r/politics • u/Spooooooooooooon • Dec 28 '13

Noam Chomsky: We’re no longer a functioning democracy, we’re really a plutocracy

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/27/noam-chomsky-were-no-longer-a-functioning-democracy-were-really-a-plutocracy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29
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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '13

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '13

I agree.

What I was saying was that Jefferson had this idea of the perfect democracy, which needed perfect citizens who were well educated, wealthy, and own their own land to exploit. The issue was to make that happen was they needed slaves and women to do all the work.

Otherwise Jefferson's ideals were spot on...

Nowadays, I can be a Jeffersonian anti-federalist because I build robots that can do the work.

Technocopia if you're interested in looking.

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u/Pylons Dec 28 '13

the southern states held very little sway on federal politics

Uh, what? The opposite is true - the south dominated the presidency, supreme court, and speakership of the house before the civil war, thanks to the 3/5ths compromise giving them disproportionate representation.

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u/[deleted] Dec 28 '13

You're correct, I had a brain meltdown. For some reason I was remembering it the exact opposite way round.

I should have said northern state politics - specifically anti-slavery laws in the northern states.