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Across the board the American people overwhelming think too much power in this country is concentrated in the hands of a few very rich people and very large corporations. A full 77 percent of the country shares this opinion including even a majority, 53%, of Republicans. From Pew:
I imagine the reason most Americans feel this way is because it is so incredibly obvious that the super rich do have way too much power.
You would think in a democracy the government would try to do something to fix this problem, but of course most of the people who control the media are part of the 1%, most members of Congress are part of the 1%, and critically, people running for office are completely dependent on getting large campaign donations from the ultra-wealthy. No one in office wants to bite the hand of the people who paid to get them there.
For decades now we unfortunately have been falling down a negative death spiral. It is too hard to fix the underlying problems because the rich already have enough power to stop any reform, which means the rich will gain even more power making it even harder to pursue reform in the future.
We need to finally break the cycle of big money buying political power to get favorable government treatment to make even more money. We need public financing of elections and tough new restrictions against the common forms of indirect bribery in Washington.
And just as a side note to make it perfectly clear that the rich have too much power and why they have too much power, today we find out some billionaire is planning to spend $20 million to help get Newt Gingrich elected.
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start a sign in log and let it grow to all congress folk
Interesting study, the answers seem to be all over the map.
At least that billionaire is stimulating the economy. That money will all be spent here in America. Local broadcasting will benefit, as will the national ad rates.
As opposed to the normal billionaire methods of buying complicated financial instruments or betting against the overall economy.
Boxturtle (Not where I’d choose to stimulate the economy, but I’ll take what I can get)
Oh just quit with the “some billionaire” crap. You lose all independent minded ‘liberal’ individuals with that sort tripe. The fact is that plenty of mega wealthy spent vast sums to install politicians of both stripes. I’ve never once heard a peep about Soros and the billions he spends yearly to install his operatives into government. Damn right that the wealthy own our government and I’m all for 100% public campaign funding but nothing is really going to change unless the size and scope of the Federal government is radically diminished. Something ‘progressives’ seem unable to fathom is were power to rest properly with the individual states the citizens within those states would have far greater influence to affect policy. And don’t even get me started on the primary cause of the inequality afflicting this country, which is the Federal reserve and it’s manipulation of markets in such a fashion that consistently favors the 1% by destroying the value of our currency and creating never ending boom bust cycles that allow for the 1% to accumulate ever greater amounts of real assets.
I think the author identifies a genuine problem but is absolutely clueless as to a cure. All the braying against capitalism and free markets is really rather silly when in fact the United States has not had free markets since at least 1917 when the banksters convinced good ole’ president wilson to establish the federal reserve and it’s been down hill ever since.
If you believe that the power ought to rest with the people then it needs to be first taken from the banksters and the fed is the godfather. All other change is merely window dressing and is why regardless of which party is running the show we the citizens get screwed. The banksters don’t give a damn who we put in office, just as long as they control the money, they can produce precisely the state of affairs we are living today.
What did the survey say before Occupy?
Link or proof of Soros involvement. It must be pretty limited since we’ve been in this republican shit tank for at least 30 years.
The poll shows great differences between the Democratic and Republican rank and file, with a much greater percentage of Democrats believing that the country’s economic system unfairly favors the wealthy and that Wall Street does more harm than good. Yet there is nary a smidgen of difference between the parties on economic and financial issues. Meaning that the Democrats are actually the party less responsive to the views of their (non mega-wealthy) supporters.
Newtie and his billionaire buddy are evidence for the fact that we should stop pretending this is a democracy. If the governance can be bought and sold to highest bidder, it just a commodity. And when you own the game, you can make the rules. The history of the world has revolved around the accumulation of wealth, real estate ownership and who has the best equipped army.
“a much greater percentage of Democrats believing that the country’s economic system unfairly favors the wealthy”
… and a much greater percentage of Republicans believing that every word in the Bible is the literal word of God. Given that, it is no wonder that Republicans as a group will/can believe that black is white and outright falsehood is untarnished truth.
The the ultra rich have too much power… and assholishly abuse the hell out of it.
Are republicans so stupid that they can’t acknowledge the obvious. How about gravity, or the round earth theory?
Agree & please add that we need to vote as one citizen one vote online, for everything there is a question about like extending the unemployment tax, like President, and everything in between. We used to need representatives because of limited communication possibilities and distance. Our need for representation is much different now. Also we need public funding of campaigns and free air time from TV and radio. We need bottom up Government, and we need to find a way to make that happen. And I’d like to see a vote to take over the banks and break them up. It’s been done in times of dire need (Mexico in the 90′s) and that’s what we see here. They created a World Wide money and fiscal responsibility crisis. And they’re unrepentant.
Seeing ‘The Help’ finally gave me an insight as to why Repubs are as mean as they are. It makes them feel bigger and righter in their nastiness.
100% corrrect. They truly “believe” they are benevolent benefactors to the rest of us. I learned that in real life.
Our system had devolved more into a feudal one. We have elections, but the results don’t really matter.
I really hate that because those suits of armor are relly itchy and hot in the summer.
Right — because it’s so much more difficult for mega-corporations and super-rich individuals to co-opt small state governments and play them off against each other in a race to the bottom than to influence the federal government. And it’s so much *easier* for a critical mass of citizens to form the lobbying infrastructure necessary for ensuring *their* voices are heard in the capitols of one-horse states. And of course, independent local investigative journalism is superb and flourishing compared to the national scene.
Let’s go back to the kind of limited federalism we had before we had a fully integrated national economy and a homogenized national culture. No, let’s go back to the Articles of Confederation. In fact, let’s break the country up into a league of independent cities. If we are to believe libertarians, it won’t be like the Middle Ages; it will be like a fairy tale.
There is a fascinating Wikipedia article entitled “The Crisis of the Third Century.” This was the period from about 235-84 A.D. during which the classical world of ancient Rome transformed into the early Medieval one. The great open cities of the classical world changed into much smaller walled cities, and free Romans, seeking protection, left for the protection of estates in the countryside where they acquired the semi-free status of “coloni,” the predecessor to the Medieval serfs. The international trade economy of the Roman empire collapsed, with the rural manors becoming more self-sufficient. The Roman Empire itself split into three parts. It later reunited under the Emperors Aurelian and Diocletian, but never regained its former stature. The triggering forces for this transformation (hyperinflation, increasing danger of trade routes, extreme governmental instability with a rapid succession of often competing emperors) were different than today’s situation, but the history shows how a giant step backward in civilization is possible.
Actually, as a progressive I’m fine with a greatly diminished gov’t. Where I tend to find disagreement with folks like you is when I want to start that cutting with the most obvious target-our bloated war machine.
As a classicist, I can also tell you that the comparison to the later western Roman empire is flattering to us. Think more: 19th-century Ottoman empire.
The macroeconomy of the Roman Empire was based upon plunder and tribute from conquering ever more lands and subjects.
Once the empire stopped expanding its borders, the easy streams of plunder dried up, and the whole thing began a slow death-spiral.
I see some parallels with the globalist money lords, in that their macroeconomy is based upon extracting plunder and tribute from countries and entire regions. Just follow the debt and currency crises around the world the last few decades… Latin America, Southeast Asia, Russia, now Europe… once they have plundered all they can the money lords just move on to the next victim.
The US is being lined up on the chopping block as the next victim to be reduced to serfdom.