The Elites Are Fighting a Vicious Class War All the Time

/noam-chomsky-class-war-universal-health

  • Noam #Chomsky: The Elites Are Fighting a Vicious Class War All the Time
    https://jacobinmag.com/2021/06/noam-chomsky-class-war-universal-health-care-climate-justice-denucleariz

    … in fact, we all know what happens when a congressional representative gets elected. Their first day in office, they start making phone calls to the potential donors for their next election. Meanwhile, hordes of corporate lobbyists descend on their offices. Their staff are often young kids, totally overwhelmed by the resources, the wealth, the power, of the massive lobbyists who pour in. Out of that comes legislation, which the representative later signs — maybe even looks at occasionally, when he can get off the phone with the donors. What kind of system do you expect to emerge from this?

    One recent study found that for about 90 percent of the population, there’s essentially no correlation between their income and decisions by their representatives — that is, they’re fundamentally unrepresented. This extends earlier work by Martin Gilens, Benjamin Page, and others who found pretty similar results, and the general picture is clear: the working class and most of the middle class are basically unrepresented.

    #démocratie #états-unis #ploutocratie