In a recent debate, 2012 presidential hopeful Ron Paul proclaimed, "I don't like the word democracy." This simple declaration encapsulates the problem with all of the GOP presidential candidates. At bottom, their views and policy platforms are inherently anti-democratic.
All candidates are running on essentially the same platform, which consists of cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, rolling back regulations, drastically reducing or eliminating social programs for the poor and working class, privatizing essential public functions and decimating workers' rights. These aren't ideas, but offerings: offerings to their campaign contributors, major industries and the moneyed elite. These candidates, like most politicians, operate within a closed system. Their actions are taken to perpetuate their and their supporters' power, not to promote the welfare of our nation.
Democracy is the great equalizer. No matter our status or income, we all share a formal equality. In the current election cycle, however, this baseline of equality is being offered to the highest bidder. Corporate power is greater than it has ever been, to the point that many entities may no longer be regulable. The disparity of wealth in the U.S. is reaching epic proportions, and is slowly transforming our society into a form of neo-feudalism. The essential public functions that once operated under the glare of public scrutiny (municipal services, utilities, schools, prisons, armies) are now just private entities that seek to increase profits at all costs. The latest pool of GOP presidential hopefuls seek not to ameliorate these debilitating trends, but exacerbate them. And this is the true danger of these candidates. The ability of citizens to address imbalances in wealth, power and equality through the democratic process is in peril. The 2012 GOP candidates are fighting to be the torchbearers of a virulently anti-democratic platform that could erode the basic equalities upon which our nation was founded.
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