‘Democracy Spring’ Movement Reflects the Lie Inherent Within US Politics

Several days ago, the last gasps of the Democracy Spring protests in the United States were finally stifled by authorities with the arrest of 1,420 demonstrators, setting a new record for Washington, D.C. Strangely, however, the U.S. mainstream media has been uncharacteristically taciturn as it has watched events unfold. The malcontent of the masses, their forceful suppression and the deafening silence that followed have once more raised questions about the United States’ supposed democracy and freedoms.

The proceedings bore a striking resemblance to the Occupy Wall Street movement of five years ago. It was in many ways a reproduction of a drama with similar cast and setting, with the exception that Democracy Spring received even broader popular support, and the institutional ills in question were cast into even sharper relief under the light of the demonstrators’ efforts. While the demands of the people have not noticeably changed these past several years, moving only from calls to “take the money out of elections” and “remold America” to opposition against “systemic political corruption” and “money in politics,” these familiar failings of the United States have only become more deeply ingrained throughout the country. Feeble attempts to combat the trend have further propagated a sense of powerlessness, even on the part of the authorities, in the face of this deep-seated political predicament.

That money wins elections and capital steers politics are already undisputed facts in the United States. A cursory glance at past presidential elections will reveal that both Bush’s triumph over Kerry and Obama’s victory over Romney relied upon a shower of political contributions to dictate the narrative. Some of the backlash against the “Trump phenomenon” is also a product of that candidate’s constant allusions to his wealth as a demonstration of the enormous influence of funds in politics. Put plainly, money has long since seeped into every nook and cranny of Washington. Democracy and freedom have been rendered little more than smoke screens for the wealthy, concepts dressed up within the meticulously packaged verbiage of interest groups. Such a political climate will only engender division and decay; such a democracy is doomed to lose the faith of its people.

The problem, however, is that although those with unclouded vision can easily identify these chronic ailments, the supposedly independent, professional and objective U.S. media has remained silent, and has moreover neglected to acknowledge how it has exacerbated similar issues within other countries. Such alarming “political correctness” has once more unmasked to the world the true nature of the ecosystem that has been built between U.S. news and public opinion. In simple terms, within the logic of monetized politics, the media is a slave to the wealthy elite, and has become an advocate and defender of U.S. capital interests and the current political and economic system. When anybody, even Americans themselves, speak a word of protest about the system, they can expect little aid or support to be forthcoming from the U.S. media. After all, when weighing the truth against their livelihoods, journalists must feel that staying in their posts is the most important consideration.

Confucius wrote that those who indulge their own selfish interests will quickly draw others’ ire. In light of a political system that is beholden to financiers and media organizations that serve only money, it was a foregone conclusion that any popular protest would lack real efficacy, and inevitable that the media would turn a blind eye. The Democracy Spring, much like a mirror, has in the end become only another wan reflection of the “democratic lie” inherent within American politics.