WASHINGTON, March 11, 2018
American democracy has been corrupted by money and it has disappointed Americans, a U.S. expert has said.
“The American people were not happy with politics as usual,” said William Jones, the Washington Bureau chief for Executive Intelligence Review news magazine, during a recent interview with Xinhua.
He said the people believe that the political elites in Washington are not representing their interests, adding that “they saw that because most Americans today feel that they probably had a better economic situation 10, 20 years ago than they have today.”
“Things are more expensive. Their wages have declined. Their pensions are not enough to meet their needs when they retire,” said Jones. The United States has a system as set forth in the Constitution which makes the government responsible for the common welfare, but it’s all been corrupted due to “the growth of the money” and “moneyed interests,” he said.
In the United States, politicians are elected not because they have everybody’s votes; they are elected because they have a lot of money behind them, Jones said.
“They have the Wall Street crowd behind them. They have the NRA (National Rifle Association) behind them … so that when they get into the office, they get in and they’re told, well, you got to do this and you got to do this because Wall Street wants … they pay for your way or the NRA wants it because they pay for it,” he said.
The system has collapsed, Jones said.The expert said that some politicians who want to “do things” have to follow the “hidden rules” in U.S. politics.
Taking the U.S. Congress as an example, he said, one will not have a chance to get a post in sub-committees if one fails to learn how to get along with others.
“It’s a corrupt system. We need an anti-corruption campaign here,” he said.These have affected U.S. politics and society and led to a widespread disgust over politics, he added.
“It has led in many cases to people not voting, people not thinking that their vote counts, you know, which may be the case,” Jones said. It has a negative effect on people and demoralizes them, and is a serious problem, he said, warning that society cannot develop without the enthusiastic participation of the public.
Washington could move ahead better with its agendas, including the improvement of its infrastructure and others, if its people unite, Jones said. But currently it seems very difficult due to the intense disagreements between the two major political groupings in the country, Jones said.
Besides Americans presenting a united front, the expert suggested that what was needed in sum was a “house-cleaning of the system” and an “anti-corruption” campaign to solve Washington’s ills.
