BY FRANCO CEVALLOS, EDITOR OF “NUESTRA COMUNIDAD”
The primary elections to elect the candidates from the two parties that will dispute the gubernatorial offices took place August 27th. And I raise the following question; are we really an example of democracy or is it an institutionalized system of corruption and deceit to control power and rule for the powerful?
It is important to answer the above question because, after all, we have been trying to push our supposedly democratic system to the rest of the world.
Through sworn disclosures we have learned that the candidates for the Governor’s office have raised over two million dollars, the candidates for the Senate over a million dollars, and the ones running to represent us in Congress above 20,000 dollars. Even candidates running for judges had raised over 10,000 bukaroos. I’m not even guessing how many hundreds of millions of candidates, who want to buy the presidency, would have to raise.
The monies raised for these costly campaigns come from different sources like donors, corporations, interest groups and, even the candidates’ own treasure chests. Supposedly, businesses donate from $5.00 to $20,000 grand, but they channel more funds through third parties that go unreported, as it happened in previous delinquent campaigns of State Representative Randy Terrill.
What is worrisome is that the candidates who stand the best chance to win the elections are the ones that have raised the largest amounts to buy television spots, radio time, expensive road poster boards and big yard signs.
What I find dangerous about these huge investments made by corporations and private individuals in the candidates’ promotions is the power of control that they will exercise on the candidates and the expectancy of favors to be returned to them.
Personally, I do not agree that private corporations should be given the opportunity to donate any funds to influence a political campaign. I think that these investments rob us all the right to have a real democracy. I think that these funds, whether they come from corporations, individuals, drug lords, or foreign leaders such as, Hugo Chavez, buy consciences and kill the right of people to make their own free choices. I think that the promotions should be limited to advertisement campaigns in which each candidate gets equal funds from the government and community forums. Perhaps we should imitate the Cuban political system in which there is no money involved in the political campaigns, as the candidates post their curriculums in the city hall and make their presentations in person from house to house and in communities assemblies.
The word Democracy comes from the Greek ‘’Demos’’, which means people and ‘’Kratos’’, force or power, meaning the power of the people; but, here we have the power of the corporations, such as the insurance companies that opposed a fair health care for the majority of Americans.
But, how can we have a real democracy when the people that are to elect the candidates, in a great percentage, are illiterate, uneducated and have no political conscience. It is, exactly, these naïve people that are the victims of the political sharks which manipulate their minds to get their vote thru gigantic and expensive campaigns; as it happened in the last two presidential elections in which unscrupulous candidates accused President Obama of being a communist and an illegal.
Again, how can we have a democracy when the great majority of voters don’t care to participate in the elections?
Finally, how can we have a true democracy when the elected officials are not held accountable for using their power to legislate, mainly, to benefit the powerful corporations and not for the people that elected them? How in the world can we expect a Judge, an Attorney General or a District Attorney to be impartial in their decisions, when they are in debt to individuals and the powerful interests that have elected them to office?
Concluding this editorial, I suggest that before we think that our Western political system is perfect and try to ship it abroad to other countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan or any other country, that we eliminate the greed, selfishness, ignorance and abuse that plagues it.
