The Plebiscite Is Just A Placebo

Leo Tolstoy pointed out this paradox a century ago: democracies are, in his view, more tyrannical than monarchies for the simple reason that the subjects of a monarch understand themselves as the subjects of a monarch whereas the citizens of a democracy believe that the fact that they cast ballots every so often makes them the rulers of their own destinies. But the plebiscite is just a placebo! The election of Barack Obama regrettably illustrates Tolstoy's point. On Wednesday, January 13, 2010, Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman reported that:

A new analysis estimates President Obama received over $20.1 million in healthcare industry donations during his 2008 campaign. The Center for Responsive Politics says Obama’s health industry donations nearly tripled Republican rival John McCain, who pulled in an estimated $7.7 million.

When the American people voted for Barack Obama in November 2008, they believed that they were voting for authentic health care reform (single payer or government option) among other things. What they did not know was that the Obama campaign had already sold the future of health care reform to the industry that he was elected to overhaul.

The Obama Administration will go down in American history as the emblem of the manner in which the militarized corporate plutocracy thwarts the popular will by means of the ballot box.

The political responsibility of people of conscience in this country is, henceforth, to eschew the placebo of the plebiscite and to work outside of the tightly crafted political system to build a viable Left that will force concessions from the ruling class.

It is the only option the ruling class has left us.