Good program, and thought-provoking to discuss the range and varieties of democratic political systems. I'd think that if we had a parliamentary system we would have vanquished the Trump fascists a long time ago.
A while back Mr. Nader was on a CSpan call-in program. Someone called in with a strong accent from the deep south and Mr. Nader very rightly branded him a political bigot. Clearly we have a lot of right wing bigots and fascists, but also many left wing bigots whose minds are as closed to people not of their beliefs as those on the far right. I'd hope that we'd stand up not just to the Trump fascists but those on the left wing who lack flexibility to accept those who voted for Trump as they move away from him. My email was getting flooded by someone addicted to the worldwide socialist website and venomous attacks on the "magats". I stood up to him as he is just as bad as the right wing bigots. We have enough troubles in this country, we should not be making enemies with the confused or conflicted on the right who've been propagandized all their lives about how great the American capitalist corporate system is. Victor Orban was defeated by a focused series of campaigns centered on Orban's corruption, not fringe ideas or unrealistic projections of utopian ideals.
Corporations declared guilty by the Merchants of War Citizens Tribunal,
"On January 15, after a year-long trial, ten jurors found four major U.S. military contractors—Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed and General Atomics—guilty on charges of willfully participating in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide."
And states that house these corporations, incentivize these corporations, and particularly illegally boycott corporations that legally boycott Israel and the entities with which it interacts.
The argument, Palestinians' self-determination right and Israel's illegal use of force,
"- all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;"
"The ICJ’s authoritative ruling on the Israeli occupation makes clear that boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid are not only a moral imperative but also a legal obligation."
The Democratic Party Final 2024 platform, "President Biden and Vice President Harris believe a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States. Their commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad." p. 83. That these statements are unlawful doesn't take a lawyer to explain.
A country in which leaders and lawmakers break laws and commit atrocities in the name of democracy against citizens' wishes and in astonishing citizens' ignorance can hardly be called a democracy whichever political party rules. And what do we call and what can we do about the citizens who allow this?
Ralph - for those, and i am one, who do still think the electoral process is necessary and potentially (and i use that word advisedly) useful for making the changes and getting the people and policies that are necessary for the advancement of we the people - the emphasis all seems to be on ensuring people the "right to vote" - but vote for whom - basically one of 2 Parties (D/Rs) - the same 2 Parties, the "duopoly", that, over decades, has gotten us into the mess we are in and digging the hole deeper and deeper ...
So voter suppression is considered "the problem" - but what about candidate suppression? What's the point in being able to vote for one of only 2 Parties when neither one of those Parties gives a damn about us - when both parties collude with each other, and have for years, in being the hand maidens of the very corrupt corporations you and your second guest spoke of - it's common knowledge - and they know if we had another choice we just might choose it.
To that end they do their best to make sure no 3rd Party can get on a ballot - and if one does, they do their best to convince people it "can't win" or is a "spoiler" (especially re the DP with regard to any lefty Party) You know how they crucified you when you ran and have so done for any Party since ... wash, rinse, repeat - for decades ...
I am a bit surprised that you and your first guest did not bring this issue up re democratic processes - In other countries they imprison or assassinate political rivals to eliminate the competition - in this country we accomplish the same thing by simply keeping them off the ballot ... more "humane" but just as effective ....
Somewhere, and i could speculate where, I think there is a Constitutional issue, perhaps re Freedom of Speech, or other - I do believe that until we can have other Parties to choose from on ballots - none of what we are talking about has a possibility for constructive change.....
"This week, El País broke what they are calling “Hondurasgate,” an expose centering on leaked audio recordings of conversations between President Donald Trump, Argentinian President Javier Milei and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández – who was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison on drug trafficking charges in the U.S. but pardoned by Trump last year. In these leaked recordings, the three current and former heads of state discuss the creation of a “channel of spreading fake news with the intention of misinforming and destabilizing” Leftist governments in the region, including those of Gustavo Petro in Colombia and Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico. According to this report, the leaks reveal the involvement of another world leader – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – in the decision to pardon Hernández. El País writes the leaks prove the pardoning of Hernández was “not a gesture of clemency, but the down payment of a broader agreement.” Expect more damning information to come out as more recordings are unearthed, even if so far the American media has largely blacked out this stunning story."
