“Presidents are selected, not elected.” These are the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, longtime politician and the 32nd President of the United States. Are presidents really selected? Do votes really count? Or are presidential elections rigged? More and more people seem to believe so, as every year, presidential candidates seem more like walking billboards for the numerous corporations showering them with money than actual politicians looking to make a difference. Stating that “presidents are selected, not elected” isn’t too farfetched, especially when you are a former president yourself. There are some important points we might want to take a look at when it comes to presidents, elections, and democracy in general.

It’s also relevant to mention here that President Eisenhower warned us about the “military industrial complex,” and the disastrous potential rise of a “misplaced” power that could have great influence globally, and on humanity in general. JFK also warned us about those willing to capitalize on secrecy. He stated that “there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment.” (source)(source)

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Woodrow Wilson, the 13th president of the United States, said that:

“Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce, and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.” (Taken from his book The New Freedom.)

Corporations Are Above The Government: They Dictate Government Policy.

Presidents, politicians, and overall governmental policy is heavily influenced by major corporations, and this reality is not really a secret anymore. A great example is the revolving door between Monsanto and various government agencies, like the FDA. Similarly, there is the example of Obama appointing Michael Taylor, former Monsanto VP, to food safety czar.

We see this type of thing happening throughout history. For example, David W. Beier, former head of Government Affairs for Genentech, Inc., was also chief domestic policy advisor to Al Gore when he was Vice President. Another example is Linda J. Fisher, former Assistant Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pollution Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, also a Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for Monsanto Corporation. The list goes on and on.

Most of this is done through lobbying. There are always lobbyists for GMOs, fracking, nuclear power, bank regulation, and more. This is why we always see government policy favouring the interests of these big corporations, despite being against the interests of the rest of the planet.

There is a great article in The Guardian titled 10 Ways Big Business Controls The Government which goes into more detail.

Below is an excellent breakdown from Foster Gamble, heir to the Foster Gamble corporations. He was groomed to be a part of this system, but instead took a different route.

I’d also like to mention that corporations are constantly breaking the law, destroying the environment with toxic dumps, dislocating and uprooting people from their homes, and wreaking havoc on the planet. At this moment this degradation is out of control, but we still have a small window of opportunity to change it.

Government Secrecy

How can we live in a a democracy when, according to some historians, the United States alone classifies over 500 millions pages of documents every single year?

“It is ironic that the U.S. would begin a devastating war, allegedly in search of weapons of mass destruction, when the most worrisome developments in this field are occurring in your own backyard. It is ironic that the U.S. should be fighting monstrously expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, allegedly to bring democracy to those two countries, when it itself can no longer claim to be called a democracy; when trillions, and I mean thousands of billions of dollars have been spent on projects about which both Congress and the Commander in Chief have been kept deliberately in the dark.” – Paul Hellyer, Former Canadian Defense Minister (source)

Consider how a researcher might study the official history of their country – how is this even possible when most of that history is kept secret for the sake of ‘national security?’

Scientists working for the Canadian government are starting to raise their voices, accusing the federal government of “muzzling” them and their findings on various issues. You can read more about that story here.

Even inventions and patents are delayed due to secrecy orders. There were over 5,000 inventions under secrecy orders at the end of Fiscal Year 2014, which marked the highest number of secrecy orders in effect since 1994. You can read more details about that HERE.

You can read a heavily sourced article that goes more in depth on government secrecy HERE.

Final Comments

I just wanted to provide a couple of points to make it quite clear that we are far from a democracy.

It seems as if presidents are used as celebrities, used to capture the hearts and attention of people while corporations freely pollute and destroy our planet. Barack Obama was a big time celebrity, and there is no doubt in my mind that Hilary Clinton will be the same by taking on the role of “first female president.” I’m not saying that such progress in the battle for equality is not commendable (because of course it is), I’m just saying it’s time to turn our eyes away from these ‘leaders’ and focus on bigger issues. We can’t look to them for change, we have to look to ourselves.

There are various examples of how we do not live in a democracy. What the people want is never represented properly. For example, approximately 50 percent of American people don’t believe the official story of 9/11 and have demanded another investigation, yet nothing happens. The majority of people in America have made a tremendous effort for GMO labelling laws to come into effect, yet the government continues to put in legislature to oppose these efforts. The list goes on and on.

If we want to combat environmental issues, war, poverty, and all of our other problems, we can’t keep looking to political ‘leaders’ like Obama and international organizations like the UN, who simply give their speeches as they’ve always done, year after year. None if it ever seems to change anything at all. They know of the solutions, and have known for years. These are people/organizations who act as puppets and mouthpieces for those in real power, those who apparently care little about us or the planet. The people we think are in power are like gaudy jewels meant to catch the eye and distract the mind. The people who are actually in power are clever, fooling us with words that resonate with the soul and make headlines. Dark acts are always done in the disguise of good deeds, capturing peoples’ hearts. Don’t continue to be bamboozled. Turn your eye away from them, change will not come from them, it never has and it never will. Change can only come from you and me. If we keep looking to them to provide the solutions and take care of our planet, the planet will continue to get trashed as it always has. It’s how we got here in the first place…

We cannot continue to give our power away and charge others with taking care of our planet. The only way things are going to change here is if we come together as one human race. Governmental policy reflects nothing but corporate interest, and we simply can’t afford to sit around much longer, letting our planet suffer. In my opinion, voting has never changed anything and never will.

“Democrats and republicans are two wings of the same bird, and the flight path doesn’t change.” – Unknown.