Attention Deficit Democracy
by James Bovard
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Book Summary Information
Author: James BovardEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-06-12
ISBN: 140397666X
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Book Reviews of Attention Deficit Democracy
Book Review: Useful discussion of what democracy would be like
Summary: 5 Stars
American writer James Bovard asserts that US elections have become little better than reverse slave auctions, where the slaves choose their masters. He shows how representative democracy represents the state to the people, not vice versa: our rulers do not represent us. As the White House Chief of Staff unbelievably said to Republican National Convention delegates, "this president sees America as we think about a ten-year old child."
President Reagan lied, "We the people tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us." Did the American people tell him to send troops to Lebanon to be slaughtered, or run up the largest budget deficits in US history or send thousands of anti-tank weapons to Iran?
Hermann Goering cynically advised, "Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." As William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, wrote, "Let the people think they govern, and they will be governed." A US poll found, "among those who wrongly believe that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction, 81% think going to war was the right decision. Among those who correctly know that Iraq had no WMD, just 8% think the war was right."
The US state use of torture is systematic, widespread and authorised by the President. Rumsfeld and the Justice Department repeatedly approved specific illegal torture techniques. The President continually fought against any legislative ban on torturing prisoners. Officials of the US state proclaimed that the President was above the law and the constitution. When the state gets away with torture, what limits are there on its power?
Bovard asks, "What will it take to awake Americans to the rising political peril? When the government spends the nation into ruin? When the government launches dishonest, unjustified wars around the world? When the government persists in torturing people, and lying about the torture? How many people does the government have to imprison without charges before Americans recognize the threat?" How unlike our own dear country, where the people really control the government!
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