Monday, January 29, 2007

The rich get richer while the poor get poorer


I firmly believe that America holds itself up with a crutch of lies made by a group of individuals known by the conflict theorists as the power elite. Yes, Mr. Chomsky, I think you hit the nail directly on its star spangled, red and white stripes head in defining America’s political economy as a plutocrary. I mean look around, have you ever noticed the people that run our country? Have you ever noticed that these people, with a few exceptions, are all exactly the same? And by the same I mean that they are all rich, white, men that pay a ridiculous amount of money to make themselves look good on camera in an effort to obtain office (notice how I use ‘obtain’ here, because they certainly are not elected by the people), so they can then be the voice of the ‘people’. But whose voice do they mimic? Surely not mine, and most likely not yours either, because if it were our voices, government would spend less time on corporate, profit-based interests (twisted to appear like they are being discussed/passed for the benefit of the people) and more time on issues that really matter, like socialization of medicine, or how to disperse wealth so there is not an enormous gap between rich and poor, for example.


Now, to further illustrate my point, I would like expand on two of the five ways in which the conflict theorists define the ‘elite model’ that so obviously mirrors American society.


1) Elites possess the greatest wealth, education, status, and other resources and make the most important decisions in society.



Mmmmhuh, hello bureaucracy. These elites are a Bush-approval-rating size percentage of the population (meaning small) that have the ability to remain powerful because they have a wealth advantage over others. They have this ability to remain in their positions because they were most likely born into a wealthy family, which paid for an expensive, well-known institution of higher education, which reinforces their status on top of the hierarchy, which allows for them to be elected into important offices to make decisions that protect their class’ interests. By the way, the majority of America is not wealthy, so they are not protecting the majority of America. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.



2) elites generally agree on the basic values and goals for society.



Of course they do, because the values and goals for society, which in their eyes consists of their socio-economic class, are all used to protect their self-acknowledged privileges.




No, I do not think America is corrupt, I think that an overwhelming majority of the decision makers that shape America are corrupt and that makes me shake with anger, hence the intensity of this entry. And no I do not hate America, I just am severely distressed at the shape of things because I believe that this country has the potential to be as great as our high school government textbooks say it is. So, as the saying goes, fight for your class, not for your elitist and plutocratic country.,br>

4 comments:

mclemmo said...

yikes! I apologize for the length, I guess I got carried away.

Christopher_Duke said...

How can u claim people did not elect officials... basic notion of representative democracy? a majority of those that vote- u get elected. Cant help when people chose not to vote. Perhaps u have the right to be annoyed if someone is nominated and confirmed... but thats a consquence of a election. To the victor goes the spoils. :P

As far as elites holding an upper hand in education, perhaps they work hard and deserve it. just a thought- Dubya... ok doesnt deserve to go to Yale. Chief Justice Roberts- summa cum laude... Harvard... I think hes qualified... DONT BE SO NEGATIVE! :)

mclemmo said...

True, some do work hard, but that is not the issue I was referring to. I mean to say that rich people get into great schools because they can afford it. Sure, there are scholarships and affirmaive action and top ten percent and whatever else, but I feel like there are a lot of people out there, that deserve to go to ivy league schools galore that are not able to because they do not possess the financial ability.

Also, I can be as annoyed and negative as I see fit and considering the circumstances(suffering of the relatively powerless masses) I think my outlook is quite justified.

Christopher_Duke said...

Lol... i didnt mean it as a negative saying. I was like hang in there kinda thing.

I understand ur frustration... personally Im sick of this do-nothing Congress, pretty im going to stick to my "gut" president- bold at times, but dumb most of the time.

OK, have to ask- did u vote this past election if you could?