OMNI
WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #195, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024. Compiled by Dick Bennett
Struggle—La Lucha--for Democracy
Dick. Anti-Democratic Republican Party Advancing.
Prabhat Patnaik. Worldwide Attenuation of Democracy.
Dick. The Idea
of Democracy, The Democrats v. The Republicans, the ACLU and Electoral Democracy/Voting Rights.
Anti-Democratic Forces Advancing. The extreme right-wing Republican Party, heavily financed by wealthy individuals and corporations
and reinforced by its new comprehensive Project 2025, has gained control
of the presidency for one term and is striving to repeat that victory; it
instigated a (failed) insurrection against Pres. Trump’s defeat; it now
controls or almost controls both Senate and House; its majority of justices control the US
Supreme Court; it has been striving to gain control of state legislatures under
its ALEC project; it is doing the same with state Secretaries of State,
Attorneys General (RAGA, Republican Attorneys General Assoc.), and
governors—gaining power over the institutions of the idea of
democracy. (Refs. : Elie Mystal.
“Justice on the Ballot,” The Nation (Sept. 2024) on Attorneys General. The American Legislative Exchange
Council [ALEC] offers its corporate sponsors a variety of options for
buying access to state lawmakers.)
--Dick
A grim view of the US electoral “democracy”
focused on foreign policy is argued by Prabhat Patnaik in
“The Bizarre State of
Western Democracy.” Mronline.org
(9-8-24). (Originally
published in Peoples Democracy on September 8, 2024.
Here are his opener and conclusion; click on title for the entire essay,
which is devoted mainly to US and German foreign policies.).
DURING the entire post-war period when it has been in
existence in the metropolitan countries, democracy has never been in as bizarre
a state as it is today. Democracy is supposed to mean the pursuit of policies
that are in conformity with the wishes of the electorate. . . . What is
currently happening however is altogether different: public opinion,
notwithstanding all the propaganda directed at it, wants policies that are
altogether different from those being systematically pursued by the ruling class.
The policies favoured by the ruling class in other words are being
pursued despite public opinion being palpably and systematically
opposed to them. . . . What all this means is that a fundamental
decision on war and peace that affects everybody is being taken in the
metropolitan countries against the wishes of the people by a
political establishment that is financed by lobbies with vested interests. In the metropolis there has thus been a
transition from “manipulation of dissent” through propaganda, to the total
ignoring of dissent, even dissent by a majority, that has proved to be immune
to propaganda. This represents a new stage in the attenuation of democracy, a
stage characterised by an unprecedented moral bankruptcy of the political
establishment. Such moral bankruptcy of the traditional political establishment
also constitutes the context for the growth offascism; but
whether or not fascism actually comes to power, the attenuation of democracy
in metropolitan societies has already disempowered people to an extent that is
quite unprecedented.
About
Prabhat Patnaik Prabhat Patnaik is an Indian political economist and
political commentator. His books include Accumulation and Stability
Under Capitalism (1997), The Value of Money (2009),
and Re-envisioning Socialism (2011).
TWO RESPONSES TO PATNAIK
“ANALYSIS
is generally correct, but the U.S. situation is far more complicated--the AIPAC
is there, but the fundamentalists are a strong
force behind Trump, and the issue of immigration and racism is far more
heightened here in the US to appeal to frightened white electors who are
economically distressed, and are afraid of Latino immigrants portrayed as
criminals. So the white racism in the US
is more pronounced. WHAT I don't like
in the analysis is there is no perception of opposing forces--student
encampments, academics against authoritarianism, --no mention of resistance at
all, so there is a tone of hopelessness in an elegantly written piece. “ Sonny.
“I
think the recent news of the "good guys," currently leading a
"Textbook Case of Genocide"& escalating the risk of nuclear war,
of the "Democratic" Party successfully kicking the Green Party peace
option off the ballot in Nevada yesterday, & Kamala's warm embrace of war
criminal Dick Cheney's endorsement would bolster the argument. Corporate
Capitalism inherently opposes democracy, especially economic democracy, which
inherently leads to fascism, which is a central reason both right wing
corporate imperialist parties must be opposed and a new economic system
established, one way or another. Fascism was always baked into corporate
capitalism. Can it be overthrown, will it collapse under its own internal
contradictions and unsustainable elements, and will we survive its collapse are
the only 3 worthwhile questions in my mind. “ Abel
Dick. The Idea of Democracy, The Democrats v. The
Republicans, the ACLU and Electoral
Democracy/Voting Rights. As Patnaik shows, in
foreign policy the US has One War Party, against which you and I are
trying to hold onto our idea of a
democracy, against the authoritarian gains by the Republicans on all
fronts. But in domestic matters we retain two Parties, and the struggle
for electoral legitimacy continues. We
might think of the idea of democracy as a government composed of institutions
that are more of, from, and for the people than not. Voting is one of those institutions, and as
the ACLU letter argues, the Republicans would limit voting rights as a feature
of our democratic hopes. The Democrats
continue the struggle to expand the New Deal and the Great Society, as the
editor of The Progressive observes about Biden: “he has done more to push through major
progressive policy change than any President since Lyndon Johnson—from
expanding labor rights, to lifting a substantial portion of the crushing burden
of student debt, to the most ambitious climate legislation ever.”Ruth Conniff.
“Democrats Need to Stop Running from Biden.” The
Progressive (Oct.-Nov 2022).
The ACLU is an outstanding example of defenders of the electoral
institution of the idea of democracy, now under heavy attack, and the daily
struggle for it.
“A guide to [Republican
Party] tyranny:
Step 1 → Eviscerate the Voting Rights Act
Step 2 → Limit who has access to the ballot box, state by state.
Step 3 → Implement an authoritarian platform like Project 2025.
James (Dick), our democracy is under attack, and it all
starts with undermining our right to vote. As we approach the
general election, voter suppression tactics – like limiting ballot access and
racially gerrymandering districts to exclude people of color – have already
unfolded and are only intensifying. The
ACLU is fighting to safeguard every American's fundamental right to vote, but
Congress has a job to do, too. James
(Dick), this is where you come in. We know Congress won't act without serious
pressure from constituents. Your support is urgently needed to pass the John
Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA). The VRAA will restore and fortify the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, which the hostile Supreme Court majority undermined,
ensuring equal access to the ballot box for all.
Sign the petition now and
demand Congress act to pass the VRAA. Together, we can defend democracy and
protect the integrity of our elections. The ACLU Team.”
(For
a vivid account of a voting precinct in Rhode Island preparing and performing a
presidential election, the idea of
democracy in action, see PBS’s “America Reframed: ‘No Time to Fail’.” Or just join
Washington County’s Democratic Party organization to experience it locally.)