Brazil has presidential elections this year and the US has set its prying eyes on the rare earth minerals that is huge in Brazil. It is pretty obvious that some interference will happen there and the world might have another Bolsonaro (his son is apparently running, despite many legal problems).
In the second segment, Ralph suggested that chartering of corporations should be shifted from the State level to the Federal level. While this would have the benefit of depriving State governments of means with which to influence Federal government decision making, there is one danger of this: if chartering of corporations were at the Federal level at this exact moment, Trump administration officials would be engaged not only in threatening revocation of the the FCC licenses of broadcast licensees who dissent, but of the charters of corporations which dissent, be they for-profit or non-profit. Imagine Trump's Secretary of Commerce threatening to decharter every single corporation located in States or localities engaged in resistance!
China is an example of a country that is "autocratic" but yet when their people are asked about democracy in the Democracy Perception Index report, China is close to the top in democratic perception. The reason is that their government is oriented towards the people and has goals to help the population as a collective. China invests in itself with rapidly expanding green energy, 40k miles of high speed rail (and good public transportation everywhere else), comprehensive public services and on and on. Even though China has no congress or parliament, it has multi level assemblies that make decisions through consensus. The various local and regional committees make policies through votes and they get the job done unlike our "democracy".
I am just listening to something about this. Absolutely correct. Their absolute leadership in green energy is not coming at the cost of the population. They haven't lasted this long as an authoritarian country by not listening to the people. In China, when the people manifest against a politician, the politician falls. For all the problems they have, the government does listen to the people
Well, if you live in the US you live in a imperfect totalitarian State, only because we are still stumbling towards full blown totalitarianism. Just check the guidances of the FBI that puts pretty much anyone in this comments in the "pre criminal list"
Was just thinking the same thing but it's much worse. Corporate tyranny as Ralph puts it with 100% use of your private life through your phone and computer to make profit with nothing but manipulation and alienation in return. So grim. Brave new world.
You would rather just live in the delusion that your failed genocidal state that doesn't give a shit about you is superior. You don't have to want to live there to use your eyes and see that China is an ancient society that has made real progress and we might cooperate with them and each other to make a better world.
Ralph, re your thoughts on democracy reflecting economic and social well being, I found this definition long ago, focusing on actions:
"The rule of law is a durable system of laws, institutions, norms, and community commitment that delivers four universal principles: accountability, just law, open government, and accessible and impartial justice."
"Benefits of effective rule of law
. . . Research shows that rule of law correlates to higher economic growth, greater peace, more education, and improved health outcomes.
Economy
Where rule of law is stronger, so is the economy.
Peace
More peaceful countries enjoy greater rule of law.
Education
People are more educated where rule of law prevails.
Life Expectancy
People live longer in countries with higher rule of law scores."
We need to stop looking backward to understand what democracy is and start looking forward. We can use modern technology to enable all willing and qualified citizens to vote directly on all legislation. Our representative's role should be to shepherd our votes, not replace them with theirs. RealDemocracyBook.com
So, we are in a worse shape than we thought as far as democracy goes? And probably in worse shape as the report states, since the criteria is somewhat limited and, if I understood it correctly, only looks at the electoral democracy at a federal level, not really having much data on how state elections and state politics work.
Thanks Ralph for pointing out the Palestine question. Hopefully they will think more deeply and fairly when writing the next report. It is pretty ridiculous to classify an occupied State while not considering that occupation when rating the occupier. "Israel" should be at the bottom of the so-called western democracies. Or below that.
On that page you will find The World Bank, corporate foundations, British/Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim, and a *cavalcade* of western governments including multiple US government agencies, and the European Commission. And, if you do a little digging you will find that many of the organizations listed such as the Pan-American Development Foundation are themselves simply funded by the US government or other western governments.
But FAR WORSE you will also an entire ecosystem of US and other National Security State 'agencies/organizations' and their partner neoliberal billionaire funded Open Society NGOs, which for decades have together coordinated massive manipulation (and often direct violent coups of democratic governments) to undermine scores of countries all over the world for US, western, and corporate interest.
These include the aforementioned World Bank (and its predatory 'loans' and structural adjustment programs), the International Republican Institute (under the notorious National Endowment for Democracy) Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), USAID, and the Open Society Foundation which has led the propaganda strategy for countless, mostly violent, US Color Revolutions in other countries..
