Sunday, December 18, 2011

What Are Some of the Top Piano Schools?

!±8± What Are Some of the Top Piano Schools?

For those who want to pursue a career in piano, the options for training are diverse. There are a number of quality schools available in the United States and some abroad too.

* Juilliard: The Juilliard School in New York has a reputation as one of the best music schools in the world. In addition to piano and other instruments, students can also focus on dance and drama. The institution was founded in 1905 by Dr. Frank Damrosch. Damrosch was a musical prodigy and the godson of Hungarian pianist and composer Franz Liszt. A New Yorker, Damrosch bemoaned the idea that American musicians had to leave the U.S. for advanced training.

He began with a modest idea to accept 100 students. Instead, he was overwhelmed by the demand for spaces in his school. Thanks to wealthy benefactor Augustus D. Juilliard, the school increased its space and programs beginning in 1919. Today the school seeks to provide high caliber training and experience in music. Juilliard prides itself in turning out some of the profession's best leaders. Jazz pianist Chick Corea is one of Juilliard's famous alumni.

* The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The school is considered among the most prestigious music institutions in the world. Centrally located downtown in the metropolitan city of Rochester, New York, The University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music has been named the "Hottest Music School" in the 2008 Kaplan/Newsweek "How to Get into College" guide.

* Berklee: The Berklee College of Music in Boston focuses on training musicians in contemporary music. Students have 12 majors to choose from, including songwriting, music therapy and more. Berklee's programs offer very unique courses and instructors. There are also numerous opportunities for development outside of the classroom.

Berklee College boasts the largest percentage of undergraduate students from outside the U.S. compared to all other American colleges and universities. This diversity enriches students both personally and academically. Some of Berklee's famous grads include jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall and jazz pianist Danilo Perez.

* Royal College: The Royal College of Music in London attracts both British and International students. Its rich history begins in 1882. It was founded by the Prince of Wales (Edward VII) and is still closely associated with the British royal family. Close to 50 nations are represented within its student body. Most are drawn to Royal College because of its stellar reputation in the music industry around the world. It strives to turn out the world's most skilled musicians. It counts among its alumni such famous graduates as composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and pianist Clifford Benson.

* New England Conservatory: Located in Boston, the NEC is ranked in the top five music schools in the United States. One-on-one interaction between individual students and faculty mentors is a central focus. This helps to ensure a high quality education that addresses the strengths of the individual. The NEC offers programs from the undergraduate to the doctoral level. Its Professional Piano Training Program is a unique study major, offering intensive training for career-driven piano students. Famous NEC alumni include jazz pianists Fred Hersch and Cecil Taylor.

* Curtis: The Curtis Institute of Music of Philadelphia sets itself apart from most every premier music school in the world. This is because every student receives a full tuition scholarship. Founder Mary Louise Curtis Bok envisioned an institution where finances were not a barrier. Potential students are instead judged solely on artistic merit and promise. Curtis typically admits fewer than 200 students per year. The school's philosophy states that students learn by "doing."

To fulfill this mandate, it offers frequent opportunities for students to perform, both within in the community and abroad. It has a notable reputation for turning out exceptional professional musicians. American pianists Jonathon Biss and Richard Goode are two of Curtis' famous alumni.


What Are Some of the Top Piano Schools?

Luminox Navy Seal Dive Watch Top Quality

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Universe Long Before the Big Bang and After - Neosecularism Vs Atheism and Religion

!±8± Universe Long Before the Big Bang and After - Neosecularism Vs Atheism and Religion

Materials presented below are neither illusions nor assumptions. All are matters of absolute facts to me. But since there is no scientific tools presently available to prove any of the materials presented here, and the transcendence by which I have ascertained the truth about them cannot be explained in this short essay, I have to guide the reader to the references at the end of this essay to find the answer. Therefore, instead of facts I am going to present those as assumptions leaving to the readers knowledge of astronomy, astrophysics, other related fields and properly informed individuals, and their intelligence, reasoning power, logic and rationalization in reaching a reasonable conclusion. I propose that the reader assume each segment of these facts as a hypothesis, as we scientists do in verifying of any issue in our research and study process, then attempt through logic and reasoning to verify its different components and ultimately reach a reasonable conclusion.

