Commentary
Democracy is a beautiful thing, except that part about letting just any old jerk vote
By William Blum
Online Journal Guest Writer


Feb 6, 2008, 00:20

"The people can have anything they want. The trouble is, they do not want anything. At least they vote that way on election day." --Eugene Debs, American socialist leader, early 20th century

Why was the primary vote for former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich so small when anti-Iraq war sentiment in the United States is supposedly so high, and Kucinich was easily the leading anti-war candidate in the Democratic race?

Even allowing for his being cut out of several debates, Kucinich's showing was remarkably poor. In Michigan, on January 15, it was only Kucinich and Clinton running. Clinton got 56 percent of the vote, the "uncommitted" vote (for candidates who had withdrawn but whose names were still on the ballot) was 39 percent, and Kucinich received but 4 percent. And Clinton, remember, has been the leading pro-war hawk of all the Democratic candidates.

I think much of the answer lies in the fact that the majority of the American people -- like the majority of people all over the world -- aren't very sophisticated politically, and many of them aren't against the war for very cerebral reasons. Their opposition perhaps stems mainly from the large number of American soldiers who've lost their lives, or because the United States is not "winning," or because America's reputation in the world is being soiled, or because a majority of other Americans express their opposition to the war, or because of George W.'s multiple character defects, or because of a number of other reasons you couldn't even guess at. Not much especially perceptive or learned in this collection.

I think there are all kinds of intelligence in this world: musical, scientific, mathematical, artistic, academic, literary, mechanical, and so on. Then there's political intelligence, which I would define as the ability to see through the bullshit which the leaders and politicians of every society, past, present and future, feed their citizens from birth on to win elections and assure continuance of the prevailing ideology.

This is why it's so important for all of us to continue "preaching to the choir" and "preaching to the converted." That's what speakers and writers and other activists are often scoffed at for doing -- saying the same old thing to the same old people, just spinning their wheels. But long experience as speaker, writer and activist in the area of foreign policy tells me it just ain't so. From the questions and comments I regularly get from my audiences, via email and in person, and from other people's audiences as well, I can plainly see that there are numerous significant information gaps and misconceptions in the choir's thinking, often leaving them unable to see through the newest government lie or propaganda trick; they're unknowing or forgetful of what happened in the past that illuminates the present; knowing the facts but unable to apply them at the appropriate moment; vulnerable to being led astray by the next person who offers a specious argument that opposes what they currently believe, or think they believe. The choir needs to be frequently reminded and enlightened.

As cynical as others may think they are, the choir is frequently not cynical enough about the power elite's motivations. They underestimate the government's capacity for deceit, clinging to the belief that their government somehow means well; they're moreover insufficiently skilled at reading between the media's lines. And this all applies to how they view political candidates as well. Try asking "antiwar" supporters of Hillary Clinton if they know what a hawk she is, that -- as but one example -- she's promised that American forces will not leave Iraq while she's president. (And Obama loves the empire as much as Clinton.) When Ronald Reagan was president, on several occasions polls revealed that many, if not most, people who supported him were actually opposed to many of his specific policies.

In sum, even when the hearts of the chorus may be in the right place, their heads still need working on, on a recurring basis. And in any event, very few people are actually born into the choir; they achieve choir membership only after being preached to, multiple times.

When I speak in public, and when I can mention it in an interview, I raise the question of the motivations of the administration. As long as people believe that our so-called leaders are well intentioned, the leaders can, and do, get away with murder. Literally.

"How to get people to vote against their interests and to really think against their interests is very clever. It's the cleverest ruling class that I have ever come across in history. It's been 200 years at it. It's superb." --Gore Vidal

Another interesting view of the American electoral system comes from Cuban leader Raśl Castro. He recently noted that the United States pits two identical parties against one another, and joked that a choice between a Republican and Democrat is like choosing between himself and his brother Fidel.

"We could say in Cuba we have two parties: one led by Fidel and one led by Raśl, what would be the difference?" he asked. "That's the same thing that happens in the United States . . . both are the same. Fidel is a little taller than me, he has a beard and I don't." [1]

Note

[1] Associated Press, CNN.com, December 25, 2007