Jimmy Carter: The U.S. Is an “Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery”

He is, however, still alive despite being in hospice for months.

And didn't this come from research conducted at a major university, studying what bills are passed/ enacted, and which ones fail?

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B : Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens 18 September 2014

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746 Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy 17 April 2014

https://act.represent.us/sign/usa-oligarchy-research-explained/ : The US is an Oligarchy? The research Explained -

https://www.vox.com/2016/5/9/11502464/gilens-page-oligarchy-study : Remember that study saying America is an oligarchy? 3 rebuttals say it's wrong. 9 May 2016
"There's only one problem: Research published since then has raised serious questions about this paper, both its finding and its analysis. This is, of course, how normal science works; some academics put a finding out there, and their peers pick it apart.

But the study has become a frequently invoked piece of evidence in debates about money in politics, and the public and political debate has not kept up with the scholarly one. And the latest scholarly critiques suggest that while the rich certainly have more political influence than the middle class, ordinary Americans still win a substantial share of the time, even when the affluent oppose them."

I'm glad to see some rebuttals, AND our democracy is definitely flawed.

Ah, that makes more sense. I just skipped right over the date at the top of the article. Thanks.

It also means you no longer get any kind of medication or treatment meant to prolong your life, not even IVs for the last relative of mine who went through hospice. He pretty much just got pain pills and some vitamins for the last few months until his organs finally gave out on him.

We’re boldly going forward cause we cannot find reverse

Man expanded parks and increased EPA (I think, on that second one, not positive), and gave the office and the position of retired president the most prestige and honor through his actions and commitment to the people of this country than it's seen in some time.

Jimmy is a role model. I pray his life is as wholesome as we believe because if that man is secretly corrupt then I may lose a lion's share of my hope.

I don't know about Clinton. Guy was a sex pest who hung out with Epstein.

Obama and Biden are probably decent by politician standards, with both of them earning most of their money through books, salaries, and government bonds. Biden was famously poor for a Senator. While they themselves aren't directly invested in big business and got most of their money from Labor rather than capital, they were still at the mercy of wealthy interests.

They wouldn't have been able to raise money for their campaigns or had influence in Washington without their moderate views. They overall want to support the welfare state and regulate the worst effects of capitalism, but they're pragmatic to a fault, stuck in the neoliberal mindset of the 80s and 90s, where welfare was a dirty word. They fully buy into the American mythos of hardwork paying off and meritocracy. They believe capitalism serves Americans best, but fail to realize just how much of that service was thanks to unions and limits on business.

Of course they support the American nationalism and imperialism that has contributed to many of our current problems, but they are better than Republicans. Most of their decisions are cold and evil, favoring selfish US interests, but Republicans are on a different level. They do unnecessarily cruel shit, even when it isn't the most prudent thing for America. They fuck over everybody, including Americans, so long as it helps right wingers gain power. By the time Trump came along, they weren't even serving the interests of the businesses that support them. They favor ludicrous ideas like blanket import tariffs or wars with Mexico that hurt regular people and business alike, but cynically help the party. Thanks to the leftward shift of Democratic fiscal policy from neoliberalism to standard liberalism, the don't need to work as hard to be preferable to Democrats for rich people. They can make a few shitty economic decisions so long as they deregulate and privatize hard enough.

Fuck, another essay. Oh well. Biden and Obama believe they're doing right by their country, even if they're wrong, while Republicans only want to benefit themselves, and Trump only cares for Trump.

Don't be a boot licker.

4 years. He lost reelection.

But enough of us.

the real problem is the ease with which we can pass blame to other causes

They want you to believe voting is useless. It isn’t. It remains the only effective peaceful strategy to reform the system. But you have to vote, and you have to participate and demand representation.

Willingness to talk truth to power only matters if you've had no power. Not when you had all the power, choose to use it to advance the goals of elites and the powerful, and screw over an entire nation.

Him regaining his "voice" now is worth nothing and people pretending otherwise is the same type of logic that allowed Dubya to be rehabilitated in the eye of public opinion.

Yes, his Habit for Humanity has helped thousands. His role as president hurt hundreds of millions. How do you justify those scales as anywhere close to being balanced, much less even being worthy of note?