Is America a Kleptocracy?

[Satya]

I was just thinking about this tonight.

For those who don't know, a kleptocracy is a form of government in which government officials and the wealthy class collaborate together to obtain greater political power and personal wealth at the expense of the rest of the population.

In short, kleptocracy is rule by thieves. The government and wealthy conspire to steal the power and wealth of everyone else.

Consider this Abstract...

Many developing countries have suffered under the personal rule of ‘kleptocrats’, who implement highly inefficient economic policies, expropriate the wealth of their citizens, and use the proceeds for their own glorification or consumption. The incidence of kleptocracy is a serious impediment to development. Yet how do kleptocrats survive? How can they apparently exploit the entire citizenship of countries and not foment successful opposition? In this research we argue that the success of kleptocrats rests on their ability to use a particular type of political strategy, which we refer to as 'divide-and-rule'. Members of society need to cooperate in order to depose a kleptocrat. A kleptocrat, however, may defuse such cooperation by imposing punitive rates of taxation on any citizen who proposes such a move, and redistributing the benefits to those who need to agree to it. Thus kleptocrats can intensify the collective action problem by threats that remain off the equilibrium path. In equilibrium, all are exploited and no one challenges the kleptocrat because of the threat of divide-and-rule. The divide-and-rule strategy is made possible by the weakness of the institutions in these societies, and highlights the different nature of politics between strongly- and weakly-institutionalized polities. We show that foreign aid and rents from natural resources typically help kleptocratic rulers by providing them with greater resources to buy off opponents. Kleptocratic policies are also more likely to arise when opposition groups are shortsighted and when the average productivity in the economy is low.

-Implement highly inefficent economic policies (Like the policies that have lead to our current economic crisis)
-Expropriate the wealth of their citizens (Wages have been stagnating while prices continue to go up and the tax burden has been shifted to the middle class.)
-Use the proceeds for their own glorification or consumption (In this country, the top 1% has seen 95% of the income growth since the 1970s and the top 5% now owns over 60% of the nation's wealth)
-Use 'divide-and-rule' strategy (Republican or Democrat?)
-Defuse cooperation by imposing punitive rates of taxation on any citizens who propose deposing the kleptocrats, and redistributing the benefits to those who fall in line (Just check out McCain's and Obama's tax plans)
-Weak institutions in society (8 years of deregulation certainly haven't done much to help with our institutions.)
-Foreign aid and rents from natural resources typically help (How much money have we borrowed from China now? Another war for oil anyone?)
-Opposition groups are shortsighted (Even Ron Paul isn't ballsy enough to make this charge)
-Average productivity in the economy is low (manufacturing jobs are being outsourced and we import vastly more than we export. GDP is no longer a measure of the nation's productivity.)

 

[logan235711]

I think this is generally accurate, esp in the Corporate/Big Pharma run US where even the Government is basically run by the businesses. However, I think that these practices actually hurt the very people who are implementing them more than they realize. They are the victims of their own greed. Also, I believe that the attempts to be more in control are not done in large overt 'one-two punch' manners, but in more covert 'cumulative effect' manners--where it is the culmination of lots of small things that equal the total control that the 'power hungry' people attain. Simply because, it's harder for the mass population to be involved in every single small issue and affair, so more can be gotten away with in this manner. Lastly, it should be stated that Kleptocracies are usually some form of autocratic state (such as dictatorships) and that they can easily derive themselves from Democracies. It seems that lately this is where much of America seems to be increasingly heading. I also believe that the Credit Economy is just another way to further help such people get away with these things (it's easier to control a population if you have people relying on credit and, thus, can gain stock in their debts).

 

[54192&#cmy]

YES I AM WITH YOU IT IS!!!! Just look at how all the money in this country has been handed over to the banks at our expense!!! WE ARE GETTING SCREWED!!!:mpaddy:

 

[Satya]

I think this is generally accurate, esp in the Corporate/Big Pharma run US where even the Government is basically run by the businesses. However, I think that these practices actually hurt the very people who are implementing them more than they realize. They are the victims of their own greed. Also, I believe that the attempts to be more in control are not done in large overt 'one-two punch' manners, but in more covert 'cumulative effect' manners--where it is the culmination of lots of small things that equal the total control that the 'power hungry' people attain. Simply because, it's harder for the mass population to be involved in every single small issue and affair, so more can be gotten away with in this manner. Lastly, it should be stated that Kleptocracies are usually some form of autocratic state (such as dictatorships) and that they can easily derive themselves from Democracies. It seems that lately this is where much of America seems to be increasingly heading. I also believe that the Credit Economy is just another way to further help such people get away with these things (it's easier to control a population if you have people relying on credit and, thus, can gain stock in their debts).

Hm...very interesting points.

YES I AM WITH YOU IT IS!!!! Just look at how all the money in this country has been handed over to the banks at our expense!!! WE ARE GETTING SCREWED!!!:mpaddy:

Wow, the screaming, crying monkey really drives that home. :ml:

 

[54192&#cmy]

That's all we can do for now I am afraid. Until we start taking responsibility for our government and try to change it we will keep getting screwed...LOL

 

[oceanic99]

Yes, I think government is pretty much for and by the wealthy. They are more strategically oriented. There is a general relationship between money and those who seek power.

It takes such a massive amount of money to launch a campaign that I don't know that someone who isn't rich or well connected would stand a chance in an election. Particularly, if they try to be sincere.