Let us assume that there are two universes instead of one. Actually, there are three but we leave the third one out since it is very complex and difficult to understand with the present level of knowledge held by the scientific community. However, we will give a brief explanation of the third universe presenting its form and nature to the readers without bringing it into discussion. The first universe is matterless the second material and the third non-material. The first, being matterless, is not subject to time or space since only the matter can have such dimensions. Therefore, the Matterless Universe, under the standards of measurement used and understood at the present, expands to infinity with no beginning or end. It consists of what we may call "Pure Energy" or super-energy. It is a highly condensed mass of pure energy. The term "mass" used here is not the same as the material mass known to us. There is neither a way nor a proper term for this mass in our present scientific vocabulary. Since energy is the source of life for the body of the universe all the way down to plants, animals, humans and the smallest particles, comprehensively this Pure Energy must be the highest state of being, thus, dynamically alive, with supreme intelligence and enormous creative power. Therefore, as a supreme being it seems the only source capable of creation of the material universe as presented below. It is then proper to be called the Creator. Being matterless, it has no gender, thus, it is neither "He" nor "She" but "It". No light is associated with this Universe since any light is associated with matter and space.

Because the Creator is matterless, It extends to infinity. It is ever present everywhere transcending all matter including human beings. It has extensive sensitivity to the environment at any chosen point. As a matterless being It has no need to see but to sense. Therefore, It exists conveniently in absolute darkness. Our scientific community has already discovered a trace of the Creator. It has named it Dark Energy with a condensed mass and supreme power. All efforts are being made, within the material concept of science, to find more about it. This is nothing else but the Creator. As soon as we move away from our planet, we find ourselves in the same absolute darkness yet at the presence of the Creator. If we consider all these as facts, we may come to the conclusion that the Creator is not a holy dogmatic being as assumed by different religions but totally a secular being with no association with any particular religion. It is like a super scientist, inventor and creator and as such anxious for ultra-scientific designs and experimentations of which the creation of the Material Universe may have been one, and more likely not the only one. The essence of these experimentations may not be all for the same purpose namely to create a material universe.

The second universe is the Material Universe, which, at least so far as we have discovered, is subject to time and space as any matter, and as such it has a beginning, a process of life and development, and an ending. How the material universe started? This is a question not yet fully answered. If we consider that the Creator's experimentation intended to create a material universe, it certainly did not start with the Big Bang but long time before that. We should simply ask ourselves what was that caused the Big Bang. If we think of the Creator's intention for super-scientific experimentation in creating a material universe, we can easily come to a conclusion that it necessarily required a material base which had to come from the Creator's own essence, Pure Energy. There is no other source imaginable. Furthermore, we know that in our material world, the energy, in a variety of ways, is the source of life and base of existence of all matters from the Material Universe itself to planets and all living things in them. Based on all these facts the Creator, or the Matterless Universe, consisting of Pure Energy, would appear the only source of such immense energy required for the creation of the Material Universe and its continuing life, evolution and transformation.

Consequently, it is not unreasonable to assume that the Creator decided to carry out this experimentation and designated an initial point and a space there with specific dimensions fitting the objectives of its experimentation, and capable of absorbing and accumulating of needed energy from the Pure Energy consisting of Its essence. In a matter of maybe a billion or more years, the accumulation of energy in this designated space became crystallized in the form of a condensed huge transparent but solid object we may call it as Pure Matter, the ultimate size of which was determined by the Creator to suit the objectives of Its experimentation. For the first time "space" and "time" were created long before the Big Bang. The Material Universe, therefore, was initiated and its course of creation, evolution, maturity, decay and extinction was figured out by the Creator and now was the time to see to what extent the system would follow the envisioned process by the Creator's design of experimentation.

When the Pure Matter became saturated by the energy absorbed from the Pure Energy, it reached the point of explosion causing the Big Bang, unleashing the enormous energy saturated inside it. Because of the extreme heat, the resulting matters, which were not pure anymore, were mostly in the form of gas including what later on became solid matter or liquid. The explosion created immense light associated with heat, causing an outward push of the resulting matters with a lightening speed, creating a huge black hole in the Center with incredible power of electromagnetic gravity. Some huge parts from the Pure Matter thrown outward by the Big Bang were still in solid transparent form, though likely not so pure as they originally were, but still capable of absorbing more energy, becoming saturated and exploding later on far away from the Center. Therefore, we may properly assume that there was not just one Big Bang but a succession of big bangs maybe not as magnificent as the original one, and they are still continuing to occur in the outer dimensions of the Universe, though not as enormous as the previous ones, creating new galaxies, solar systems and corresponding planets. Therefore, it may be properly assumed that supernovas could be related to the extension of these bangs.

