• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Election
    • US politics
    • Donald Trump
    • Brexit
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab world
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate change
    • Smart cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
    • Human Rights
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice
  • About
  • FO Store
Sections
  • World
  • Coronavirus
  • US Election
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Publish

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Close

What Really Matters in This Election Cycle

By Naomi Wolf • May 30, 2016
Wall St

© Shutterstock

Only the intellectual empowerment of Americans can stem the tide of distracting voters from real policies, says Naomi Wolf.

The success of extremes in America’s political scene speaks, these days, to how dispossessed and voiceless many Americans now feel. A new edition of an important citizen’s guide and handbook—Jessamyn Conrad’s What You Should Know About Politics… But Don’t—explains why.

Some of the issues that are surfacing again and again in our news stream in 2016 are directly interlocking. They deal with issues of personal freedom and constitutional rights versus national security claims. Usually, these themes are reported upon as “symptoms.” For example, a protest in Detroit within the Black Lives Matter movement is reported as if it is a discrete event. The controversy over Edward Snowden’s revelations is reported as if that is simply the story of an individual making controversial individual choices.

The reportage is often personalized. Accounts of Islamic State (IS) incursions in Iraq or threats reported from IS in the United States or in western Europe are reported separately as well.

But by showing how interests are aligned or in conflict and result in legislation, this book reveals how many of these themes have common origins. How? Because a vast national security structure has been set in place with immense, and often nontransparent, funding from government sources (as well as huge profits from the private sector) with interest in militarizing domestic police forces, which in turn results in more violent crackdowns against protesters and—it is reasonable to assume—a more aggressive policing policy, less overall respect for individual civil liberties, and more black lives lost to police violence.

Is profit part of this militarization of policing and this criminalization of civic action?

The US leads the world in imprisoning its citizens, as Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow revealed. Immense profits are being generated by the prison industry, and the lobbyists for those interests actually require a certain conviction-rate commitment from elected officials before they will build prisons and fill them. Black lives matter less and less as the profit motive for locking up our fellow citizens—whose conviction rates have been proven to be higher than those of Caucasians accused of parallel crimes—escalates.

Some recent legislation, such as the Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act, shows how profitable the private incarceration sector is.

The same rise of the national security state turns a whistleblower (or traitor, depending on your perspective) such as Snowden into a lifelong fugitive. An acquittal such as that won by Daniel Ellsberg in the 1970s after leaking the Pentagon Papers—which were interpreted as being in the national interest to reveal—is entirely unlikely today. Even the IS threat must be assessed critically in the context of these vast billions that are flowing into the coffers of stakeholders in the national security apparatus, since a new global threat, real as it may be, generates even more profit by being over reported. A bill for border security details the potential of these many millions to flow to the private sector—that is, if fear and fear reportage do their work.

Media Reporting

But these pressures distort news stories. Reports from both the left and the right, ranging from The Guardian to Reason, are finding that government agencies and private security companies, at times amplifying each other’s efforts—as the FBI has pointed to releases from the highly unreliable private syndicator SITE Intelligence—are exaggerating or hyping up terror threats to news outlets, which often reprint assertions from these sources uncritically. In the US, a number of key claims by the FBI about “terror cells,” as I reported in The End of America, have fallen apart upon further press scrutiny, when it became clear that many cases involved confused drifters entrapped by the authorities.

Fueling more of this kind of legislation that benefits the few stakeholders and their lobbyists, instead of reflecting the needs of voters, is the Supreme Court decision, Citizens Unite. Now, it is difficult for even the best-intentioned elected official to listen more to his or her constituents rather than the lobbyists who will fund his or her next campaign.

What You Should Know About Politics… But Don’t spells out this corruption. A billion dollars was spent in the last presidential cycle. So we are witnessing an increase in legislation that results in greater benefit for the few who can spend heavily on lobbying. This has strengthened the income inequality that commentators such as Robert Reich report.

Embed from Getty Images

Election Cycle

Some of the issues that are emerging in the present election cycle, such as the passage of health care reform or Obamacare (depending on where you sit ideologically), run counter to the overall trend of the consolidation of power in fewer hands. Other currents, such as the development of green energy and the growing awareness of the seriousness of the environmental crisis, also pose challenges to this general trend.

