We are told by Western governments about democracies in their states and People’s exercise of their basic freedom. One way to examine this claim is to check Western governments’ constitutions. US constitution is known to be the best written constitution among all Western countries, as far as democracy is concerned. Therefore, it is a good start to learn about US constitution and its history. We may also gain knowledge of the culture promoting a democratic government, and the responsibility of the government in translating democratic values. Calling themselves a civilized society, we need to study democratic values provided for in the US constitution, exercised and preached by heads of states, while criticizing barbaric and undemocratic systems in Africa and in the Middle East.
US constitution, adopted on September 17, 1787 is the foundation of what the majority of US citizens consider as the true guarantor of liberty and justice, in pursuit of happiness. The constitution clearly divides the government into three independent branches, and defines duties of each branch through seven articles. There are 27 amendments to the constitution, with the first 10 called “Bill of Rights”. The constitution starts with the following statement: “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.” According to this, people of the US (not their rulers) have ordained the constitution. Does it mean that all the people in the US have ratified constitution? The constitution has left the voting qualifications to the states to decide. However, in almost all states, only white male landowners could vote. Through bloody battles and struggles, this was finally changed to include everyone.
· From 1787 to 1860 only white male landowners could vote. A long campaign started from 1812 to include all white males, with or without land.
· In 1870, non-white Americans were allowed to vote. In order to prevent them from voting, Southern states introduced poll tax, which prevented poor and almost all colored people to vote.
· 143 years after the constitution was adopted, in 1920 women were allowed to vote.
· In 1924, Native Americans were allowed to vote
· In 1964, poll tax was prohibited. People with other colors of skin, than white, were finally able to vote. Other means were taken in Southern states in order to prohibit black population from voting. For instance, poll tax was continued in state elections.
· In 1965, the voting rights act outlawed discriminatory voting practices in states. At this point, it was up to while male to use intimidating tactics in preventing black people to vote.
· A supreme court order finally ended poll tax, still practiced for state elections in 1966.
· Oat of the office was introduced to allow only Protestants to vote. It was such a revolutionary idea for John Kennedy, a Catholic, to become a president in 1960, as it was for a black person to become the president in 2008.
· A non-white was elected to the office in 2008, when people were fed up with the Ultra Right government of Georg Bush. The result was however the same. Obama, the first African American president, did not deviate much from his predecessor when protecting capital owners at the expense of working class.
The foregoing chronology reflects government’s attempts in democratizing the society and including everyone in this democracy. Reading throughout history books, specially the history written by the late Howard Zinn, Each one of these rights were received after decades (and in some cases centuries) of bloody battles with the government. But, do laws and regulations of the land include everyone in deciding about the future of their nation and distribution of the wealth citizens help to accumulate? Considering the number of people who currently vote, and racial and economical classes they belong to, we are surprised to see that as in the 18th century, a selected group, rich landowners (majority white), participate in the voting process. Since democracy in the US is provided for the rich and powerful, every government in power (Republican or Democrat or Whig or Federalist or …) has been trying to keep the political system in the hands of the selected and the influential. There is a system (or a ruling class as Andrew Bacevich calls it) that controls all the elections, and the last two candidates from one of the two major parties are scrutinized to ensure they protect values of rich and powerful. This trend has been rapidly streamlined since 1980 when Reagan was installed in office by his wealthy Californians. The latest assault on the constitution was rendered by the second Bush in office, when he destroyed the nature of Magna-Carta and Habeas corpus, by introducing torture and kidnapping, and allowing eaves dropping and search without court order. Both houses elected by the military industrial complex passed laws such as the Patriot Act, espousing the ruling class. Popular vote and power have been minimized by the government and the disparity between the rich and poor has grown to a point that the middle class is slowly diminishing to a point of disappearance or non-existence. The government uses laws in order to control people into submission. Using nine-eleven as a Boogie Man, the government had the best opportunity not only to invade other lands for oil, but to limit the liberties of its own citizens. As a result, no one can get on a plane without having a body search, disclosing the most personal belongings, and waiting in long lines to pass through a humiliating experience in the airports. There are cameras in every major street and every public or business office, obliterating any privacy one could have. Anti-Semitic and racially oriented laws generate an atmosphere of fear and hate. A new enemy called “Islamist Terrorists” was invented to help military industrial complex gain more profits. The government can control and dictate people by breaking them down into differing races and genders and bands and clans, without them even noticing it. Instigating religious wars, promoting nationalism (against other nationals) in a country that was established by variety of nationalities, and initiating confrontations between the “haves” and “have-nots” are tactics to keep the masses busy, content, and constantly self incriminated.
It is surprising that while third world countries are robbed off their national resources and citizens of Middle East and Africa are enslaved by the US corporations and its European allies through installed dictators, US presidents sympathize with people being suffered under such dictatorship, only when people upraise. In the second stage of people’s uprising, US officials applaud the uprisings (when there is no other way to keep the dictator in power) while the main media (voice of the powerful) continue to lambast their inferior cultures! When the dictator starts loosening its puppetry strings, a regime change becomes the order of the day, with the slogan of “exporting democracy”. From the dawn of the present century, while the US military industrial complex (warned by Eisenhower in his speech to the nation of January 17, 1961"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY") was engaged in creating wars in the Middle East, we have witnessed popular elections in South American countries. It is a bitter joke that fledgling democracy in the west is continuously stripped away while presidents are exporting it to third world countries. Of course US and its allies do not lose any chance to get involved to bring the old dogs back, as they are currently in the process of invading Libya. While they are attacking their old foe, Gaddafi, they let Saudi Arabia massacring uprisings in Bahrain, or other dictators crush peaceful demonstrations in Yemen, Iran, and other countries in the region.
Amy Goodman considers uprisings from “Middle East to Mid-West”, and that is interesting to follow the direction of democracy. In the past few years, in addition to South American people changing regimes to more humane governments, uprisings have been witnessed in many European countries. If Wisconsin is experiencing an uprising against the ruling class, we should expect more voices of people in the streets of other US states. The best bumper sticker I have seen about this is the one that reads: “to export democracy, let us start it from home.”
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