Julio Huato wrote: >> In fact, governments themselves are chosen. By action or omission.
Louis Proyect wrote: > Haven't you heard of the concept of the "invisible government"? I guess you > were not around in the U.S. during the 1960s radicalization when people were > focusing on institutions like the Trilateral Commission, the CFR, etc. We > don't get to vote for who runs them, do we? There's a large Marxist literature on the state (the coercive apparatus) and the government (the groups that run the state). While the various interest groups such as the Trilats and the CFR clearly have an impact on policy and politics, there are also structural limitations, such as the need to keep the bond markets happy (cf. B. Clinton) and the rest of the capitalists accumulating. (Without the latter, we'd see a politically-driven recession (a "capital strike"), complete with soaring unemployment rates.) The factional groups like the Trilats or Soros' people also have a big influence (via campaign contributions, think-tanks, etc.) on the various political organizations that mediate between the people and the government (the GOP, the DP, etc.) Neither of the big parties want to upset the structural apple cart, of course. This limiting and shaping also applies to the mass media (though the New York TIMES and many other papers represent the opinions of ruling-class factions _directly_). In the end, the power of the various competing factions of the capitalist class (including the Trilats and CFR) and the structural limitations determine "the left wing of the possible" and the "right wing of the possible" in politics (to borrow one of Michael Harrington's old phrases), i.e., the scope for variation of "reasonable opinion." In the US, this crystallizes into a choice between two major-party candidates who both represent factions of the capitalist class. (Minor parties are marginalized.) Then, the voters get to choose, with the actual results affected by such matters as the unequal distribution of Electoral College votes. Then, we voters have four years where we have little control over what the President does. He or she can't be recalled, for example. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