Immediately after the Big Bang, because of extreme heat caused by the explosion, all matters were in gas form. After quite an extended period of time, as temperatures receded, some matters liquefied and then took a solid form, some others took a liquid form yet some others remained in more condensed gas from. Ultimately, the solar systems and planets were crystallized. Evolution of life in each planet depended on the material components of the planet and the environment within which it was situated. Evolution of each planet proceeded to its maturity, aging, decaying and extinction. The nature of matters composing each planet determined the extent of its capability to absorb energy from the sun and other sources.

Considering that energy is the source of life, the nature of accumulation of this energy, within a proper environment created by the solar system's accidental surge of energy from its sun, allowed in some planets for the living organisms to be created. This surge of energy which may happen very rarely during the whole life span of a sun, created an orbit like outward movement. In this outward movement this high energy orbit, known as the intelligence orbit, met certain planets enabling them to absorb extra and unique kind of energy. this higher level of adsorption reached a point known as the intelligence line materialized by the planet's encounter with the core of intelligence orbit expanding outward.

This level of intelligence was also affected, positively or negatively, depending on the nature of the material components of each planet and its environment. As a result of this high energy environment, a variety of intelligent creatures were created including human beings as the environment became favorable. This assumption is in contrast with the Darwinian theory of evolution of humans from other species. The level of intelligence of the coming class of intelligent creatures advanced by the increase in the level of the planet's intelligence level as the planet approached to the inner core of the intelligence orbit emanated from the sun and moving outward.

It is important to notice that the Creator did not create the universe , its components and living creatures in some planets including ours. They were created according to the specific conditions required for their creation as set up in the Creator's design of the experimentation and the level of available energy. For example, human beings were not created by the Creator and they were not created at one time in a specific area of the planet. Different parts of the planet being subject to different environment, some human beings were created tens of thousand years after the others, likely, more intelligent than the previous group because of rising intelligent level of the planet had placed them on a higher level of intelligence. So, the total process of the development of each planet, as that of the Material Universe, involved the creation and the evolution side by side at different levels of development and varying environments. Based on the conditions of the environment and natural climate, some species were created, some evolved into a new ones and some became extinct. The same process is still continuing.

Unavoidably, there arrives a point at which the consumption of energy by the planet reaches the level of its absorption. At this point, the evolution stops. Pursuant to this point the absorption of energy gradually decreases, either as a result of decrease in the emission of the energy from its original source or certain transformations in the components and composition of the planet or other reasons. As a consequence, the planet receives less energy than it needs for its survival and starts an accelerated process of devolution and degeneration. In planets with living creatures, this situation occurs when the planet is near moving out of the influence of the intelligence orbit. When the level of intelligence of the planet is reduced, by the intelligence orbit starting to move away from the planet, it causes decay on the level of intelligence of its intelligent creatures. When the planet is placed in the outer limits of the intelligence orbit, the level of intelligence on the planet reaches the zero point and no intelligent creature survives and the planet with an increasing acceleration loses its gravity power to the point that its components cannot be held together by its weakened gravity and the planet meets its destruction. The majority of planets, in their process of development do not encounter the intelligence orbit or even the level of environment capable of producing any kind of creatures. The span of life of these planets is comparatively quite short.

