Editorial note: If you have not yet read our mission statement above, please do so in order that you can put our blogs in context. 

9 November 2012

As what we imagine will be our last piece on the US election of 6 November 2012, we cite a reader’s letter which appeared in the online edition of the London Guardian on election day. This text amply demonstrates that Antigone1984 is not alone on the left in viewing with a certain scepticism Barack Obama’s achievements to date, the outcome of the election, and the prospects for the next four years. The letter also alludes to the seminal problem of  partitocracy, which is the key political message of this blog. For an in-depth review of the latter subject, please check out our post “Partitocracy v. Democracy” of 20 July 2012, which can be accessed in item 2 just below this current post. The letter to the Guardian to which we refer today is from Tony Greenstein of Brighton and reads as follows:

“I have yet to understand the fascination of the Guardian with the minutiae of US presidential elections. Obama was elected as the candidate of change. He promised to get rid of Guantánamo, introduce a comprehensive national health service, and establish a new relationship in the Middle East and in America’s informal empire. Instead Guantánamo and the dark prisons still function, healthcare is still under the control of the same companies, relationships with the Gulf autocracies are unchanged, along with support for Israel’s every move, and drone wars that are an affront to international law are bringing terror to Pakistan and the Horn of Africa. Time was when, at least domestically, there was some major difference of principle between the two major US parties, be it the question of civil rights (Kennedy v Nixon) or the Big Society (Johnson v Goldwater). Elections in which, whoever wins, nothing is guaranteed to change are the ultimate in capitalist democracy. We are fast moving to a similar situation in Britain. Would it be too much to ask that, instead of concentrating on the trivia and froth, you ponder deeper questions such as what kind of democracy it is where you have to raise a billion dollars to win?”

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 You might perhaps care to view some of our earlier posts.  For instance:

1. Why? or How? That is the question (3 Jan 2012)

2. Partitocracy v. Democracy (20 July 2012)

3. The shoddiest possible goods at the highest possible prices (2 Feb 2012)

4. Capitalism in practice  (4 July 2012) 

5.Ladder  (21 June 2012)

 6. A tale of two cities (1)  (6 June 2012)

 7. A tale of two cities (2)  (7 June 2012)

 8. Where’s the beef? Ontology and tinned meat (31 Jan 2012)

Every so often we shall change this sample of previously published posts.

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