The US Isn’t a Democracy; It’s a Corporate Two-Party Duopoly

And the voter has no say

The root of most problems in modern America can be traced to the fact that it is no longer really a democracy. The will of the people has little to no bearing on what legislation is passed. And it is becoming less and less relevant.

In politics, the two-party duopoly effectively controls the parameters of debate and decides what are the important issues and the framing of those issues. They speak to different demographics on cultural concerns, but in essence, there’s very little difference between them.

They’re gatekeepers ensuring that nobody opposed to the corporate state gets into a powerful position and no legislation is passed that will hurt their donors’ bottom lines.

As Barack Obama said in 2013, “In my conversations with Republicans, I actually think the divide is not that wide… here in America, the difference between Democrats and Republicans — we’re fighting inside the 40-yard line…I would distinguish between the — the rhetoric and the tactics, versus the ideological differences.”

It’s hard to tell sometimes, and the media won’t say it, but Americans of all stripes are on the same page when it comes to many issues like healthcare, taxes, and the forever wars. Yet, Republicans and Democrats continue to throw ungodly sums of money at the military, drone multiple countries into oblivion, won’t consider a public option, and are keeping taxes lower than they were during the Reagan years.

Both parties are so deep in the pockets of corporations that they’re impossible to tell apart on most economic or foreign policy issues.

And a ridiculous number of the bills and amendments — proposed by both sides — are written by the lobbyists themselves. It is no surprise then that studies show the average American has virtually no impact on what is passed in DC.

Democrats only look good because they’re juxtaposed to Republicans

It is unfortunate but true. Let us not forget that it was Bill Clinton who cranked up mass incarceration, introduced NAFTA, destroyed welfare with his ’96 “reform,” and deregulated the banks by repealing Glass-Steagall, which helped create the 2008 crisis. Also under Clinton, the FCC was deregulated, leading to concentration in the media.

The “New Democrat” Clinton introduced was simply a more open-minded Republican. Obama — while obviously being a historic president and a charismatic legend — in many respects, continued in the same vein. He cranked up the drone wars, bailed out the banks while ten million people lost their homes, didn’t prosecute any of the criminals who perpetrated that fraud, and deported more immigrants than any president before him.

His signature bill, The Affordable Care Act came directly from the right-wing Heritage Foundation. And while it undoubtedly helped people, especially those with pre-existing conditions, it was originally a conservative plan because it was such a fat giveaway to insurance companies.

And as Wikileaks revealed, even his cabinet was basically selected by Citi Bank. Citi executive Michael Froman — who joined the Obama transition team — sent an email from his Citi Bank account to John Podesta a month before the election with an outline of approved picks for the cabinet. That outline and Citi’s other selections became almost a one-for-one match with the eventual hires. The worst of the worst banks during the ’08 crisis played heavily in Obama’s cabinet selection.

With that level of Wall Street’s influence on the Democratic Party, it’s no wonder the bailouts were completely one-sided.

A “center” politician in the States is a corporate right-winger

That’s America. There’s a center-right party and a party that is so far right Trump — who is still sitting on the throne smiting all who dare cross him — repeatedly refused to denounce neo-Nazis or white supremacists.

Yes, Republicans are evil. I’m of the mind, like Noam Chomsky says, that due to their global warming denial, they’re one of the most dangerous organizations in human history. I don’t typically dedicate my time to throttling their lies — but I’m glad others do — because they speak the language of conservatism, anger, and big business. It’s all there in the branding.

They don’t even try to hide the fact that they’re in office for corporate giveaways while talking about fake-ass American values.

They truly don’t hide it, but they only speak to the already converted, so it usually doesn’t cost them politically to accidentally drop the mask and say some bigoted mayhem. They’re just cashing checks while keeping the base engaged, enraged, and petrified at the coming throngs of commies or immigrants.

They were one vote away from taking health care away from 29 million Americans just for the hell of it. A super-majority would probably sell the national parks to mining companies, allow the Great Lakes to be used to dump toxic waste, and instead of gerrymandering, just make it illegal for non-Republican areas to vote.