Apparently, the Material Universe, the whole subject of the experimentation, is set to follow the same course of evolution, decay, devolution and extinction. After its creation and the Big Bang, it started to expand outward with lightening speed by incredible force created through the explosion. From this point of explosion on, the motion of the Material Universe has been under the influence of two immense opposing forces: An outward pushing force created by the Big Bang, and an inward pulling force, located at the point of explosion created by the enormous gravity and electromagnetic forces caused by the Big Bang. The resultant effect has been the slowing down of the expansion speed. This is in contrast with the present concept of accelerating expansion of the universe. In addition, the later big bangs have also affected the resultant effects of expansion course since their expansions were also spherical, part of which expanded toward the Center, opposite to the expansion direction of the Universe. These repeated post-Big-Bang explosions have actually caused a chaotic movements inside the sphere of the Material Universe. Based on these assumptions, at one point in time the Universe would reach the zero point of expansion. Then, under the pulling power of the gravity from the Center, it would start to contract in an accelerating fashion which will cause increasing heat to the extend that as it moves closer to the Center and becoming condensed by bringing together billions of the existing planets with an ever-increasing speed, the level of temperature will cause all matters to be transformed into gases, ultimately being totally extinguished, by transforming into matterless state, leaving nothing behind. Every material thing will disappear by being transformed into matterless form again. It will appear that nothing had ever happened. Considering the infinite dimension of the Matterless Universe, this whole process would look like a mosquito bite in a human body which it swells outward, then swelling stops and then the skin recedes to its normal condition without any trace of the bite left behind.

In conclusion, it is quite important to note that the history of the humanity shows that there have been individuals going back to melania who were aware of the secular, pure and matterless nature of the Creator that even today after thousands of years, our scientific community has difficulty to understand let alone to accept it. There are many evidences for such claim. Zoroaster or Zarathustra, the great Persian prophet, around 1500 B.C. when he introduced his dynamic message of "unique" monotheism, the concept of only one Creator, he called It "Ahura Mazda" meaning a "Super-Intellect Being," as "the creator, sustainor and promoter of the Universe."(1) The old Persian word for the Creator is "Khod'a", meaning created by itself. This meant that there was nothing to look for beyond Pure Energy. With the present paste of scientific progress, discovery of the matterless world or the Creator as exposed here and understanding of it, is a century or more in the future. It is possible only through transcendence achievable by years of meditation aimed at expanding the mind into the non-material and ultimately to matterless world. It is definitely the science of the future though such thou hgts are considered to be nonsense by the scientific community at the present time. However, I know it is a fact since I have been there, and all this knowledge comes from there.[2]

The main purpose of this exposition has been to invite knowledgeable readers particularly those qualified in related fields such as astronomy, astrophysics, and metaphysics, to leave aside their preconceptions and outright rejections and pay serious attention to the facts and reach conclusions based on logic, reasoning and rationalization. The hope is that if this way of thinking is followed, the scientific community may ascertain the nature of the Matterless Universe and the facts of creation and evolution of the Material Universe, not in a century or more as is estimated but much sooner. An enormous and incredible wealth of knowledge is waiting to be discovered. When discovered, it will cause universal peace, prosperity and tranquility. It will bring about true democracy, eliminate excess materialism by accepting the application of the principle of equality of opportunity in every aspect of daily life. [3]

It was mentioned above that there was a third universe called Non-material Universe and we will give a brief description of it. Non-material Universe is a stage between the material and matterless universes. It is transparent, therefore, invisible to our eyes. It engulfs the material universe. For every material planet there is a non-material one several times larger in size. It is subject to time and space by a different standards for which we have no means of measurement. It may shed an idea of time if we consider that a year in that planet may equal to thousands of year in our planet. The same applies to non-material beings living in them. The span of life may extend to thousands of years. The climate and environment follows the same standards with enormous deviations. Temperature may vary from thousand degrees below zero to thousands above it. It is a super advanced civilization where, though there are some bad beings but they cannot do anything bad thus are automatically forced to correct themselves. The life is extremely painful to those who are caught in harsh environments of the planet, and incredibly enjoyable for those located in favorable environments.

Finally, in closing, it may be noteworthy to say a little about the concept of neosecularism, which materializes if one accepts the facts of the two universes as discussed above. Secularism is defined as indifference to or rejection or exclusion of religion and religious considerations. Neosecularism is defined as the exclusion of religion or religious considerations. It is fundamentally different from secularism since it rejects the religious dogmatic concepts of God, spirituality and creation of the Material Universe, while in a completely secular, rational and scientific manner accepts the existence of a totally secular Creator and a different course for the process of creation and evolution.

