A major argument against any form of truly democratic government – i.e., one person = one vote – is that The Masses simply aren’t qualified or knowledgeable enough to decide on the best way to govern.

Initially, the Founding Fathers in the USA decided it was reasonable to allow only men who owned land a vote. And of course, they all owned slaves. That wasn’t even an issue.

The nation’s elite have always held these views about the general public. And history has shown that, once entrenched in the elite ranks, people have no incentive to adhere to any laws they don’t like. They are no longer held to the same standards as the rest of us. They do what they want, when they want, how they want – and care nothing for their country, the planet, or its citizens. There is ZERO accountability for the billionaires.

They cash in on public service, eschew their solemn oaths and generally serve themselves with the full knowledge that their political opponents will never hold them accountable for anything, up to and including rape and murder – because it’s a mutual blackmail society.

But a key requirement for a functioning democracy is supposed to be an informed citizenry, and therefore a “free press” was envisioned to inform the voting public so they could theoretically elect the best government possible.

Now it seems like such a quaint notion. Those days are long gone. The free press has been obliterated in America. Without a substantial information-disseminating mechanism in place, there can never be a true Democracy in this or any country.

After President Richard Nixon’s impeachment in 1974, Dick Cheney and the rest of Allen Dulles’ evil spawn were convinced that Nixon was impeached because he had been tried and “convicted by the media.”

They decided it must never happen again. Media barons Henry Luce, Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch, republican strategist Frank Luntz and their ilk soon set about controlling the major media outlets, and indeed the very thoughts of the electorate.

Think Tanks were established to figure out ways to control people’s perceptions, de-radicalize the press and promote corporate goodwill above all else. We now have neocon hacks citing neocon Think Tanks as proof of the veracity of their vile, regressive policies, extolled by an obedient media which is controlled by corporations that care only for profits.

Ronald Reagan repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. Loss of the Fairness Doctrine allowed propaganda networks masquerading as news like FOX to exist, resulting in the shocking ignorance we see in the US today.

Congress, the mainstream media [MSM], and the rest of the ONE PERCENT understand perfectly well that the business of media is business. What’s good for the defense industry is good for the stock market; good for foreign policy; and especially good for creating more terrorists. We will never have peace on earth as long as ‘defense’ contractors control the global economy. This principle is articulated in our relentless aggression across the globe: the industry makes a fortune from perpetual war.

When the bottom line means keeping shareholders happy rather than informing the public, there’s no incentive for the MSM to provide any real investigative reporting or controversial content.

In fact, their goal is to actively suppress it. What passes for news in the US is a product of the stilted, repetitive propaganda typical of all authoritarian regimes. It is a vile thing.

The MSM is also hypersensitive to being accused of some imaginary “liberal bias,” which is an ironic accusation coming from the extreme right.

In the absence of any truly journalistic sources of news in America, is it any wonder people are so misinformed? Is it any wonder that people have such a hateful and toxic outlook on life?

With no operational ‘Fourth Estate’ producing accurate information, our system of government fails. We are now to the point where most people don’t even want to know the Facts. If something doesn’t conform to their moronic world view, it is automatically rejected.

Over-simplification and scapegoating are attractive options for fascists, and informing yourself of the Truth takes time and critical thinking skills. But Reality is nuanced and it requires a continual input of factual reporting and unbiased analyses. In other words: Journalism.

The most important infrastructure that needs to be repaired in this country is information dissemination. Until then, “Joe Six-pack” will continue to vote for evil scumbags like Donald Trump and JD Vance.

And so it goes.