Given all of this, the proposition that V-Dem could give an honest assessment of 'democracy' (especially in all of the historically western colonized, non-white countries that it almost universally ranks so low) is frankly utterly absurd - and The Nader Hour should reveal all of this to its listeners so that they are not misled by the western neoliberal government funded V-Dem and Marina Nord.
Ralph raised the most obvious example himself - the strange assessment of PaIestine as if it is an independent nation when instead it is a vast open air prison run by lsrael. Nord also absurdly claimed that the US can still be called a 'democracy' (for the record the US has *never* been a democracy) because it supposedly has functioning elections.
That's complete nonsense. Our elections have been dominated and coopted by corporate interest since the Clinton Administration three *decades* ago. And this collapse of US elections began 20 years before that with the Supreme Court decision on Buckley v. Valeo striking down campaign spending limits.
Also strange was Nord's claim that Trump has somehow vastly accelerated the undermining of so called 'democracy' in the US when as I noted the dismantling of legitimate elections began decades ago - and in 2010 was made dramatically worse by the Citizens United v FEC case in which campaign donation limits were torpedoed.
Republicans have likewise been very effectively maneuvering to disenfranchise Black voters for decades (look up Greg Palast's decades of reporting) while Democrats have watched them do it without substantially intervening.
Trump did not by any stretch of the imagination create that attack all by himself. This fairy story that Trump is uniquely bad is nonsense. He's just continuing attacks on elections that were already ongoing.
There was a lot of other nonsense, such as Nord's China bashing and ranking China far lower than the US or Israel in 'democracy'.
Nord is pitching the standard racist view of 'democracy' that white Western nations are superior, and nations of brown skinned people are backward. Nord's role in that interview was a twisted charade.
Substack said attachments not allowed on my own answer to my question, And what do we call and what can we do about the citizens who allow this? So a new comment here.
In answer to that last question, as intelligent people seeking a solution, how can we use these two theories to halt our descent down Cipolla’s hill and return to the uphill climb?
“. . . any country moving uphill has its unavoidable σ fraction of stupid people. However the country moving uphill also has an unusually high fraction of intelligent people who manage to keep the σ fraction at bay and at the same time produce enough gains for themselves and the other members of the community to make progress a certainty . . . In a country which is moving downhill, the fraction of stupid people is still equal to σ; however in the remaining population one notices among those in power an alarming proliferation of the bandits with overtones of stupidity . . . and among those not in power an equally alarming growth in the number of helpless individuals . . . Such change in the composition of the non-stupid population inevitably strengthens the destructive power of the σ fraction and makes decline a certainty. And the country goes to Hell.”
Bonhoeffer: “The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them. We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem.”
Beyond Bonhoeffer and action for Cipolla? Intellectual Courage, Curiosity over certainty, Evidence over emotion, Careful Thinking over emotional reaction.
According to Ralph the problem is the politicians are controlled by the campaign contributions and the media is controlled by the advertising dollars.
This is because the most important check and balance has not been properly utilized by ordinary citizens. We keep voting for big money politicians and keep listening to the corporate media that tell us we should vote for the big money politicians.
Assuming that you Ralph control what you put on the Radio Hour you can take the first step to fixing these problems by having me on the Radio Hour to discuss boycotting big money politicians by organizing citizens to demand small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with our votes in 2026 and forming a non-profit media conglomerate financed by selling shares for 100 dollars each that will be owned by citizens so it's priority will be providing information rather seek advertising dollars.
I urge you Ralph to review the many comments I posted here over the years providing more details on these ideas (including the comments lost in the switch to Substack) and then have me on the Radio Hour as you said you would do on Washington Journal (10-24-2018).
The problems of the politicians and media controlled by big money will not be solved by the politicians and media as long as they are controlled by big money so any potential solution that involves legislation has no potential at all.
Why not add a little variety to the potential solutions by discussing these approaches that do not require legislation to implement?
There is still time to get 10% of voters to participate in demanding small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with our votes in 2026. It will not cost much as there will be few if any small donor candidates on the ballot. All citizens have to do is cast a write in vote when there are no small donor candidates on the ballot to register a vote against the big money candidates and to create and demonstrate demand for small donor candidates in future elections.
This will inspire more citizens to participate in 2028 which will inspire some candidates to run small donor campaigns in 2028 to get those votes.
If we start selling shares now for the non-profit media conglomerate we can have that up and running in time for the beginning of the 2028 election cycle.
