Democracy in my dictionary is defined as: “A system of government by the whole population, usually through elected representatives”.  How many, much less the whole population, feel that they actually govern their country?!!

Many are very concerned about the state of the world and the direction in which we are headed, but feel powerless and confused.  They are worn down by the demands of their daily lives, find political and social issues too complex, and don’t trust politicians enough to be bothered to vote. Within the USA and Canada, a 60% voter turn-out is regarded as good, even though entrenched opposition parties, especially within the USA, will split the vote almost 50%, with a very small “swing vote” being decisive... and conducive to being manipulated by the trumped up “pseudo events” of the moment.  History suggests that we tend to be manipulable suckers.  As people “cocoon”, they withdraw from participation, including from the political process.  This withdrawal has allowed the power elite and the corporations to exert ever more control over our affairs, further eroding the democratic process.
The single greatest threat to democracy has been the rapid increase in corporate size and power over the last half-century.  In 1961, President Eisenhower, a senior World War 2 general, used his farewell address to warn America and the world of the dangers of the emerging military-industrial complex: “This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.  In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.  We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
There can be no doubt that Eisenhower’s worst fears have materialized, yet most people don’t seem to care or are blissfully unaware!  “Unwarranted influence” abounds and the citizenry does not seem to be “alert and knowledgeable” or if they are, have been rendered relatively powerless by the elite. Corporations give $ billions to both Republicans and Democrats thru donations, “lobbying” and other means. Elections (and those vicious attack ads) in the USA and Canada wouldn’t be able to run in their present format without massive corporate funding.  Corporate CEO’s and senior personnel go into government and back to the corporate world as through a revolving door.  This corporate/ government connection was particularly blatant under George W.  He appointed corporate lobbyists to neutralize watch-dog departments like the Environmental Protection Agency; Cheney used to run Haliburton, which benefited from prime contracts during the Iraqi war (which he helped start for no good reason).  American treasury and lives were spent, but companies like Haliburton just got richer (Check out Harper and the Alberta elite). It must be noted that the power elite which moves freely between government and the corporate boardrooms, have all been educated in the same elite universities and socialize together- this includes Obama.

Even apart from their direct influence on politics and government, corporations wield enormous and undue power throughout society, which decisively tilts the democratic playing field.  They can threaten to move their operations (including many jobs) if they don’t get sweet deals from the government… and eventually will do anyway…to cheap labour countries.  Even if they are in the wrong, they can bankrupt their opponents in the courts.  They influence culture and popular opinion through entertainment, advertising and the media, including the “factual news” you ingest.  Perhaps the most recent example of just how corporations powerful have become is the recent global recession/ depression, precipitated by bad/ corrupt behaviour in the highest echelons of the banking/ financial community.  The very organizations that caused the crisis were bailed out by government money (your taxes) because they were deemed too big to fail (how did they become that big?... no regulation).  While Main St. was losing money, Wall St (and to a lesser extent Bay St) continued paying out big bonuses.

These issues deserve in-depth and extensive investigation, but at present, the conventional media and even the internet does not provide a suitable venue… in large part because we, the average citizen, has an ever-shortening attention span.  So here are a few quickie suggestions of how we can help turn the Democratic tide:

1. Severely limit corporate donations/ expenditure within the political, economic and legal processes.  If corporations are legally regarded as an entity equivalent to a human individual, their impact should be on par with a human individual.
2. Make corporate entities responsible for the totality of their activities.  For example, if corporate(or individual) activities generate trash, pollution, delayed health-risks etc. then make them pay for the clean-up/ fall out.
3. Think outside of the box.  Are corporations truly promoting the well-being of a country or its individuals?  The last time I looked, corporations were looking to maximize profits… and truth be told, maximizing the profits of its management.  The tricky thing about corporations is that they have been given the legal status of a human individual (based on a American law intended to protect the newly-freed African slaves) but their monetary and other powers are vast… they become a Super Citizen!  They are also tricky because it is easy for individuals to hide or pass the blame.. shareholders (the owners) have limited liability and the people who run the corporations can claim they didn't know what was going on or wash money and assets thru subsidiary corporations based abroad. Corporations are not loyal to countries or individuals… the prime examples are the biggest American corporations.. Walmart etc… which have outsourced jobs outside of America (similar things happened in Canada).

If we do not protect Democracy through our efforts, it will continue to be eroded., together  with our Quality of Life.