When the right wins a majority, they take full advantage and kick the country seven steps to the right. Democrats come in and only bring it one step back. Because they’re getting money from the same donors, they can never fully reverse what Republicans did.

The result is America slides further and further to the right.

How did we get here?

The Post-War, New Deal economic framework of an economy with strong labor unions, high wages, and a thriving middle-class slowly died. Since the famous Powell memo in the early ‘70s, business got organized and engaged in electoral politics and shaping public opinion. Republicans were the natural beneficiaries and slowly chipped away at the Democratic stranglehold in Washington.

It worked. Republicans were so flush with corporate cash throughout the 1980s, they pummeled the Dems the whole decade. So, Clinton decided to turn the Democratic Party into Republican Light, abandon the working-class, and get in on those fat checks.

It’s been thirty years and a small portion of the party is just now remembering that it was once the party of labor unions.

Democrats have to be better

Republicans are hell-bent on selling the country for parts, so the burden falls on Democrats to do anything decent. The reason they irk me is that they speak the language of justice and inclusion while dining in the same private rooms with lobbyists and lining their pockets with the same greasy dollars.

Of course, they’ll occasionally pass important legislation, especially when it comes to protecting minority rights, but they never go the full way.

They can’t just help people. They have to figure out a way to protect their donor’s quarterly earnings reports while turning down the volume on justified anger.

Everything Democrats do makes so much more sense once I started looking at them through this frame: they are in DC more to run interference for corporations than they are to help working people.

They have all three chambers — yes, it is a slim majority — but they’re never going to fully utilize it the way Republicans would. And, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchins’ campaigns are being absolutely flooded with corporate money to ensure the party doesn’t pass anything that’ll substantially shift the balance of power away from donors.

The American Rescue Plan was good, arguably not big enough but good. The infrastructure plan is needed and awesome in theory, although again, arguably not big enough. The sad part is that there are enough safeguards to ensure whatever legislation passes doesn’t fundamentally change anything and has plenty of blank checks for donors.

It’s been half-measures dressed up as transformation for thirty years. Meanwhile, people are getting more and more desperate for real change.

The media hasn’t grasped the narrative that Americans are done with the Washington duopoly

There’s a reason the summer of 2020 saw the largest protests in American history. There’s a reason the country is bifurcating into extremes. There’s a reason people voted for Obama twice and then Donald Trump.

The wants, needs, and desires of the citizens are not really taken into consideration when drafting legislation.

The majority of Americans are barely eking out a living. Wages for the bottom half of the country have been flat for fifty years. Housing prices have skyrocketed with Bill Gates now being the largest landowner in the country and the largest private equity firm Blackstone owning tens of thousands of housing units.

The rich see that the working poor don’t have enough to participate in the consumer economy anymore, so they’ve decided to make money by buying the houses out from under them. The peasants might not have money for iPhones and sneakers, but everyone needs a roof over their head.

Shit is getting dystopian. Republicans admit they’re trying to throw gasoline on the fire. If Democrats weren’t so corrupt, they would take the opportunity to materially help the majority of working Americans.

It wouldn’t be easy, but they could truly try. They could come out swinging for the myriad of policies with over 60% public support, like paid maternity leave, raising the minimum wage, government funding for childcare, raising taxes on corporations, and getting the money out of politics. Make Republicans block the most popular policies out there, and then go hard and win the messaging game.

If Democrats wanted to win, they would actually be fighting for the people. They would be organizing. They would do across the country what Stacey Abrams did in Georgia: get people organized and keep them engaged.

Unfortunately, they’re too busy cashing checks and taking meetings with high-net-worth donors.

They’re fighting with Republicans between the forty-yard lines, just the way the lobbyists want. True help for the people doesn’t fall within the parameters of debate.

They’re much more worried about their next primary, their next donor luncheon, and making sure anybody who isn’t fighting within the corporate-approved lines is marginalized as a dreamer.

It isn’t a democracy; it’s a corporate, two-party duopoly.