Then maybe by 2030 we can be at the top of the Democracy Report instead of continuing our decline.
In places where write in votes are not counted to elect a candidate they are still counted as a vote cast. We simply take the total votes cast and subtract the votes counted to elect a candidate and we have the number of write in votes cast. As these write in votes are not intended to elect a candidate in the current election we have a vote total for the purpose they are cast.
Do we need a broader discussion about governments that serve their informed participating members? Isn't 'democracy' too corrupted a term to use without defining in each interaction?
Sorry, your first guest lost me with no definition to offer of the concept that she and her institution are reportedly all about. How can you call a country that from the beginning excluded all but old rich white guys a democracy? Even one sunk to 51st in the international list. Of dazzling statistics. I found little redeeming although I downloaded and did a quick word search to see how the 2026 democracy report leaned.:
democra* = 793 instances
autocrat* = 503 instances
Trump = 131 instances
liberal - 124 instances
This isn't apparently about Biden (2 instances), oligarchs (1 instance), dictators (5 instances), rule of law (15 instances), conservatives (3 instances), or citizens (16 instances). No agenda here? What think tank is 'independent' of its funding sources? And this institute has a bundle. https://v-dem.net/about/funders/
And, note based on observations, USA enemies lowest on the democracy scale regardless of benefits to citizens? And USA itself lowest on indoctrination in education? P. xiv here, https://v-dem.net/media/publications/wp_136.pdf
What is more important, what it's called? Or what it does? This institute and their reports sound more like a sales pitch for a status quo scheme than a ranking of governments addressing citizens' security and quality of life.
Remember the days when there was personal democracy and you could do, write and or say something really funny and interesting and people would laugh and someone would not go to A I to try to adjust or fix it ,or try to make it technically or politically correct.
It seems like in the old days the original stuff was always really funny and there would be lots of laughs between friends and colleagues and a good writer could make a buck or two with pen in hand or with a portable or IBM type bar or correcting selectric typewriter, chatering away morning, noon or night.
I remember the days starting branch offices for high tech companies in the 1970 and 80's and a vice president of Sun Microsystems then a start up on its way to becoming a billion dollar company, saying welcome aboard, call me in 6 months if you need help starting that branch office in Kansas City
No lengthy conference calls, no HR going over profiles, telling you if she or he is qualified, no McKinsey group telling where to, or how to make the first sale, or their sales plan " how to succeed in business without really trying" .
Can you actually imagine making an unsolicited, "cold call" ,on a CEO of large corporation today ( with a CEO who was actually involved in running the company) and doing your stick ,, and turning it into a multiple million dollar hardware or software sale , or maybe an award winning tv network sitcom. Can you imagine writing something funny and clever about a married guy named Raymond and a TV network that said let's give it a try, let's do it
And the program makes more profits than they ever imagined, the sponsor's are happy, and it lives in sindication for years, for decades.
Where are those surgeon's going in and reading and examining the patient's current medical records and in 2 hours finding and fixing that small hole in the patient's upper left ventrical hart valve so the patient could live another 20 or 30 years.
There were no heroes in those days, just people that could do good work based on real life experiences and knowledge and yes there were trophies and rewards but in the end it was about a job well done and a few companies and TV shows that made our lives better and more enjoyable,,
P.S . Thank you , Steve Skrovan. Raymond does live on .. good luck America have a great day my friends
Good program, and thought-provoking to discuss the range and varieties of democratic political systems. I'd think that if we had a parliamentary system we would have vanquished the Trump fascists a long time ago.
A while back Mr. Nader was on a CSpan call-in program. Someone called in with a strong accent from the deep south and Mr. Nader very rightly branded him a political bigot. Clearly we have a lot of right wing bigots and fascists, but also many left wing bigots whose minds are as closed to people not of their beliefs as those on the far right. I'd hope that we'd stand up not just to the Trump fascists but those on the left wing who lack flexibility to accept those who voted for Trump as they move away from him. My email was getting flooded by someone addicted to the worldwide socialist website and venomous attacks on the "magats". I stood up to him as he is just as bad as the right wing bigots. We have enough troubles in this country, we should not be making enemies with the confused or conflicted on the right who've been propagandized all their lives about how great the American capitalist corporate system is. Victor Orban was defeated by a focused series of campaigns centered on Orban's corruption, not fringe ideas or unrealistic projections of utopian ideals.
