WHY the Democratic Party is part of the problem [View All]

[Spider Jerusalem]

(And also why Bush's wars for oil have found enthusiastic support on the Democratic side of the aisle)


Both political parties in this country are committed to “maintaining the American way of life”, with all that entails. Both the Democrats and Republicans are heavily financed by, and beholden to, major multinational corporations; both parties view it as essential that American dominance in all categories in the international sphere be maintained.

Now, maintenance of the “American way of life” involves a lot more than just making sure our massive consumer economy keeps humming. It also involves insuring continued access to valuable resources in the face of declining supply and increasing cost; specifically, insuring continued access to petroleum, which is the single most important resource of the modern world.

Petroleum’s importance comes not just from its use as an energy source and fuel, but from its myriad of other uses: petroleum gives us plastics, synthetic fibres, synthetic rubber, and the fertilizers and pesticides responsible for the staggering crop yields of modern agriculture. The only problem is that petroleum is a limited resource: the production peak is projected to arrive within the next few years at soonest, and almost certainly within the next decade. Once that happens, production will begin a slow decline to zero, with results that will be global in scale and catastrophic in impact. Want of fuel will lead to a gradual abandonment of the automobile as a mode of transportation; want of fertilizers and pesticides will reduce crop yields drastically and trigger worldwide famine.

Our government is aware of this, as are, no doubt, many or even most members of Congress. Hence the bipartisan support for Bush’s wars; hence a tacit acceptance by leadership of both sides that some version of the PNAC agenda is now a necessity for the United States to maintain its precious and inviolable “way of life”, with its orgiastic consumerism and wasteful self-indulgence. A politician never won an election by telling people things were going to get worse, and that they would have to learn to give up many things they have gotten used to; the American national character is that of a selfish, spoiled, greedy child, and both parties know it and play to it, in different ways.

In the hands of both parties, government serves the needs of corporate interests first, and those of the people only insofar as is necessary to prevent massive social unrest and revolution. After all, what's good for General Motors is good for America...right?