Centralization of power in the 'unitary executive' aka dictator, autocrat, whatever engenders corruption, and results in failure. This is what happened in the Soviet Union, to the monarchy in France in the late 18th century, and in China, and now in the United States. Our big corporate monopolies (or oligopolies) have merged with the government to preserve their enslavement of the markets, and have corrupted the government. I am sure that the corruption has flowed in both directions. The most serious corruption is the 'too big to fail' mantra--which should be a red flag waving for absolute corruption in the financial sector.

The fix obviously is to bust up all the large corporations, and to reform the government so that it is not run by careerist politicians. Unfortunately, it would take a revolution to achieve this end--but maybe that is what is necessary to save this rotting corpse of a body politic.


Hatha