Agree, Tom. Buying in to the whole approach is where we continue to falter.
As for Guest #2, top notch! What companies should we have been boycotting since forever? Companies that deal with Israel in any way, shape, or form, https://law4palestine.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Database-of-Companies-Named-in-the-UN-Special-Rapporteurs-Report-on-the-Economy-of-Occupation-and-Genocide.pdf
Corporations declared guilty by the Merchants of War Citizens Tribunal,
"On January 15, after a year-long trial, ten jurors found four major U.S. military contractors—Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed and General Atomics—guilty on charges of willfully participating in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide."
https://covertactionmagazine.com/2025/01/28/citizens-tribunal-finds-top-u-s-weapons-contractors-guilty-of-participation-in-crimes-against-humanity-and-genocide/
And states that house these corporations, incentivize these corporations, and particularly illegally boycott corporations that legally boycott Israel and the entities with which it interacts.
The argument, Palestinians' self-determination right and Israel's illegal use of force,
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/sites/laws/files/2025-09/ralph_wilde_palestine_policy_brief.pdf
The International Court of Justice opinion,
"- all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the continued presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;"
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-pre-01-00-en.pdf
Translated,
"The ICJ’s authoritative ruling on the Israeli occupation makes clear that boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid are not only a moral imperative but also a legal obligation."
https://mondoweiss.net/2024/08/the-icj-finds-that-bds-is-not-merely-a-right-but-an-obligation/
The Democratic Party Final 2024 platform, "President Biden and Vice President Harris believe a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States. Their commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad." p. 83. That these statements are unlawful doesn't take a lawyer to explain.
https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-Democratic-Party-Platform.pdf
A country in which leaders and lawmakers break laws and commit atrocities in the name of democracy against citizens' wishes and in astonishing citizens' ignorance can hardly be called a democracy whichever political party rules. And what do we call and what can we do about the citizens who allow this?
🥱
Ralph - for those, and i am one, who do still think the electoral process is necessary and potentially (and i use that word advisedly) useful for making the changes and getting the people and policies that are necessary for the advancement of we the people - the emphasis all seems to be on ensuring people the "right to vote" - but vote for whom - basically one of 2 Parties (D/Rs) - the same 2 Parties, the "duopoly", that, over decades, has gotten us into the mess we are in and digging the hole deeper and deeper ...
So voter suppression is considered "the problem" - but what about candidate suppression? What's the point in being able to vote for one of only 2 Parties when neither one of those Parties gives a damn about us - when both parties collude with each other, and have for years, in being the hand maidens of the very corrupt corporations you and your second guest spoke of - it's common knowledge - and they know if we had another choice we just might choose it.
To that end they do their best to make sure no 3rd Party can get on a ballot - and if one does, they do their best to convince people it "can't win" or is a "spoiler" (especially re the DP with regard to any lefty Party) You know how they crucified you when you ran and have so done for any Party since ... wash, rinse, repeat - for decades ...
I am a bit surprised that you and your first guest did not bring this issue up re democratic processes - In other countries they imprison or assassinate political rivals to eliminate the competition - in this country we accomplish the same thing by simply keeping them off the ballot ... more "humane" but just as effective ....
Somewhere, and i could speculate where, I think there is a Constitutional issue, perhaps re Freedom of Speech, or other - I do believe that until we can have other Parties to choose from on ballots - none of what we are talking about has a possibility for constructive change.....
see https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1859&context=sulr
Your second guest spoke about boycotts as being a possibly effective tool - lets start with Amazon :)
Forewarned is forearmed.
"This week, El País broke what they are calling “Hondurasgate,” an expose centering on leaked audio recordings of conversations between President Donald Trump, Argentinian President Javier Milei and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández – who was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison on drug trafficking charges in the U.S. but pardoned by Trump last year. In these leaked recordings, the three current and former heads of state discuss the creation of a “channel of spreading fake news with the intention of misinforming and destabilizing” Leftist governments in the region, including those of Gustavo Petro in Colombia and Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico. According to this report, the leaks reveal the involvement of another world leader – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – in the decision to pardon Hernández. El País writes the leaks prove the pardoning of Hernández was “not a gesture of clemency, but the down payment of a broader agreement.” Expect more damning information to come out as more recordings are unearthed, even if so far the American media has largely blacked out this stunning story."
Brazil has presidential elections this year and the US has set its prying eyes on the rare earth minerals that is huge in Brazil. It is pretty obvious that some interference will happen there and the world might have another Bolsonaro (his son is apparently running, despite many legal problems).
Let's hope the US is unsuccessful, Adriana.
In the second segment, Ralph suggested that chartering of corporations should be shifted from the State level to the Federal level. While this would have the benefit of depriving State governments of means with which to influence Federal government decision making, there is one danger of this: if chartering of corporations were at the Federal level at this exact moment, Trump administration officials would be engaged not only in threatening revocation of the the FCC licenses of broadcast licensees who dissent, but of the charters of corporations which dissent, be they for-profit or non-profit. Imagine Trump's Secretary of Commerce threatening to decharter every single corporation located in States or localities engaged in resistance!
China is an example of a country that is "autocratic" but yet when their people are asked about democracy in the Democracy Perception Index report, China is close to the top in democratic perception. The reason is that their government is oriented towards the people and has goals to help the population as a collective. China invests in itself with rapidly expanding green energy, 40k miles of high speed rail (and good public transportation everywhere else), comprehensive public services and on and on. Even though China has no congress or parliament, it has multi level assemblies that make decisions through consensus. The various local and regional committees make policies through votes and they get the job done unlike our "democracy".
Interesting
I am just listening to something about this. Absolutely correct. Their absolute leadership in green energy is not coming at the cost of the population. They haven't lasted this long as an authoritarian country by not listening to the people. In China, when the people manifest against a politician, the politician falls. For all the problems they have, the government does listen to the people
So? I rather live in an imperfect democracy or republic than a "perfect" totalitarian State
Well, if you live in the US you live in a imperfect totalitarian State, only because we are still stumbling towards full blown totalitarianism. Just check the guidances of the FBI that puts pretty much anyone in this comments in the "pre criminal list"
Was just thinking the same thing but it's much worse. Corporate tyranny as Ralph puts it with 100% use of your private life through your phone and computer to make profit with nothing but manipulation and alienation in return. So grim. Brave new world.
You would rather just live in the delusion that your failed genocidal state that doesn't give a shit about you is superior. You don't have to want to live there to use your eyes and see that China is an ancient society that has made real progress and we might cooperate with them and each other to make a better world.
Ralph, re your thoughts on democracy reflecting economic and social well being, I found this definition long ago, focusing on actions:
"The rule of law is a durable system of laws, institutions, norms, and community commitment that delivers four universal principles: accountability, just law, open government, and accessible and impartial justice."
"Benefits of effective rule of law
. . . Research shows that rule of law correlates to higher economic growth, greater peace, more education, and improved health outcomes.
Economy
Where rule of law is stronger, so is the economy.
Peace
More peaceful countries enjoy greater rule of law.
Education
People are more educated where rule of law prevails.
Life Expectancy
People live longer in countries with higher rule of law scores."
https://worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/overview/what-rule-law
What weaknesses are here?
We need to stop looking backward to understand what democracy is and start looking forward. We can use modern technology to enable all willing and qualified citizens to vote directly on all legislation. Our representative's role should be to shepherd our votes, not replace them with theirs. RealDemocracyBook.com
So, we are in a worse shape than we thought as far as democracy goes? And probably in worse shape as the report states, since the criteria is somewhat limited and, if I understood it correctly, only looks at the electoral democracy at a federal level, not really having much data on how state elections and state politics work.
Thanks Ralph for pointing out the Palestine question. Hopefully they will think more deeply and fairly when writing the next report. It is pretty ridiculous to classify an occupied State while not considering that occupation when rating the occupier. "Israel" should be at the bottom of the so-called western democracies. Or below that.
Why didn't you all at the Nader Radio Hour do the incredibly simple proper research to uncover where V-Dem gets its funding???
V-Dem openly shows this information on their "Funders" web page at https://www.v-dem.net/about/funders/
On that page you will find The World Bank, corporate foundations, British/Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim, and a *cavalcade* of western governments including multiple US government agencies, and the European Commission. And, if you do a little digging you will find that many of the organizations listed such as the Pan-American Development Foundation are themselves simply funded by the US government or other western governments.
But FAR WORSE you will also an entire ecosystem of US and other National Security State 'agencies/organizations' and their partner neoliberal billionaire funded Open Society NGOs, which for decades have together coordinated massive manipulation (and often direct violent coups of democratic governments) to undermine scores of countries all over the world for US, western, and corporate interest.
These include the aforementioned World Bank (and its predatory 'loans' and structural adjustment programs), the International Republican Institute (under the notorious National Endowment for Democracy) Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), USAID, and the Open Society Foundation which has led the propaganda strategy for countless, mostly violent, US Color Revolutions in other countries..
Given all of this, the proposition that V-Dem could give an honest assessment of 'democracy' (especially in all of the historically western colonized, non-white countries that it almost universally ranks so low) is frankly utterly absurd - and The Nader Hour should reveal all of this to its listeners so that they are not misled by the western neoliberal government funded V-Dem and Marina Nord.
Interesting. What do you think they got wrong?
Ralph raised the most obvious example himself - the strange assessment of PaIestine as if it is an independent nation when instead it is a vast open air prison run by lsrael. Nord also absurdly claimed that the US can still be called a 'democracy' (for the record the US has *never* been a democracy) because it supposedly has functioning elections.
That's complete nonsense. Our elections have been dominated and coopted by corporate interest since the Clinton Administration three *decades* ago. And this collapse of US elections began 20 years before that with the Supreme Court decision on Buckley v. Valeo striking down campaign spending limits.
Also strange was Nord's claim that Trump has somehow vastly accelerated the undermining of so called 'democracy' in the US when as I noted the dismantling of legitimate elections began decades ago - and in 2010 was made dramatically worse by the Citizens United v FEC case in which campaign donation limits were torpedoed.
Republicans have likewise been very effectively maneuvering to disenfranchise Black voters for decades (look up Greg Palast's decades of reporting) while Democrats have watched them do it without substantially intervening.
Trump did not by any stretch of the imagination create that attack all by himself. This fairy story that Trump is uniquely bad is nonsense. He's just continuing attacks on elections that were already ongoing.
There was a lot of other nonsense, such as Nord's China bashing and ranking China far lower than the US or Israel in 'democracy'.
Nord is pitching the standard racist view of 'democracy' that white Western nations are superior, and nations of brown skinned people are backward. Nord's role in that interview was a twisted charade.
Substack said attachments not allowed on my own answer to my question, And what do we call and what can we do about the citizens who allow this? So a new comment here.
In answer to that last question, as intelligent people seeking a solution, how can we use these two theories to halt our descent down Cipolla’s hill and return to the uphill climb?
“. . . any country moving uphill has its unavoidable σ fraction of stupid people. However the country moving uphill also has an unusually high fraction of intelligent people who manage to keep the σ fraction at bay and at the same time produce enough gains for themselves and the other members of the community to make progress a certainty . . . In a country which is moving downhill, the fraction of stupid people is still equal to σ; however in the remaining population one notices among those in power an alarming proliferation of the bandits with overtones of stupidity . . . and among those not in power an equally alarming growth in the number of helpless individuals . . . Such change in the composition of the non-stupid population inevitably strengthens the destructive power of the σ fraction and makes decline a certainty. And the country goes to Hell.”
https://ia800108.us.archive.org/3/items/01-miscellaneous-musings/1970-00-00_The%20Basic%20Law%20of%20Human%20Stupidity.pdf
Bonhoeffer: “The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them. We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem.”
https://www.fisheaters.com/srpdf/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer-On_Stupidity.pdf
Beyond Bonhoeffer and action for Cipolla? Intellectual Courage, Curiosity over certainty, Evidence over emotion, Careful Thinking over emotional reaction.
HUMAN WISDOM OVER others' self-serving artificially induced-on-us stupidity. https://youtu.be/Sfekgjfh1Rk
🥱 nobody reads long form in social Media
So I’m even more honored that you did!
According to Ralph the problem is the politicians are controlled by the campaign contributions and the media is controlled by the advertising dollars.
This is because the most important check and balance has not been properly utilized by ordinary citizens. We keep voting for big money politicians and keep listening to the corporate media that tell us we should vote for the big money politicians.
Assuming that you Ralph control what you put on the Radio Hour you can take the first step to fixing these problems by having me on the Radio Hour to discuss boycotting big money politicians by organizing citizens to demand small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with our votes in 2026 and forming a non-profit media conglomerate financed by selling shares for 100 dollars each that will be owned by citizens so it's priority will be providing information rather seek advertising dollars.
I urge you Ralph to review the many comments I posted here over the years providing more details on these ideas (including the comments lost in the switch to Substack) and then have me on the Radio Hour as you said you would do on Washington Journal (10-24-2018).
The problems of the politicians and media controlled by big money will not be solved by the politicians and media as long as they are controlled by big money so any potential solution that involves legislation has no potential at all.
Why not add a little variety to the potential solutions by discussing these approaches that do not require legislation to implement?
There is still time to get 10% of voters to participate in demanding small donor candidates and enforcing that demand with our votes in 2026. It will not cost much as there will be few if any small donor candidates on the ballot. All citizens have to do is cast a write in vote when there are no small donor candidates on the ballot to register a vote against the big money candidates and to create and demonstrate demand for small donor candidates in future elections.
This will inspire more citizens to participate in 2028 which will inspire some candidates to run small donor campaigns in 2028 to get those votes.
If we start selling shares now for the non-profit media conglomerate we can have that up and running in time for the beginning of the 2028 election cycle.
Then maybe by 2030 we can be at the top of the Democracy Report instead of continuing our decline.
Oops - write-ins on ballots are usually not counted ....
In places where write in votes are not counted to elect a candidate they are still counted as a vote cast. We simply take the total votes cast and subtract the votes counted to elect a candidate and we have the number of write in votes cast. As these write in votes are not intended to elect a candidate in the current election we have a vote total for the purpose they are cast.
Do we need a broader discussion about governments that serve their informed participating members? Isn't 'democracy' too corrupted a term to use without defining in each interaction?
Sorry, your first guest lost me with no definition to offer of the concept that she and her institution are reportedly all about. How can you call a country that from the beginning excluded all but old rich white guys a democracy? Even one sunk to 51st in the international list. Of dazzling statistics. I found little redeeming although I downloaded and did a quick word search to see how the 2026 democracy report leaned.:
democra* = 793 instances
autocrat* = 503 instances
Trump = 131 instances
liberal - 124 instances
This isn't apparently about Biden (2 instances), oligarchs (1 instance), dictators (5 instances), rule of law (15 instances), conservatives (3 instances), or citizens (16 instances). No agenda here? What think tank is 'independent' of its funding sources? And this institute has a bundle. https://v-dem.net/about/funders/
And, note based on observations, USA enemies lowest on the democracy scale regardless of benefits to citizens? And USA itself lowest on indoctrination in education? P. xiv here, https://v-dem.net/media/publications/wp_136.pdf
What is more important, what it's called? Or what it does? This institute and their reports sound more like a sales pitch for a status quo scheme than a ranking of governments addressing citizens' security and quality of life.
Remember the days when there was personal democracy and you could do, write and or say something really funny and interesting and people would laugh and someone would not go to A I to try to adjust or fix it ,or try to make it technically or politically correct.
It seems like in the old days the original stuff was always really funny and there would be lots of laughs between friends and colleagues and a good writer could make a buck or two with pen in hand or with a portable or IBM type bar or correcting selectric typewriter, chatering away morning, noon or night.
I remember the days starting branch offices for high tech companies in the 1970 and 80's and a vice president of Sun Microsystems then a start up on its way to becoming a billion dollar company, saying welcome aboard, call me in 6 months if you need help starting that branch office in Kansas City
No lengthy conference calls, no HR going over profiles, telling you if she or he is qualified, no McKinsey group telling where to, or how to make the first sale, or their sales plan " how to succeed in business without really trying" .
Can you actually imagine making an unsolicited, "cold call" ,on a CEO of large corporation today ( with a CEO who was actually involved in running the company) and doing your stick ,, and turning it into a multiple million dollar hardware or software sale , or maybe an award winning tv network sitcom. Can you imagine writing something funny and clever about a married guy named Raymond and a TV network that said let's give it a try, let's do it
And the program makes more profits than they ever imagined, the sponsor's are happy, and it lives in sindication for years, for decades.
Where are those surgeon's going in and reading and examining the patient's current medical records and in 2 hours finding and fixing that small hole in the patient's upper left ventrical hart valve so the patient could live another 20 or 30 years.
There were no heroes in those days, just people that could do good work based on real life experiences and knowledge and yes there were trophies and rewards but in the end it was about a job well done and a few companies and TV shows that made our lives better and more enjoyable,,
P.S . Thank you , Steve Skrovan. Raymond does live on .. good luck America have a great day my friends
abba ' sos ' 🦩