Customer Reviews

Who Will Tell the People: The Betrayal of American Democracy

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Written in the era of Ross Perot and Jerry Brown and focused on the Savings and Loan scandal that cost taxpayers at least $200 Billion dollars, this insightful book identifies many factors behind the growing power of transnational corporations to set the national agenda. Villains include an expanding executive branch, the collusion of both major parties with Wall Street interests, the increasing use of technical jargon in the halls of power, and a press that seems more focused on selling celebrities than examining policies.

Greider's prophetic book, written in 1992, anticipates how NAFTA, GATT, and the most favored trade status with China all passed - could be pushed through by a Democratic president (Clinton) and a Republican Congress in a bipartisan effort. Polls, by the way, showed the vast majority of Americans oppossed to all three pieces of legislation. A populist political critic, Greider suspects what is good for Wall Street might not be good for Main Street. (Of course, many people living on Main Street owe some stock too.)

I first read this book in 1992, and wondered if Greider was exaggerating to make more compelling copy. Re-reading parts today and knowing the disaster caused by NAFTA, Greider emerges as one of the few political analysts aware of the signifance of trade to Wall Street and the negative influence on corporate money on both parties.

"We're perilously close to not having a democracy," warms Greider, noting that while many elements are involved in disenfranchising the American public, none are buried secrets and all are familiar features. Campaign finance reform, of course, remains the preferred euphemism for legalized bribery used to win Congressional votes and manipulate regulatory decisions. Incumbents like the system (shock, shock) and reformers seem to lose in primaries (McCain, Bradley.) Greider makes a few commonsense suggestions: more press coverage of how government actually works, campaign finance reform, and elections on the weekends.

Unfortunately, this witty tirade, written with outrage and fury, seems more relevant today than ever. Both moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats support unrestricted trade leaving true outsiders like Nader and Buchanan to articulate the fair trade argument. Greider suggests that the possibilities for renewing American democracy are dwindling -despite technological advances that could revitalize citizen activism.

A fascinating, sobering book for the 2000 election season.

It's funny how some negative reviews of this book spoke about how wrong Greider was and how right corporate superheros like Jack Welch were. Now in 2003 as America struggles to rebuild after the savage [things] that these corporate overlords have done (Enron? Worldcom? Global Crossing?) we see just how accurate Greider's predications were. The men who rose to power in the 1990's didn't get there because they loved all humanity, they got there because they wanted power above all else. It wasn't the job or the love for their products, it was for money. If they had to fire tens of thouands of people, if they had to bankrupt the company, that was fine. THEY got to keep their millions in the form of Golden Parachutes. History has now born this simple truth out. Power doesn't neccesarilly corrupt, but absolutely corrupt people seek power at any cost.

This book captures an energy too rare in political nonfiction.

Much like any notoriously liberal thinker, Greider will not appeal to everyone. However, also like most any biased thinker, he is a compelling read for both sides of the political spectrum.

One of Greider's most salient points is the lack of real alternative that we have in the current American political system. Democrats and Rebublicans are, he argues, cut from the same (corrupt) cloth. He definitely doesn't play partisan favorites, he fundamentally attacks the system of special interest politics.

Now all this sounds a bit dry, but Greider's style really is wonderful, in a way that few political writers are. He has a sort of sassy, knowing tone that is both personal and grandiose. He manages to make you feel simultaneously at a rally and in his living room. He turns political writing from broccoli into chocolate cookies, which is a welcome change.

I have used this book extensively for quoting, have taught chapters and, sometimes, the whole book as a text in an activism internship class, and have used it in volunteer circles for a conversation starter. I think its energy carries it along to some great observations about our political system.

Ah, once more into the breach, dear friends. Like Shakespeare's goode King, Rolling Stone editor and contributor William Greider is once more up in arms, and in this powerful and provocative book takes thoughtful aim against the bloodied and crippled state of the contemporary American polity. Greider convincingly details the many ways in which the democratic process has been compromised, corrupted and co-opted by the powerful economic influences of corporate America. In doing so, he focuses on the actual process of how the federal government works, and illustrates in shocking fashion with a number of specific anecdotes the degree to which the political system has been bought off by transnational corporations and the media.

The author's list of un-indicted co-conspirators is long and illustrious; transnational corporations, the electronic media, the political parties, so-called interest groups like the NRA and the Milk Lobby, and an occasional populist group, all trying to foist their narrowly focused interests into self-serving legislation and regulation against the much broader interest and liberties of the citizenry at large. The fact that they consistenly succeed to our detriment is powerful testimony as to the accuracy of this analysis. The author reserves special vile for the activities of the two political parties, who he contends are more aptly described as the power-drunk fraternal twin children of the wealthy power elite than they are a responsive and representative force out to accomplish the messy business of democratic governance. Acting in the elite's perceived social, economic, and political interests, the federal government manages the tax structure, social benefits, and economic policies in ways that ensure the rich and powerful gain further advantage at the cost of the rest of the populace.

Yet Greider sees a unique opportunity in the brave new world of post-cold war conditions to right the existing wrongs of the present situation. Through a re-energized populist political movement, he argues, the people could seize control of the process and demonstrate the continuing power of the citizenry to manage and control their collective destinies. By such practical means as organizing boycotts of errant transnational corporations to bring them into line in order to continue benefiting in our domestic marketplace (the largest single economy in the world), the people could bargain by using the power of their purse strings.

