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American Chaos
Does
it matter? Bush or Gore. Not really. Who cares who wins an American
presidential election between two identical candidates with identical world
views? Only stock brokers and speculators around the world look interested in
American chaos. American presidential election is the biggest showbiz on the
earth. Everybody knows politicians lie and pretend to care about things in
public they happily give away in private. Both Bush and Gore lied but it was
part of their political culture. Indians are familiar with political
hypocrisy and farcical elections. And by any standards the American
presidential poll was a farce. American hypocrisy in politics, nationally and
internationally, is unlimited. Finally the Bush-Gore dance drama ended in a
fiasco—if anything it was simply bizzare. The dead-locked presidential vote suggests among other
things how flawed the American electoral system is. The two party system of
America is notorious in bashing any voice of dissent that challenges the
bi-polar polity, heavily dependent on corporate finance. In truth political
bribery is not illegal in America, thanks to apex court verdicts that, equate
spending with free speech. Progressive candidate Ralph Nader is right in
describing the White House as a corporate prison. And for ordinary people
throughout the world it hardy makes any difference who the prisoner is.
Corporate power decides everything though a US president constitutionally
retains an awesome ability to make things happen. American
democracy represents the mood of a minority as it is the case everywhere. In
1998 American Congressional elections voter turnout was a record low, with
just 33 percent of eligible voters going to the polls. After all their
parliamentarians and voters are not terrorised by the naxalite vote
boycottists. The hard fact is that low voter turnout tends to be accepted and
encouraged by the powers that be as a very good thing since non-voters are
mainly among the poor and blacks. Indian dalits have their counterparts in
the American society as well. It is pointless to blame it on Bihar. The
Singhs and Yadavs may derive some comfort from the American syndrome. In some
states of India general elections are so manipulated that sometimes people’s |
representatives, not excluding persons with criminal records, get elected with the actual support of less than 30 percent of eligible voters. The business dominated parties in league with all powerful corporate community of America, have refused to reform laws that make it virtually impossible to create new political parties that might speak on behalf of the dispossessed. One party rule or two-party rule, the net result is an overwhelming majority of people remaining demoralised, frustrated and socially powerless. Elections reflect market principles, not participatory democratic norms, with contributions being equated with investments. In the final analysis electoral politics as it is in America, guarantees the maintenance of unquestioned corporate rule, having little appeal to ordinary voters. The way monopoly houses in India control ruling parties, communist parties, rather social-democratic outfits is well known. The
area where both Republicans and Democrats look alike from afar is on foreign
policy orientation. Not that they differ much on hawkish stance and all of
them, irrespective of their purely Democratic and purely Republican niceties,
are too eager to see the White House showering the American military with
mountains of unneeded funds that can only do untold harm to the security of
third world countries. They pursue a kind of religious zeal in punishing Iraq
and Cuba through forced starvation.
Their idea of sanctions is the same— it protects American hegemonism. They
are equally adamant not to compormise on their extravagant life styles while
blaming it on the South for the green house effect and global warming. They
hardly differ on the controversies related to the depletion of ozone layer,
third world debt, dumping of wastes in third world countries including Russia
and bio-chemical threats posed by transnational corporations, to the world’s
agriculture. Democrats and Republicans are on the same wave length when it is
the question of missile diplomacy.
They fear missile attack from the White House certified rogue states like
Iraq and Iran. It’s simply ludicrous. American corporations need war economy
form their super profit and, Democrats as also Republicans are always ready
to oblige them, no matter how they define the priority areas. America is
overburdened with corporate traditions and the November presidential election
illustrates among other things the Americans have no escape from chaos in the
forseeable future. |