Bureaucratic Feudalism

In trying to understand the use of anger and fear in our political dialogue, along with the lack of reason, I've come to believe that the retention of power is what is really driving all the crap we hear. All sides agree that the US is not where it should be and the direction that it is going is not in our best interest. What no-one wants to state, however, is: exactly where are we? Rather than using the old fear words of Socialism and Capitalism, I would suggest that our current system is a brand new one: Bureaucratic Feudalism.

The old feudalism was characterised by an Aristocracy that was largely hereditary, a hierarchy that was well defined, and power that was mostly in the hands of the landowner. Local prosperity depended on a king that was powerful enough not to be attacked, but not so powerful that he would institute war. It also depended on a workforce that was engaged in productive pursuits. Everything depended on the loyalty of the lesser to the greater individuals.

Our new Feudalism shares many of the same characteristics. Instead of land, the new aristocracy rules from bureaucracies. Power is mostly in the hands of the CEO's of the organizations that rule our lives: the business's, governments, charities, religions, and professional organizations. Their princes are generally the "special interest" groups that lobby our legislators.

Their use of fear and anger to maintain their comfortable status quo can be seen by the recent health care fight. The insurance lobby, through their "Chamber of Commerce" connection has maintained their hold on the 15 to 20% of every dollar spent for health care, despite the total uselessness of what they do, in a country that already has universal health care, (50 states require emergency rooms to treat all that ask). The fact that they call this a government take over of the health industry is laughable. The new act just added a few requirements on top of the many state regulations that were already in place. The government took over health care well before 1975.

The fight is for power, the fear is lost jobs. If we really reformed health care; how would all those involved in insurance make a living? If we really had tax reform; how would all those tax professionals make a living? If we really had tort reform; how would all those lawyers make a living?

That the seeming gridlock we are in is the desired state of those in power, is exemplified by the secret 3 day hold in the Senate. Any Senator can put a three day hold on discussion of any bill without letting anyone know they are responsible. I think it would be very enlightening to see the Senators campaign contributions matched up to the holds that they have instituted. Unfortunatly this is very unlikely to happen.

With the new Supreme Court ruling that corporations can make political contributions, along with the secrecy allowed for many of them, I don't see things getting any better soon. I believe that we ought to limit campaign contributions to only those that can vote in that election.