Written by Jaron Pearlman   

In the beginning the United States had two parties just like it supposedly does today. These two were the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. Many don’t stop to think about the etymology of these names, yet they reveal much about our current state of politics.

Obviously a Democracy is a society of majority rule. By definition, if a pure democracy voted to take away the possessions/rights of a minority group or even an individual they would be able to do so. Anything voted by majority could be put into action. A democrat (by definition) would then be someone who upholds majority rule above all other criteria for government regulation, such as inalienable rights.

Republics however use a series of individual states to make group decisions for a country. To be a republican (by definition) is to support individual provinces rights to make their own laws, pay their own debts, and care for their own people with minimal Federal assistance.

Alternatively to both, federalists are proponents of centralized power for the Federal Government. This means they prefer federal laws to override state laws, a federal central bank to resolve state debts, a standing army/navy, and heightened power of the executive branch over a legislative congress.

The USA is supposed to be a constitutional republic, a coalition of states that are free for self-determination and are only bound by a small series of federal rules- the US Constitution.

The case I am about to make is this: There is no modern party system in the United States.
At the capitol in Washington DC both parties are (what I would call) Federalist-Corporatist and have lost any semblance of representing the average American.

Regardless of how Americans like myself identify themselves in the political spectrum, many are beginning to agree on one thing: The United States Federal Government is out of the control of its constituents.
Proving my suggestion, the past century has seen the following:

The 1913 Federal Reserve Act established a PRIVATE central bank that is neither Federal (besides the Board of Governors allegedly) nor does it have ‘reserves’

Repealing of Glass-Steagall Act (provisions separating commercial & investment banks)

Removal of a gold standardized currency

Implementation/congressional sanction of ILLEGAL fiat currency (Article 1 Sec. 10 US Constitution)

Recurring boom bust economic cycles/bailouts

Fractional reserve banking

Blatant use of US military for corporate gains/ geopolitical imperialism

Ex-bankers/corporate lobbyists or employees becoming more & more of our politicians

Endless neoliberal economic policies that have destroyed internal economic stability

Endless neoconservative foreign policy guised by protectionism/nationalism/human rights claims

Open and evident admission to government killing of influential Americans/potential false flag ops (the murder of MLK, drone strikes/AUMF, Operation Northwoods).

The ‘revelation’ that NSA spying is unconstitutional, worldwide, and beyond our expectations (I still think it’s a limited hangout situation- providing damage control for the actual extent of spying)

Term limits continuing to fail being enacted upon all offices

The widespread contagion of GMO products, and the federal refusal to even label them

The Supreme Court relinquishing any control of corporate campaign financing to politics

The right for federal powers to detain, incarcerate, and kill US citizens without due trial or even explanation (NDAA).
…and much more.

The continued loss of self-determination for the USA has gone largely unnoticed it seems, as we have learned to think of our freedom as synonymous with consumerism and largely uncensored entertainment culture. The few rules laid out in the constitution have been piled and piled upon leaving only federalists in charge of DC, as well as confused masses who are feeding two sides of the same beast.

In many of our minds we still cling to the shattered assumption that ‘Oh the economy is bad, the President is doing a terrible job!’, or ‘Oh his administration will help the job market!’, or ‘I don’t care if they spy on me if it’s to keep me safe!’, etcetera; when the truth is markets are manipulated to inflate and pop on command, jobs are taken with free trade/bloc agreements, and xenophobia is state sponsored to justify spying.

This leads many to ask why our elected officials would do these things to fellow Americans? Why is there no actual choice for us anymore at the federal level? How is sabotaging one’s own nation profitable?

The answer is it is not profitable for average Americans. The utter truth is that there is money to be made in bankrupting a country, and that order was signed long ago. When a country (any country) becomes subject to corporate control, the national goal becomes short term profit instead of national stability.

This is natural. It has occurred countless times throughout history, The Byzantine, Rome, Spain, The Weimar Republic, England, Iceland, Haiti, The Philippines, India, Nigeria, Ukraine, Egypt, South Africa, and many more have all had enormous financial trouble because of companies/trade related interests meddling in state affairs. The United States is no different.