As much as I like Greider and enjoy his critical skills and analysis, even I have to admit that such a social revolution is an unlikely event; anyone aware of the degree to which our citizenry are politically apathetic, and who recognizes that the only energy an average middle class American expends is usually associated with an self-absorbed pursuit of video games and backyard barbecues, also realizes that they are unlikely to be the nucleus of any kind of meaningful social revolution. Viewed in such circumspect terms, it is hard to picture the citizens of contemporary society gaining anything like that sort of enlightened self-awareness or concerted political action in the near future. Yet despite his unrealistic hopes for such an unlikely change in the present arrangements, this is a good book, and has a worthwhile and penetrating analysis that quite specifically blueprints the nature of the corruption and co-option of the federal government by the transnational corporations. I enjoyed reading it, and plan to read sections of it again because of its powerful analysis. Enjoy.

I ate this book up- it is basically a searing condemnation of the decline of our democracy. Greider attributes this decline to many different sources: Corporate power and the cozy relationships between industry and regulators, the withering of groups like labor unions, the media establishment, and more. I could go on about how right he is, but one example I found particularly disturbing: his analysis of what the Democratic Party really is. In 1992, the Democrats were going to have a bicentennial celebration, and so they thought they should invite, among other people, the "party regulars" who were working at the community level. To their suprise, they realized that they had lost contact with those people: they have no party regulars! Well, then who comprises what we call the Democratic Party? He goes on to analyze what really makes the party tick, and concludes that the real powerhouse of the democrats are six huge D.C. law firms and the affiliated corporations. A disturbing idea, to say the least.

The book loses its focus a bit when he goes into the ramifications of the cold war, and of course his bias is very evident, but every book should be taken with a grain of salt, and there are some truly compelling ideas in here.

I'm glad Mr. Greider did the legwork, because he really puts a voice and articulation to what many of us feel in our gut: There is something very wrong with how our country works, and we need to fix it.

It has taken me several months, but I have finally finished reading Who Will Tell The People by William Greider. It wasn't an easy book to read, it deals with government policy, protocol, politics, economics, and history. However, it was a fascinating book, therefore I stayed with it as I read several other books in between its completion. I have been a fan of Greider's since I started reading his articles about politics and the economy in the pages of Rolling Stone.

It is amazing how accurate Greider's description of the failings of democracy is today, 12 years after the book had been published (1992)-not much has changed, especially during the build up to the November 2004 elections. Most of his examples come from the Carter-Regan-Bush administrations or before. But he does an amazing job of showing how the power of the people has been transferred over the years into the hands of the rich and powerful. However, he does provide examples of how these powerful forces have been overcome by grass roots movements, and he seems hopeful that someday the true spirit of democracy will be seen in government.

One of his biggest concerns is how government fails in its greatest role upholding laws:

"Corrective mechanisms that are supposed to prevent political manipulations have been purposely weakened. And public inherits a grave injustice: a government that will not faithfully perform its most basic function-enforcing laws." (107)

Corporations will often accept fines rather than changes business practices that are in opposition to laws passed by the government for the good of the people. How long did it take to get air bags installed as a matter of course in cars?

He goes on to look at the unseemly practice of government officials going from public office to corporations:

"The federal government as a whole ahs been reduced to a training camp for private enterprise-a school in which the students learn the skills and insider knowledge that will be most valuable to outside employers. Under those circumstances only the most dedicated civil servants-or the most incompetent-are willing to remain in the public's hire." (116)


I know every administration is guilty of this, but it seems more visible in this one with Condi Rice coming from Exxon and Dick Cheney from Halliburton. The first MBA president, who has run every company that he has led into the ground save the Texas Rangers, scares me-business leaders are beholden to their stockholders-everyone else has to fend for themselves, this model works well when you think of shareholders as the people who gave money to his campaign,

The Democrats are just as guilty of this as the Republicans as Greider discusses in his chapter "Who Owns The Democrats?" And it's the same sort of big business types who fund Democrat candidates. The move to the center economically happened long before Clinton. This in turn leads to the kind of corporate welfare documented here:

"As it turned out, General Electric was possibly the biggest single winner in Ronald Regan's celebrated tax cuts. It had corporate profits of $6.5 billion during 1981-1983 and, astonishingly, received a tax rebate of $283 million form the federal government. Its tax burden went from $330 million a year to minus $900 million a year-money the government now owed GE. By rough estimate, the 1981 tax legislation yielded as much as $1.3 billion for General Electric over several years and probably much more in the long run." (341-342)

In the chapter "The Closet Dictator" he discusses the dangers of globalism, a chapter I'll guess that led him to write his book on globalism, One World Ready Or Not. All in all, it was a very thought-provoking book. Actually, it riles me up, because there's so little we can do about it. I guess democracy is a sort of utopian goal that we have to constantly strive for.

Mr. Greider gives us a sobering account of the void we once called democracy. Multinational corporations have priveleges and immunities that citizens cannot ascribe to. The GEs' and the Exxons' are here to grab our government, folks, and Mr. Greider is here to tell you all about it.

A must-read for students of government. This information is needed in classrooms from the third grade on up, even though translated into simpler terms for the younger. Greider reveals the Achilles heel of democracy that also must be taught if we are to preserve the system - if money hasn't already overwhelmed it.

William Greider, on-the-scene in the nation's captital and intelligent enough to understand what he sees and hears, has described American politics in an overshoot mode. His subtitle, "The Betrayal of American Democracy," conveys his theme. Corporate and financial interests have simply enlisted the federal establishment into their service, and partisan labels have become matters of huge indifference. Greider gives empiric evidence to the thrust of the Perot campaign: both Republican and Democratic officeholders have literally sold their talents and their principles. Intelligent citizens who simmer in civil outrage need this book to document the basis for their anger

Interesting and very instructive although a bit biased toward a liberal focus. It's worth reading even if you are not an American voter. The US is following the trend of the Roman Empire and is no longer a Republic but an Empire dominated by a President empowered like a 'Caesar'. If those are the results in the country that once gave birth to modern Democracy, just imagine what is happening in your own country ...