Some call it the silly season, but if the national presidential elections are a measure, then we can’t speak of seasons, but of years, for the time spent on this endeavor is extensive, and it’s a multi-million dollar business. Indeed, billions are spent. While most of this money goes to the media industry, some candidates amass great fortunes to wield as cudgels to discourage adversaries, as in, “Look at all the money I’ve got.” Media, driven by their own profit motives, grants immediate credibility to a candidate who has a boatload of money. So money is the measure of a candidate, not one’s ideas.
Now, after the odious decision in Citizens United, a candidate can run a campaign based on the support of one person; that is, one rich person. Who needs democracy when you have a rich “Sugar Daddy?” Also, the debates we’ve been seeing are unworthy of the name. Debates are arguments or discussions involving public policy. The so-called debates we see are hurried sound bites meant to titillate audiences and snatch some face time with media. It argues nothing and explains less. It is political entertainment and used by media to hide coverage to boost ratings. It is a circle of emptiness.
Journalist scholar Chris Hedges would describe these so-called debates as the elevation of spectacle, above any real relationship to real life, or the problems faced daily by real people. No matter who gets elected, ask yourself one question, “Is this person responsive to the average citizen or to those on Wall Street?” We know the answer. The intimate embrace by the political class of the moneyed class has served to bypass the illusions of democracy. One serves the other; one buys the other; one owns the other; and the people are becoming increasingly irrelevant. From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