There are several ways undermining a nations own people can make money. One is with the money itself (obviously federalist ideology upholds both a central bank and national currency). As I have covered before in previous writings, fiat money is ‘elastic’ meaning it has no standard, and infinite amounts of it can be printed/added as credit (usually with accruing interest if its distributor bank is private, like the Federal Reserve.
With a standard like gold, there is a physical limit to wealth which assures its intrinsic value. The US dollar is fiat and as more of it is put into circulation (and used globally) its overall value goes down and debt from the central bank piles on.

Contrary to popular belief among its critics the Federal Reserve is actually set up in a way that 90% of its profits from interest laden fiat return to the US Treasury (and supposedly the public via government budgeted programs. The real power of the Fed lies in its central CONTROL of currency. By inflating the dollar, or holding off its hyperinflation temporarily it can influence banking/loan interest rates, thereby creating a predicable system of economics.
In addition to this, the money given back to the Treasury is not audited (nor is the Fed) so the system only works hypothetically to the public’s knowledge.

That being said bankers, political administrations, private financiers, Treasurers, and Federal Reserve personnel/friends/assets can bet for OR AGAINST (using put options and stocks) companies, banks, and even their respective currencies on Wall Street. All the while bad businesses like AIG, Bear Stearns, CitiGroup, GM, can go bankrupt and still operate afterward on taxpayer expense by decree of (you guessed it) the Federal Reserve.

By allowing a Federal Bank to take over state debts and issue its own debts by bailing out companies of their choice they undermine the very basis of not only the constitution but also the concepts of BOTH republics and democracies (i.e.Republicans and Democrats).

Though a President may preside over a decision like bailouts make no mistake- The Federal Reserve Chairmen and corporate sponsors of the President make these sort of calls, including Volcker’s investment bank deregulations under Reagan, the tech bubble burst under Greenspan and Clinton, the 2008 housing crisis under Bernanke and Bush, and the continuing cycle of subprime loans and derivatives that will surely add Barack Obama and Janet Yellen to this list.

Next let’s look at free trade. As the 20th century progressed, full globalization became a reality and international products were being exchanged regularly across the globe. New technology also helped facilitate this (from the Technological Revolution) and the ultimate rise of companies that breach nationality became ever more imminent.

These of course were large conglomerates that had/have demand from multiple nations for their products. Be it foods, gas, alternate fuels, metals, minerals, pharmaceuticals, woods, demand for all of these rose and multinational companies perfected what their infamous colonial trade company predecessors had begun.

To understand free trade, tariffs should be discussed. A tariff is a tax on an imported or exported good. A protective tariff applies a tax to foreign goods, in order to make domestic goods more appealing price wise. This protects domestic goods and services, thus national economy.
Protective tariffs are the opposite of free trade agreements/blocs. Free trade eliminates tariffs between participating countries and allows multinational interests to produce/move freely anywhere. As a company’s goal is to make profit they generally choose places where child labor occurs, inhumane (but cheap) working conditions are acceptable, lowered or no environmental standards, or lowered safety regulations for workers AND products.

Then, not only do the new manufacturing nations suffer but the various nations consuming free trade goods do as well!

Dangerous and defective products (including food and drinks) can cross country lines and be sold with little quality oversight, and jobs are removed from the consumer nations market to be relocated somewhere more desirable for corporate gains. Hence we have seen American jobs outsourced en masse to India, China, Mexico, Taiwan, or elsewhere sanctioned under free trade.

It’s no coincidence that free trade agreements took off after the early 20th century matrimony between Wall Street and the Fed; who both profited heavily from financing/inciting both sides of the World Wars and other major 20th century conflicts.

In 1948 (after World War 2) GATT was implemented, a free trade predecessor of the World Trade Organization(founded in 1995). Over time debt peonage, western coups on nationalist countries, and use of the US fiat as World Bank/IMF currency helped assimilate most of the globe in the GATT/WTO agreements.

As Clinton allowed China into the newly formed WTO in the mid-90s and passed NAFTA (an additional free trade agreement between Canada, US, and Mexico) he effectively condemned American manufacturing for a brief jolt of economic action and to fill his financiers’ pockets.

Clintons economy, like Reagans (which was attributed to bank deregulation that lead eventually to the 08 burst), had dire consequences waiting in the future. Interestingly enough the same type of people benefitted from both these examples-multinational interests/aristocrats and not ‘democrats’, ‘republicans’, or typical Americans.

