"...American democracy no longer exists.
...rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now steer the direction of the Greensboro etc..., regardless of – or even against – the will of the majority of voters.
Our political system has transformed from a democracy/republic into an oligarchy, where power is wielded by wealthy elites.
...We have the right to vote but the voters’ collective will no longer prevails.
...for over a century, no third-party candidate has had any chance of winning a US presidential election. We have a two-party winner-take-all system, in which our choice is between two candidates, both of whom necessarily cater to big money, which funds both sides more or less, depending on who is in power and/or who is more likely to win.
...In Greensboro, our wealthiest make most of the truly important decisions that are directly attributed to City Council.
...The names sometimes changed, but the puppeteers pulling the strings have almost always been big-money players.
...No unconnected candidates have a real chance of prevailing, because they have to compete with better financed, entrenched incumbents or competitors funded by our local oligarchy.
...those who seek office require wealthy sponsors to whom they are then beholden.
...the great majority of the few who vote in Greensboro have little independent knowledge of those for whom they vote or of the issues to be dealt with.
Their judgments are, accordingly, dependent on what they learn from the mass media, like Roy Carroll's Rhino Times and Warren Buffett's News and Record.
These media, in turn, are controlled by moneyed interests, who use advertising revenues etc... to dictate what's written, or in the case of the Rhino, directly."
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/04/06/how-america-became-oligarchy