Solving the crisis posed by global warming will involve communitarian rather than us-versus-them thinking. While the need for laws reducing carbon emissions is clear, the same obstacles to such legislation—the concentration of power in the hands of lobbyists, including those for the oil industry—stands in the way.

The direct challenges posed by climate change strongly suggest the urgent need for organizations that seek to empower voters in spite of lobbyists and special interests. A network of such civically oriented entities is now coalescing. These groups and resources range from Civic Hall in New York, a venture that houses many of the emerging civic tech startups, to nonprofit organizations such as the Sunlight and the Maplight Foundation, to a series of grassroots citizen movements.

Civic Tech is actually a fast-growing place in the digital ecosystem. These also include the much-harassed Occupy movement, now largely cordoned off; Black Lives Matter activists; and anti-surveillance leaders, such as those at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Combined, these constitute the movement of our time.

It is clear that the old left-versus-right duality, the lens through which we have been asked to view American politics, is really dead—or rather, that we can now see that it is a distraction. The understanding that we are in a time in which the real conflicts are not conservative versus liberal, but the many against the few is far more widespread. When culture-war issues, such as gay marriage or native-born Americans versus immigrants are thrown out into the electorate, many more sophisticated voters on all sides of the political spectrum are aware that these issues are trotted out in election years to ramp up the appearance of differences between the parties.

In reality, both are largely beholden—albeit in different proportions—to the Big Six, the major special interests: what I call War Inc. (and its emerging major subsidiary, Fear Inc., or the global surveillance and security industry); Big Pharma; Big Insurance; Big Oil; Big Agriculture; and Wall Street. We can probably add Big Incarceration to that list now.

Real Plans for Real Issues

Smart voters realize that whatever their political beliefs, it is those who don’t hold power in these major industries—that is, all the rest of us: teachers and nurses, cops and factory workers, new immigrants and small business owners, the unemployed, the retired, veterans, the plain old middle and working class—who, whatever our views on abortion or gay marriage or bilingualism or gun ownership, are getting screwed. The only way for such outsiders as the rest of us to regain our seats at the table is through understanding what is going on behind the curtain.

Also in line with this shift from left-versus-right framing to a re-centering of debate around decisions stressing individual choice is the action taken by Congress to cede federal authority over much of education. George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, for example, was replaced with the Every Student Succeeds Act, which gives states back much of their former influence in schools’ curricula.

As I write, we are in the midst of a political campaign. Conrad’s book explains why the discussion has migrated so far from political campaigns in the 1980s and early 1990s. That was the era before the Great Divide: the cleaving of the nation and its public servants into the haves and the have-nots. Before the Citizens United decision, presidential and congressional campaigns were substantially more centered on the issues that really affected ordinary people.

I remember when presidential candidates spoke about their real plans for real policies around infrastructure or investment in training; about tax cuts for ordinary people or plans to revitalize industry or grow new industries; about how to help small businesses thrive or whether to build more mass transit; and how to deal with delivering more nutritious school lunches.

Today, a third of political debate on the national stage is about IS, which is a subject the average citizen can do nothing about, and a third is anti-immigration rhetoric—a subject guaranteed to divide and distract the electorate without burning up any real political capital with special interests. The balance is outrage over gay rights or perhaps gun ownership, or abortion and Planned Parenthood or other culture-war hot-button talking points.

While strong feelings and fierce beliefs definitely attached to these themes, the fact is that no major candidate is going to burn up any political capital with the rich folks who write the checks by focusing on demand for real reforms rather than keeping voters distracted by such volatile issues. It is a fantastic sleight of hand, but America is far the worse for it.

In this climate, only the intellectual empowerment of citizens can stem this tide.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Allen G. / Shutterstock.com


Fair Observer - World News, Politics, Economics, Business and CultureWe bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible. Join over 400 people to become a donor or you could choose to be a sponsor.

Share Story
Categories360° Analysis, North America, Politics TagsAmerica, Naomi Wolf, United States, US Presidential Election
Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world.