The EU is a great example of what neoliberal free trade does. No country in Europe (besides Germany) has any real economic stability any longer. They are debt laden, often with negative trade deficits, some with hefty IMF fiat loans (essentially the Fed/US Dept of Treasury), and unable to foster a protective economic environment for any nation. Even heavy hitters like Italy and Spain now risk the need for toxic IMF loans.

President Obama is currently seeking to implement yet another free trade agreement called the Trans Pacific Partnership, which is surely just as disastrous as its cousins. I expect a Trans Atlantic Partnership political push in the future.

Another profitable federalist mark is the ever vigilant standing army. Besides the money that can be made by arms companies sponsoring both sides of a war, a federal standing army is an excellent way to capture and cultivate land or resources (even laying brickwork for future neoliberal economics to suck the worth out of a host nation). While a defensive army could be a good thing for a country, an offensive standing army is often little more than a tool used by business interests.

Though there are countless examples of this, one of the best and most evident lies in Afghanistan.

Back during Reagan’s presidency a war had been commencing in Soviet controlled Afghanistan between the Soviet lead Afghan forces and a coalition of Fundamentalist Islamic insurgents called the Mujahedeen; comprised of Peshawar 7, Tehran 8, and forces known today as ‘Al-Qaida’. These insurgent groups were trained and funded heavily by some unlikely allies that all wanted to take power away from the Soviet Union. Among them were Pakistan, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

The USA (and CIA) in particular donated a lot of time, money, and training to these insurgent groups whose goal was to implement a ‘traditional’ Muslim state in Afghanistan.

As the Soviet Union’s grip weakened a new Afghani government formed called The Taliban. These new leaders were revered first by Reagan and then by Clinton as ‘the founding fathers of Afghanistan’ making multiple trips to the White House, as well as headlines in western papers for their brave victory and bright future. This is extremely counter to the modern Islamophobia and total condemning of Sharia Law we see now in the west (besides for our close oil-bearing friends in Saudi Arabia).

As the 90s progressed western exports from the now western-friendly Afghanistan were frequent and profitable, specifically from mineral deposits for technology production (fueling the tech bubble) and Afghani poppy; the key ingredient for opiates. Prescription drug sales in the USA exploded and opiate sales of codeines, morphine, heroin, Tylenols, Vicodin, and more skyrocketed; making billions for multinational pharmaceutical companies.
They in turn used this new influx of money to buy even more political power over time.

By 1999 almost 6000 tons of poppy were being exported for use worldwide annually (and likely even more for illegal use).
Then in 2000 the Taliban declared the growth of poppy to be counter to fundamental Islam, and banned its cultivation. Post-911, Afghanistan was first on the hit list for invasion, coup, and rebuilding of another western friendly regime.
American soldiers were sent to war on a witch hunt for terrorists but ended up rebuilding poppy production, which is now above 6000 tons per year under US/NATO control. Meanwhile the USA has become the top consumer/prescriber of opiates in the world.

Clearly a standing army can be taken advantage of easily under the right circumstances.
Again this is only one of countless instances of protectionism/human rights veiling a much darker pretense for war. Both democrat and republican presidents/congresses have long authorized this sort of behavior all over the world, from Egypt, to Venezuela, to Iraq, to the Ukraine.

Always these wars are at the expense of soldiers’ and civilians lives, taxpayers money, national sovereignties, and stable economics.

Considering all this it is easy to see that most important federal decisions are not in the favor of USA citizens. Even the new advances of socialized healthcare have massive profit making implications for large conglomerates and antagonize both the middle class as well as small scale private sector (covered in my article Rights and Privileges to Health).

The first step to fixing this travesty lies in examining etymology of what we consider ourselves. No matter if we are democrat or republican we must realize that our federal government is populated with only federalists.
When we say we are conservative or liberal we must think in regards to what? Economics? Social rights? Military use?
For example one with liberal beliefs on gun regulations would be in OPPOSITION to gun laws. One with conservative regulatory beliefs would be FOR them. It’s increasingly clear that we in the USA no longer think about what our words mean.

How can we claim to be free when our government very clearly doesn’t represent us? Campaign financing from corporations and the lack of function from the Electoral College system ensure that our voices are not heard.

We need to do away with the current bipartisan political archetype in favor of a new paradigm. We need to let the Federalist-Corporatist usurpers know that our legacy, our future, our families, our world is not theirs to gamble away or monopolize.

Start with this: Abandon your political party. Think for yourself. Realize that labels do not make a person, politician, or leader; only actions make those. And actions speak for themselves.