The Other Election

Any time I feel bad about Canada's stunted democracy, I just need to look south. Their political system is even more archaic, arcane, and corporate than ours. And they are 16 months into an 18-month campaign--my heart goes out to them. At least this time one of the candidates gives good speeches.

I try to avoid following presidential elections. A few years ago I realized that mainstream US politics--primaries, recalls, conventions, debates, elections--have as much to do with government policy as an office's Christmas party does to its year of work. The Democratic and Republican leadership agree on nearly everything, and they co-operate to marginalize third parties as well as dissent within their own parties. Off the top of my head, here are a few policies which will continue under either Obama or McCain (and feel free to consult their public statements if you don't believe me):

increasing military and paramilitary spending
private health care
narrow media ownership
for-profit prisons
the occupation of Iraq
corporate control of the economy
unhindered stock market, real estate, and currency speculation
spying on Americans without a warrant
no bill of rights, habeas corpus, posse comitatus, etc.
endemic poverty and homelessness
the War on Drugs / Plan Colombia
the death penalty
privately funded elections
the G8, WTO, and IMF/World Bank
expansion of NATO
unconditional support for Israel
fossil-fuel-only transportation policy
capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich
inadequate action on climate change
support for foreign dictatorships
war profiteering
antiquated infrastructure

I'm not saying that none of these problems will ever be fixed; there are numerous avenues for active and informed Americans to influence their government. I'm saying that Americans need to ignore the electoral theatrics and study their political system as a whole. I myself could get involved in the Canadian Liberal Party to defeat the Conservatives; but in practice, the two parties are not very different, and in the long term I would be better to invest my time in alternate democratic channels.

Obama will certainly be more progressive than McCain. (And Joe Biden may be an establishment man, but Sarah Palin is a lunatic.) He probably won't repeal Roe vs Wade or invade Iran. He may even improve health care, permit gay marriage, and invest in alternative energy. But the central concerns of the establishment are not on the table. He will defend the American establishment to the bitter end... that's what he was chosen for.

Sept 29 update: An anonymous internet denizen gave this succinct description of the Democratic leadership: "they don't mind imperialism; they just want a more efficiently and rationally managed one." That's what I mean--both parties are inherently authoritarian and imperialist, and the only difference is their management style.

Many Americans oppose the policies I listed above, and they do elect a few anti-establishmentarians like Dennis Kucinich or pre-2000 John McCain. But the structure of the parties and of the political system itself means that even elected dissidents have little effect on the overall government policy.