by Steve Berry
People who are in positions of power and authority have been speaking out against the First Amendment. Recently, John Kerry, the former Secretary of State and Democratic nominee for President, stated at a World Economic Forum panel that, “Our First Amendment stands as a major block (to getting things done)”. For Kerry, democracy and freedom of speech are too messy – “just hammer it out of existence,” he said. Similarly, former SOS and DNC nominee Hilary Clinton wondered aloud if people on the internet should “be civilly or in some cases criminally charged” for spreading what she called propaganda. “If social media platforms don’t monitor content,” she said. “We lose total control”.
Likewise, VP Kamala Harris said in a recent interview that “freedom of speech is a privilege.” To this I would counter that, no – it is a right, and an inalienable one at that. Just imagine how astonished these same powerful people will be if they succeed in collapsing the First Amendment, and then are silenced by opposing forces in the future.
Political theorist Sheldon Wolin in his book, Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism argues that America is captured by inverted totalitarianism – which he distinguishes as different from basic totalitarianism in that it isn’t led by a demagogue but rather through the faceless anonymity of the corporate state. Predictably, the corporate state and its minions in the media constantly warn us about potential demagogues, but never about themselves.
As Wolin understands it, there is a fusion of political and economic power and corporate control over of all our national institutions, so that nothing can be truly described as “democratic” anymore. His grim assessment – well over a decade old now – is that we the people are being manipulated by “highly managed, money-saturated elections, the lobby-infested Congress, the imperial presidency, the class-biased judicial and penal system” – and the media. And here in Vermont, this inverted totalitarianism has had a kind of trickle-down effect, wherein powers well outside the state have gained the ability to shape policy through well-intentioned legislators who initiate and pass laws totally out of synch with the needs of the population they were elected to serve.
I call this “trickle-down totalitarianism”, the defeat of which is the main reason I’m running for office. I believe that, instead of serving “the powers” globally, our legislators need to serve middle class Vermonters and thus restore truly representative government. I also believe that it is incumbent upon citizens to become better informed through our alienable right of freedom of speech which is slowly being taken away by the existing powers. Finally, I believe that we need to vote for people who advance policies that strengthen the things that remain – the topmost being our Constitution and ALL of our freedoms. Please join me.
Steve Berry
Steve Berry is an independent candidate for US Senate representing Vermont. To learn more about Steve, check out https://www.votesberry.com.