'Powerlessness Is a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy'

Oligarcy is not new, it's just worse. This cartoon is from the 19th Century.

This piece by Robert Reich in EconoMonitor gets directly and precisely to the heart of why what we're calling "Democracy" these days is actually something else entirely (think "oligarchy"). Reich has a way of cutting through the bullshit and telling the unvarnished truth.

And the truth, from a study by two university professors, is this: "The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy."

In a nutshell, there it is. The oligarcy we have so anticipated with dread is here and there is absolutely nothing we will (as opposed to can) do about it. We have been marginalized as a people and the money managers have purchased our government, while we have tried to earn a living and make them richer.

It is a terrible quandry, one we keep hoping someone will lead us out of, but one that is so deep and so wide that there is not likely to be a solution that satisfied anybody but the wealthy. They will eventually see the error their ways, but by the time they recognize it, there will only be room to place blame, not to repair the damage.

In this region, we can look directly at Bob Goodlatte, Morgan Griffith and Robert Hurt--our congressional delegation--to see exactly what Reich is talking about. These three are prefect examples of our Congress giving away our most valuable assets (our people) to the interests of the few (think Koch brothers, for example). All for a few pieces of silver.

I'm afraid we might as well stick a fork in ourselves because we're done.

“The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” - See more at: http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2014/08/the-disease-of-american-democracy/#sthash.mBQZVJz3.dpuf

“The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” - See more at: http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2014/08/the-disease-of-american-democracy/#sthash.mBQZVJz3.dpuf"

“The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” - See more at: http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2014/08/the-disease-of-american-democracy/#sthash.mBQZVJz3.dpuf"