From all the materials presented here, it can be easily concluded that: first, nothing is holy about the Creator as assumed by several religions. It is a totally secular super being with a supreme life, intelligence and creative power. Thus the Creator has no relation to, or interest in nor belong to any religion. Its only interest in human beings, if any, concerns their behavior and development as a component of Its total experimentation in creating the Material Universe.

Second, since the Creator consists of Pure Energy, Which is the highest and purest level of being, Its nature could be nothing but inherently good, pure and positive. More likely, as a super-scientist, It is interested to see to what extent this goodness and purity can be restored when the Pure Matter was degraded by the Big Bang to much lower grade matters including human beings.

Third, among all Its creations at this Material Universe, the Creator has been able to sustain contact with human beings through their high level of intelligence, the human mind or spirit being the locus and medium of such contact. It seems reasonable to assume that the main purpose of this experimentation may have been to examine to see to what extent and level human beings can develop themselves approaching the Creator's pure essence at the matterless level.

Fourth, To guide humans in the process of self-development towards this purity, the Creator often receives help from those who consciously have developed and purified themselves and thus have been able to get direct contact with the Creator through transcendence. These are not actually assigned by the Creator as prophets or agents. The fact is that when a human being becomes conscious of the meaning of life and creation by dedicating himself to physical and spiritual advancement, after years of hard and disciplined labor he finally reaches the level of being able to contact the Creator. At this high level of purity, he finds himself obligated to assume the burdensome and often dangerous task of guiding the others. The number of such individuals is not restricted to Jesus, Moses, Mohammad and others who have been mentioned, but it is in thousands at any given time who remain unknown. Many operate silently carrying out their self-assumed duties. They receive directions from the Creator if they are in such need and ask for. As more knowledge about the Universe and the Creator is discovered, a rational, non-coercive and non-dogmatic way of thought, labeled here as neosecularism, will come to prevail. Religions and other dogmatic thoughts and beliefs will loose their influence in daily lives of the people. Important reasons for conflict and confrontation will disappear and opportunities for peaceful coexistence will materialize.

Reference:
1. http://www.iranonline.com/magazine/issue25/mehregan-english/ p. 3
2. For details about this concept also the kind of meditation needed to reach the matterless world, see Passage to the Heaven: The Secrets of the Universe, Life and Happiness, by the author, Reza Rezazadeh, Professor Emeritus and Fulbright Scholar, University of Wisconsin. For more information visit http://www.democracywhere.com

3. For this concept of democracy see Technodemocratic Economic theory: From Capitalism and Socialism to Democracy,1991, by the author. For information about this book and other relevant articles see http://www.democracywhere.com

Dr. Reza Rezazadeh
1080 Eastman Street, WI 53818


Universe Long Before the Big Bang and After - Neosecularism Vs Atheism and Religion

Discount Mighty Bright Xtraflex 2 Homemade Rice Krispie Treats Calories On Sale

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Shopping For Cheap Musical Instruments

!±8± Shopping For Cheap Musical Instruments

If you have really a strict criterion for the performance and the quality of a musical instrument in your mind then it can really be a costly affair for you to buy it. If you want to buy a best quality guitar then it may cost you around 00 and a good Keyboard may range from 00 to 00. If you are looking for quality drums then it may cost you around 0 to 0.

However, professional music players prefer to buy quality instrument no matter how much expensive they may be. For professional music players, cost does not count but the performance and the quality of a musical instrument count's more.

Celebrities and rich people like to decorate their home with unique pieces of art instruments to impress their visitors. These people like to use piano, guitar and violin to beautify their drawing rooms and their long galleries so that their home can give classical appearance to the visitors.

On the other side, there are many who love to play music but these people can not afford to buy costly musical instruments. You will always find teachers, students and amateur music players striving to find a cheap pieces of guitar, piano and saxophone from those store that provides the opportunity to buy cheap instruments for sale.

There are plenty of ways to find out cheap musical crafts for sale. You can check out retailer stores and you can also find a useful one for sale, online as well. You can also search Chinese musical market on internet as well which is one of the biggest market that produce thousands of piccolos, violin, saxophones and similar musical crafts.

Some Chinese companies like Eastman and Jinyin are well-known companies for producing quality musical crafts and these companies are sending their amazing instruments to American and European market as well.

