http://www.fredoneverything.net/FOE_Frame_Column.htm
Fred's column, discussing democracy. He thinks we don't have a free press, we really aren't free (just think we are), and that our votes are for similar candidates who will make little difference. Blimey, as they say in England, is this doom and gloom? Anyway, his writing is brilliant. Here's one para:
Quote
The will of the people? Hardly. Americans do not determine any policy that matters. (E.g., regarding race, affirmative….) The techniques for guaranteeing an unnoticed helplessness are simple but brilliant. First, people are never permitted to vote for policies, but an only for one or another of two essentially identical presidential candidates who prate identically about Getting the Country Moving, and No Child Left Behind. The results determine not policy but patronage. Second, power is concentrated in remote anonymous bureaucracies, rendering policy impervious to attack. Third, there is the federal tactic of taxing the states and returning the money in exchange for obedience.
Fred's column, discussing democracy. He thinks we don't have a free press, we really aren't free (just think we are), and that our votes are for similar candidates who will make little difference. Blimey, as they say in England, is this doom and gloom? Anyway, his writing is brilliant. Here's one para:
Quote
The will of the people? Hardly. Americans do not determine any policy that matters. (E.g., regarding race, affirmative….) The techniques for guaranteeing an unnoticed helplessness are simple but brilliant. First, people are never permitted to vote for policies, but an only for one or another of two essentially identical presidential candidates who prate identically about Getting the Country Moving, and No Child Left Behind. The results determine not policy but patronage. Second, power is concentrated in remote anonymous bureaucracies, rendering policy impervious to attack. Third, there is the federal tactic of taxing the states and returning the money in exchange for obedience.