A top government official with energy industry holdings huddles in secret with oil company executives to work out the details of a potentially lucrative “national energy policy.” Later, that same official steers billions of government dollars to his former oil-field services company. Well-paid elected representatives act with impunity, routinely trading government contracts and other favors for millions of dollars. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens live in fear of venal police forces that suck them dry by charging fees for services, throwing them in jail when they can’t pay arbitrary fines or selling their court “debts” to private companies. Sometimes the police just take people’s life savings leaving them with no recourse whatsoever. Sometimes they steal and deal drugs on the side. Meanwhile, the country’s infrastructure crumbles. Bridges collapse, or take a quarter-century to fix after a natural disaster, or (despite millions spent) turn out not to be fixed at all. Many citizens regard their government at all levels with a weary combination of cynicism and contempt. Fundamentalist groups respond by calling for a return to religious values and the imposition of religious law.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Rebecca Gordon On America As A Kleptocracy
Tom Dispatch.com: Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, Corruption U.S.A.
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2 comments:
We now live in a plutocracy ( rule by the rich) our economy a form of "crony Capitalism" that allows a tiny elite group to own just about everything of value and buy the Gov't they need to keep it that way. It's a done deal as the saying goes and anyone trying to change it is marginalized and if necessary imprisoned or killed.
Yes, and on to p of that they've done a good job of making protesters out to be violent felons. So the only outlet are things like blogs. If you and I were in a different country we would be in jail for sedition. That may still happen here, just look at how things have deteriorated in the last 15 years, since Bush 2. People have to stay on their toes.
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