Undoubtedly power plays a huge role in not only our economy but also within our economy and politics. I particularly liked one quote from the authors of chapter 2 wherein the authors astutely pointed out that "capitalism does not simply distribute money and wealth unequally. It also distributes economic power unequally." (Draper 59) I think that while all of these facets of our government are important the three aforementioned ones are perhaps the most influential and telling.
Whilst striving to become a very important economic power in the world other things may have fallen to the wayside. And while I do think that it is important to have a strong and powerful economy I think that if you don't have a balanced economy that you will suffer. "As one Wall Street executive explained, "In our system of free enterprise, the capitalist system, industry is owned by the American public." However the notion of share-holder democracy is highly misleading." (Draper 43) It is entirely possible that while trying to become a global economic power that we actually made the rich richer and the poor poorer. "Business professor Jefferey E. Garton has warned that corporate concentration has produced a "growing imbalance between public and private power in our society." (Draper 42)
This imbalance in power has carried over into our political system as well. "Capitalists decide whether to invest, where to invest, and what to invest in based on what will yield the greatest profit, not the greatest good. Moreover, their economic wealth and power enable them to wield great political influence that produces a mobilization of bias in their favor." (Draper 59) I think that this division of power can be very dangerous because sometimes it seems as though we are agreeing to certain policies simply to keep political peace meet economic pressures and not because the people being represented actually agree. I also think that the pressures to make everyone happy can be very detrimental to our overall system. One example of power in politics would be amongst the two main parties; when one party controls the power they have the ability to bully the other side into compromising.
Power in government is also very important. If you are not willing to be a decision maker on the global stage then I don't believe that you can truly be a powerful force. I think that being powerful can be a good thing in that then you can be influential and make things happen that are good for your country. In the alternative being a powerful country can also be detrimental to your popularity. Most recently the crisis that is ongoing in Egypt has opened my eyes to the fact that many people want to have a system like we do,they want democracy and they want fair treatment by their government. Although, I rarely agree with Glenn Beck's viewpoints I do really like his point of view on the Egypt crisis. "This is the one thing I think everybody gets wrong about the United States. They always say, 'Why do they hate United States?' Bush used to say, 'They hate our freedom.' No they don't... They envy our freedom and they wish we stood for freedom." (Loeb)
Most importantly I think it is important to point out that our goal to be all powerful in all areas in a county has not only fell short for the most part but it has also created many problems. Most recently, much anger has been expressed over the unequal share of power in our country. "One household in ten - owned four-fifths of the value of all stocks in the United States. This left the remaining fifth of stocks to be shared among 90 percent of Americans. The answer to the question of who owns America's private government is thus quite simple: one-tenth of the population." (Draper 43) The disparity in income that is ongoing in our country has caused some deep seated resentment amongst our fellow citizens. I think that in the long run this could end up being very detrimental.
All this talk of America's power makes me wonder: do we need to do a better public relations job? Is there a better way of imposing checks and balances on our own practices to somehow avoid the aggressive increase in disparaging incomes?
Draper, Alan. The Politics of Power a Critical Introduction to American Government. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2011.Loeb, Steven. "Glenn Beck: Egypt Doesn't Hate Our Freedom, They Wish America Stood For Freedom." Business Insider, The Wire. Feb. 1, 2011, 11:38 AM. http://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-beck-wants-the-us-to-be-more-like-switzerland-2011-1#ixzz1DEvDCdkL
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