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Comment by dv_dt | Hacker News Reader

People get way too hung up on what I'd consider the theoretical government + economic label a place runs under, and overlook the power structures and how the powerful operate with respect to the needs of people. Along those lines, maybe we have something labelled democracy in America, but the power structures responsiveness and effectiveness (esp with the current tax vote), is getting closer to a communist dictatorship rather than moving away.

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How so? Didn't the people elect congress?

No, the people do not elect congress, until every congressman/woman runs without a single dollar from donors, and uses only public platforms to promote themselves.

Money buys politicians, which buys elections which buys what they do/don't do in congress. It's all an organized but legal crime syndicate. Extortion, bribery, etc are legal in politics, because politicians make the rules.

I agree we should get the money out of politics, but let's be honest with our terms. The people do elect congress, though corrupt money is allowed to influence the people.

Yes. Couldn't agree more. Politics in so called democracies is nothing more than legal organized crime syndication.

In other words, politicians run legal protection rackets. Mafias.

Major Study Finds The US Is An Oligarchy

http://www.businessinsider.com/major-study-finds-that-the-us...

> Researchers concluded that U.S. government policies rarely align with the preferences of the majority of Americans, but do favour special interests and lobbying organizations: "When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favour policy change, they generally do not get it."

Sure, so we can say that people vote against their interests. We can't say that the U.S. is a dictatorship. Let's be precise with our terms, rather than contributing to political polarization and blustering.

Systematically studying a range of issues supported by voters and comparing them against actual congressional votes is not blustering. It's rather methodical and data driven.

The study isn't blustering. Claiming that America "is getting closer to a communist dictatorship" is.

Communist dictatorships don't have the characteristic power structure of a close circle of oligarchs that overall decide policy?

...who aren't chosen by the people. That's the defining characteristic.

Neither are the oligarchs in America.

The economic left to right axis, and the authoritarian libertarian axis are orthogonal. I hope this helps.

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