[Peace-discuss] The 2012 elections are coming up...

[LAURIE SOLOMON]

Although I stated this as a preface for presenting the link to the comedic
campaign of Pat Paulsen for commander in chief of the free world starting in
1968 through 1996 which has been reprised by his son, Monty Paulsen, who
appears to be mounting up for another satirical run for President in 2012,
in order to bring some seriousness to our farcically over analyzed and
overly speculative discussions as to the real jokes behind the candidacy of
Obama and McCain in the recent elections, I have been arguing since the
1960s (but not as eloquently as Naomi Kline) that Amerikans have wrongly
identified participatory democracy with voting and elections thereby
substituting elections for real substantive politics and political
participation in the formation of policy and decision-making.  It is one of
the reasons why I refuse to vote as way of protesting this substitution and
this false identity between elections and democracy.  "Not voting" is a form
of voting in any election just as responding to a questionnaire by checking
off the "not applicable" or "no response" response is an answer to the
question on the questionnaire.

The main difference between previous periods is that campaigns did not go on
forever with no extended quiet periods between the election cycles as they
appear to do in today's world.  It has become one continuous election cycle
where everyone gets to be entertained by the ongoing spectator sport of the
election sport. It is good to see that others have made the same sorts of
observations.  Of course, the result is to turn democracy into a marketing
operation where everyone runs like hell to get in front of the polls which
tends to result in what was called in the past "Tyranny of the Majority" and
now - in the true social science fashion - has been re-labeled "plebiscitary
dictatorship," which is as unquoteable, non-catchy and unmarketable a
phrasing as one can get as compared to the original one.

Thanks for making me aware of the existence of her work.  Since I left
academia many years ago, I have cut back on my reading of academic writings,
having found that reading them can cause blindness and mental illness much
quicker than other forms of masturbation.  

-----Original Message-----
From: C. G. Estabrook [mailto:galliher at uiuc.edu] 
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 11:02 AM
To: LAURIE SOLOMON
Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] The 2012 elections are coming up...

"Elections' being substituted for politics in the US" is so true that it's 
almost un-understandable to many Americans, who've been taught that they're
the 
same thing.

The result, not just in the current administration -- altho' the trends are 
clearer there -- is a strong tendency toward a plebiscitary dictatorship.

See now Dana D. Nelson. "Bad for Democracy: How the Presidency Undermines
the 
Power of the People" (U. Minn. Press, 2008), which "criticizes how voting
for 
president has been idealized as the central exercise of democratic rights in

America."  Also her "Presidential Power to the People," 
<www.utne.com/2008-09-01/Politics/Presidential-Power-to-the-People.aspx>.

--CGE


LAURIE SOLOMON wrote:
> Taking Naomi Kline's comments about elections being substituted for 
> substantive politics in the U.S., I submit this for your consideration
with
> respect to the 2012 elections, which are just around the corner and which
we
> should be beginning to prepare for in the next month or two. Check out the
> link below.
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.paulsen.com/pat/
>