The political pendulum does not move with the regular precision of Focault’s pendulum, but it does swing back and forth. In the United States, the two most recent major changes in political direction were marked by the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. It is possible that the administration of George W. Bush will mark the end of the Reagan swing, and that the next administration will mark the beginning of a new political direction. But that depends on whether the voters elect representatives who will implement that change.

     Before FDR, the plutocrats were firmly in control. They were able to prevent most government programs which would have regulated or broken up their business interests. They were also able to violently suppress labor-organizing efforts, and to maintain a large pool of unemployed workers. This helped hold their labor costs (wages) down. They also made sure that there was no governmental social safety net for the poor.

     FDR changed that, and the plutocrats hated him for it. FDR passed legislation to regulate economic activities, break up monopolies, allow labor to organize, and create a government funded social safety net. In one form or another, government support for these programs lasted until the election of Reagan. These programs swelled the size of the American middle class, and improved the quality of life for many people.

     Starting with the Reagan administration and continuing to the present, the government stopped enforcing antitrust laws and began deregulating economic activities. The government made it possible for employers to start de-unionizing their workplaces. The government social safety net has also been dismantled piece by piece. They are still working to get rid of Social Security.

     A big part of the post-Reagan agenda of the plutocrats has been the special interest trade treaties that have been promoted as “free trade” agreements. I previously wrote here about that issue. Those treaties are part of a conscious effort to dismantle the middle class created by FDR, and that effort has been working very successfully.

     Economic data shows that there has been a huge redistribution of wealth since the election of Reagan, shifting from the middle and lower classes to the very wealthy. Even among the top ten percent of richest Americans, wealth has been dramatically redistributed upward to the richest one percent.

     What is happening is that the United States is changing into a third world country. Instead of retaining our status as a developed nation where large numbers of citizens share in the wealth, such as is found in almost every developed nation, we are transforming into a banana republic where a few wealthy families control almost everything, and large numbers of people live in abject squalor. The transformation is not complete, but we are well on our way.

     If this transition is successfully carried out, everyone will be much worse off. It is obvious why the people who have been reduced to penury will be worse off. But even the lives of the plutocrats will be degraded. Sure, they will have a little more money than they already do, but that money will not provide a better life for them.

     They will be living in a country where slums, pollution, crime, squalor and disease are rampant. Global warming will affect everyone. Both the natural environment and the human world will be degraded. Like the oligarchs in third world countries everywhere, they will be surrounded by the festering sickness of the society that they have created. They will only find beauty behind the razor wire walls of their private estates. They will become prisoners of their own avarice and greed. Yet they are too shortsighted to foresee the consequences of their ambitions.

     Many Americans support the plutocratic agenda because they hope that someday they too will become plutocrats. What they fail to realize is that even in the extremely unlikely event that they were to join those rarified ranks, the policies presently being followed will make their lives worse, and not better. Gold is a cold comfort when misery and squalor surround you.

     The political pendulum will change direction sooner or later. The question is whether the change will take place in time for those of us alive today to enjoy a better society. The elections in 2008 will play an important role in answering that question. It is up to us to get out and support and vote for candidates who reject the plutocratic agenda.

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