President Jimmy Carter says again that we are an Oligarchy
Oprah Winfrey asked President Jimmy Carter if he could become president today. He said absolutely not.
“There’s no way now for you to get a Democratic or Republican nomination without being able to raise $200 or $300 million or more,” Jimmy Carter said. “And I would not be inclined to do that, and I would not be capable of doing it. We’ve become now an oligarchy instead of a democracy. And I think that’s been the worst damage to the basic moral and ethical standards of American’s political system that I’ve ever seen in my life. And when you get to Washington you have already alienated Democrat from Republicans and Congress from the president. We have Red States and Blue States. We never had any of that twenty five or thirty years ago.”
When Oprah interjected it was still hard to get things passed if not with all the alienation, Jimmy Carter responded, “I had just as much support from Republicans as I did Democrats when I ran for president. But I should have organized the Democratic Party to get me reelected.”
While Jimmy Carter hits the nail on the head he makes it seem like a lost cause. The reality is that it isn’t. The plutocracy, the oligarchy would like Americans to believe that and simply disengage. We cannot. There are many organizations working to educate (Coffee Party USA), advocate (Common Cause), and mobilize (Move to Amend).
(h/t RawStory & Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday)