Political system hopelessly corrupt

To the editor,

I wondered whether voter anger today is based on something real, beyond nativism, racism and cant. The evidence is clear that for 50 years our governing elites crammed globalism down our throats, claiming that the net economic growth from expanded trade would somehow make up for loss of decent manufacturing jobs. I think that is safe to say that the elites got it really, really wrong. Non-union working families bore the brunt. Yes, the rich got richer, but that is about it. And both major political parties are to blame. So, the fact that in 2016 screwed-over working class voters are furious, in a hopelessly corrupt Citizens United political system, should not be that much of a surprise. Electing anti-tax extremists who loathe government to run the government hasn’t helped, unless you really believe that, say, a global oil company cares more about Prince William Sound then do the people who live there. Yes, government can be clumsy and inefficient and frustrating. And corporations can be very adroit, efficient and cunning. If corporations, under Citizens United, are citizens with First Amendment rights, then surely, as citizens, they should also face due process and if found guilty be punished, just as we would be, for their crimes. Government alone has the power and resources to hold the corporate complex responsible, before the law.

Given the immense power and influence the globalist corporate complex holds over our lives, thanks in part to anti-government politicians and laws, it seems that voter anger at the government is somewhat misplaced. Demagogues rise when working families are distressed and the government is unresponsive. They try to blame immigrants, people of color and the government for the problem. Their policy prescriptions rarely make sense. But they are responding, rhetorically, to economic insecurity that is all too real.

Scott Sterling

Wasilla