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Getting A Grip

The way the American democracy operates is very different from the ideals that embody a true democracy. Instead of a government ruled by the people, it is the market and its shareholders that rule the government. It is hard to know our democracy is not working if we first do now know what a true democracy is. Our country’s definition of democracy is little more than a sad joke, with only a few elitist holding the majority of both the power and money, and the only evidence of a democracy being our elections. Frances Moore Lappe offers a new way of seeing democracy, living democracy; a way of living that may hold the key for repairing our country’s failing democracy.
In order to understand how our democracy is failing us, we must first see how it is operating around us. In a successful democracy, every person has a voice and uses it to help progress the democracy and to contribute to our well being. This is the first large contrast between democratic ideals and the government that governs us. Our democracy is a set system. Our elections system is in place to make us think that we have our voice being represented in our government, and while this may be true for some, the truth for many others is very disturbing. Instead of our needs being voiced, it is the needs of big corporations, who donate the capital used to publicize and expose their candidate, as well as the money used to run the government, to get a strong hold on the government and use it to their own advantage. One prime example of our government reliance on big corporation is shown when Lappe refers to the Global Tobacco Treaty. This treaty, which was brought about by two hundred citizen groups, the world health organization, and leaders from forty-six African countries, bars tobacco corporations from advertising or interfering with public policymaking. While this seems like a noble cause that should be enacted in every country should adopt, the United States is not a part of the one hundred forty-seven...