The vision of a government of the people, by the people and for the people is enchanting, and powerfully attractive to the masses yearning to be free. However, the title of Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz’s article, Of the 1%, by the 1%, and for the 1% is a far more accurate description of the reality of US democracy. Prophetically, Eisenhower had warned against the threat to democracy posed by the powerful military-industrial complex. Today the power of a tiny minority to control the US, and thence the world, exceeds his worst nightmares.

In 2010, the US Supreme Court ruled to allow corporations to spend money on political campaigns. In 2014, the Supreme Court removed certain limits from such political spending, effectively making it legal for corporations to buy elections. It is now reported that industrialist mega-donors, the Koch brothers, are planning spend close to a billion dollars to fund their…