READ MORE IN THIS 360° SERIES

An Opportunity to Fill the Leadership Void in Korea
By Michael Lammbrau • Nov 22, 2016
Beyond 2016: Moving America Forward
By Ryan J. Suto • Nov 21, 2016
Why Sex Scandals Didn’t Hurt Donald Trump
By Ellis Cashmore • Nov 20, 2016
Donald Trump and the New World Order
By Abhinav Pandya • Nov 19, 2016
The Myth of Anarchy in the Age of Trumpism
By Emre Kucukkaya • Nov 18, 2016
How to Deal With the Trump Administration
By John Feffer • Nov 17, 2016
Can America Come Together Again?
By Nigel Hey • Nov 15, 2016
Bringing Change to America Starts With You
By Larry Beck • Nov 15, 2016
Donald Trump and the End of Liberal History
By Joachim Koops • Nov 14, 2016
Will President Trump Live Up to Expectations?
By John Bruton • Nov 14, 2016
A Trump Administration on the Middle East
By Gary Grappo • Nov 13, 2016
Will Donald Trump Bring Change to America?
By Sean Stone • Nov 13, 2016
How Presidential Candidates Are Sold to the People
By Peter Isackson • Nov 11, 2016
Stephen Colbert Signs Off on the US Election
By Fair Observer • Nov 11, 2016
The Black Swan Moment of Donald Trump
By Steve McCabe • Nov 10, 2016
It Can’t Happen Here (But It Just Did)
By John Feffer • Nov 10, 2016
The United States of Trump
By Tahir Abbas • Nov 09, 2016
This is Not TV: Donald Trump Elected President
By Kholoud Khalifa • Nov 09, 2016
5 Things That Explain Donald Trump’s Victory
By Anthony Gaughan • Nov 09, 2016
Everything You Need to Know About the US Election
By Sara El-Yafi • Nov 08, 2016
Thank You, Mr. Trump
By Anna Pivovarchuk • Nov 08, 2016
Why is Hillary Clinton So Unpopular?
By Matthew Kolasa • Nov 07, 2016
The Republican Party Beyond Trump
By Matthew Kolasa • Nov 07, 2016
Hillary Clinton and the Neocons
By John Feffer • Nov 05, 2016
Trump Exposes America’s Institutional Breakdown
By Larry Beck • Nov 01, 2016
Halloween Fright: Donald Trump’s Victory Address to the Nation
By Peter Isackson • Oct 31, 2016
Hillary Clinton’s Email Scandals
By Fair Observer • Oct 29, 2016
Donald Trump's Rebranding of US Politics Matters
By Carlos Figueroa • Oct 28, 2016
This is How the Anti-Trump Was Destroyed
By Veena Trehan • Oct 28, 2016
How Big Data is Shaping the US Presidential Election
By Fair Observer • Oct 27, 2016
Hillary Clinton: A Hawk in the Wings
By John Feffer • Oct 26, 2016
Clinton Will Win, Trump Will Protest
By Peter Isackson • Oct 24, 2016
The Phenomenon of Donald Trump Will Live On
By Tom Benner • Oct 18, 2016
India Makes Sense of the American Election Circus
By Atul Singh • Oct 16, 2016
Republican Party “Patriots” Fail America
By Larry Beck • Oct 10, 2016
Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump: Who Will Win?
By Chye Shu Wen • Oct 07, 2016
Make America Debate Again: The Qualifying Round
By Peter Isackson • Sep 29, 2016
Trump, Putin and the Kremlinization of American Politics
By David Uwakwe • Sep 22, 2016
What US Presidential Candidates Should Be Asked
By Larry Beck • Sep 19, 2016
Donald Trump Has Resurrected a Confederate Worldview
By Ian McCredie • Sep 06, 2016
Angry and Stupid Put Us All at Risk
By Larry Beck • Sep 06, 2016
Why Latinos Support Donald Trump
By Bryan Betancur • Aug 13, 2016
Feeling the Bern in November Can Change the System
By Peter Isackson • Aug 01, 2016

Post navigation

Previous PostPrevious Engaging Women to Help Combat Extremism
Next PostNext Brazil’s Aviation Industry Flies on Wings of Trouble
Subscribe
Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.
Publish
Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
Donate
We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Authors
  • FO Store
  • FAQs
  • Republish
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Central & South Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • North America

Topics

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Global Change
  • International Security
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice

Daily Dispatch


© Fair Observer All rights reserved
We Need Your Consent
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Edit Cookie Preferences

The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

 
Necessary
Always Enabled

These cookies essential for the website to function.

Analytics

These cookies track our website’s performance and also help us to continuously improve the experience we provide to you.

Performance
Uncategorized

This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future.

Preferences
Save & Accept