Democracy: another word stripped of its meaning

If you’re not reading DownWithTyranny – a marvellous, thoughtful, progressive source from one of our friends to the south – then start now.

KenInNY may not be the first to compare and contrast the ouster of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak with the increasingly hollow and meaningless “democracy” currently operating in the United States, but he’s certainly one of the best.

I won’t try to summarize his post here – you should go and read it – but it’s difficult not to see the same dynamic at play here, both nationally and on the local level, most obviously with Team Ford’s obvious plan to destroy organized labour at the municipal level (well, maybe except for the cop union. They have guns). As Mr. Sinister puts it:

I admire the Fords in some ways, they are open in their belief that those at the top have too little money and those at the bottom have too much.

Regardless of which context we’re in, I can’t think of a better way to describe the dynamic. And while we may not be as far down that road as our friends to the south, it’s no secret that a lot of powerful forces up here want to take us there. In a society so polarized in terms of wealth, resources, and access to decisionmakers, how can the word “democracy” have much meaning?

(Cross-posted from over here.)