Essay:The Unholy Alliance

The American political arena has become a circus ran by the clowns we, as citizens, elected into office. Congress has become so dysfunctional that it is no wonder that the average trust has lost trust in the government. Libertarian Purists claim that distrust of the government is a beautiful thing. However, distrust of the government creates poor relations between the government and its citizens leading to corruption and dysfunction. I dare anyone to claim that corruption and dysfunction are beautiful things. The Swedes don’t have a distrust in their government and yet, the Sweden political system remains the least corrupt of any nation and the citizens enjoy high prosperity and happiness as a result. The politicians in Washington have lost touch with the common citizens and the reality of things. Perhaps, it is because these same politicians wish to indulge their own desires and ambitions before giving a second thought to the ideals of the people they represents. This is the antithesis of democracy. Politicians are motivated by greed and pride. They strive to obtain power and monetary wealth. A politicians indulges these desire through campaign funds. Every election year, influential corporations donate a large sum of money to political candidates to fund their campaign. In return, the politicians would have to satisfy the goals of the corporation that provided their campaign funding, even if it contradicts their own ideals. Political candidates are forced to sacrifice their own principles for monetary wealth and power. They are like prostitutes in business suits. The Citizens United case, decided by the US Supreme Court in 2010 has given the advantage to corporations by allowing them to hide the amount of money its gives to a candidate. A corporation can give as much funds as possible without the knowledge of the American people. Therefore, with these funds, candidates can easily manipulate ill-informed citizens to vote for them while pursuing policies against the interests of these same voters. In essence, the United States is no longer a democracy. It has become a Corporate Plutocracy. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected president, inspiring hope of change to millions of Americans. However, these Americans, over the last three years, have found themselves to be deprived and betrayed by the man whom they voted for. In the midst of his election, Obama had promised to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, reduce militarism around the war, and introduce progressive policies protecting the American middle class from the ruthlessness of Corporate America. However, Since his inauguration, Obama has failed to reduce American military influence in the world. It is true that he ended the war in Iraq but he introduced a surge in Afghanistan and is currently leading an operation in Libya. Instead of ending the Bush tax cuts and introducing tax policies for the benefit of the middle class, Obama introduced a stimulus package composed of bailouts for the banks that lead this country to the Great Recession. How much of a Corporate Whore does one have to be to use taxpayer money to benefit the wealthiest 1%! The OWS movement should occupy the West Wing in addition to Wall Street. This blatant appeasement to the rich and powerful is more than the American people can bear. Barack Obama, the man progressives and liberals voted for in order to spark change in the current system, has failed his fellow Americans. He went against his own platform and sought out to appease his corporate masters. We Americans are no longer living in a democracy. This is a corporate plutocracy where the rich and powerful reign supreme and corporations are legally defined at “persons”. Corporate America and Congress have united together in an unholy alliance. The bonds between these two entities are so powerful that mere citizens of this country can do nothing to penetrate and destroy it.