One of the best ways to find out ideal instruments for sale is at cheaper musical stores where you can easily find used instruments at an affordable price. You can also find a quality instruments online as well. There are thousands of websites that have a huge list of some famous musical tools at discount prices.

Make sure that you have selected a reliable website for buying them. Websites like eBay can be the best source for you to buy a cheap piece of instrument because it is reliable and it offers large collection of amazing instruments at really low price.

You can save plenty of money if you buy a used instrument but an instrument which is bought in sale carelessly can cost you thousands of Dollars. As they are sold in discount shops therefore most of them do not have any warranty period.


Shopping For Cheap Musical Instruments

Rebounder Folding Immediately Baby Play Mats Gyms Reviews

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Post-Capitalistic Free Market Economy - How America Can Be Rescued (Part III)

!±8± Post-Capitalistic Free Market Economy - How America Can Be Rescued (Part III)

After presenting the character of an individual in American society, as its first basic component, we now proceed with consideration of the other two namely private organizations and public institutions. Economic organizations are the subject of our main consideration. This is where the heart of problem rests as far as it relates to democracy and equality of opportunity. Under the domain of monopoly and oligopoly capitalism, which is the main feature of American economy, as concluded by one reliable study, a few thousand super rich (a little over 7,000) control or at least highly influence not only the economy of the country but also its essential political and social institutions such as media, education, and health care.

Control of information system is vital to the economic elite in order to control or influence public attitude about justification of capitalism as well as major domestic and foreign policies. Freedom of thought and speech is essential to a democratic system. There must be a free expression and competition of ideas and symbols. This essential freedom is guaranteed to Americans by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In modern society the interchange of information and expression of ideas is to be achieved through the mass media. The American mass media constitutes of about 19,000 radio and television stations, 1,700 daily newspapers, 7,000 other newspapers, 9,000 periodicals, over 4,300 film producers and distributors, and 1,300 publishing companies. But, the elite, through a few business and financial firms controls the three major television and radio networks - ABC, NBC, CBS - and 34 subsidiary stations, 201 cable television systems, 62 major radio stations, 59 magazines, including Newsweek and Times, 58 major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times, and 41 publishing companies. 75% of the stocks of the three major television networks, where the American public receives most of its information, are owned by five major banks.[1] According to another study, in the long run, the mass media cater to elite individuals and elite institutions upholding their actions and policies. [2] Besides the information system, the elite group, consisting only of 0.4% of one percent of households, controls the economy and government. This control is effectuated through the top one-fifth of the population who are the supporters of the elite family and its beneficiaries.

Consequently, the richest one-fifth of the population owns about 77% of all personally held wealth and have control over 97% of privately owned corporate stocks. Thus, the richest one-fifth has three times as much wealth as the remaining 80% of the population and full control of all major business and economic institutions. Through the control of the governmental process the elite rips off the American taxpayers by the means of government subsidies. Gaylord Shaw of the Associated Press has pointed out that private enterprise in America collects roughly billions a year in government subsidies and subsidy-like aid, much of it hidden or disguised. A government-wide study, undertaken by the Associated Press, disclosed evidence that the total is at least billion a year, and may run as high as billion. [3]

The government's outstanding loans to private business- direct, guaranteed, and insured- came to about 0 billion in 1973, six times the outstanding credit advanced to business by all commercial banks. The figures may go much higher at the present. The big business gets the big bite mostly away from public attention. The exploitive benefits appropriated by the economic elite amounts to about 0 billion a year or an annual rip-off of ,700 from every man, woman and child in the country.

The third component of a democratic society is its public institutions. The United States is praised and admired by the foreigners as well as most of its citizens for its political democracy. This perception is not the result of a true representative democracy but the effect of propaganda and conditioning of Americans through the mass media and educational systems influenced and controlled by the elite. A few who are expert in American political system and process and have impartially studied the system would find this claim of democracy far from the truth. They will attest that there is no democracy in the United States consciously supported by the majority of the voting population. The so called "democracy" is a facade, a pretentious process created by the elite to sustain its status as well as the stability for its capitalistic operation and maximization of profits.

To elaborate on this statement we may start, first, with the two major political parties which control all the national and state governments. Both parties are strong supporters of capitalism and are controlled by the capitalist elite. Apparent differences are only cosmetic. Through the control of state governments both parties together have been able to establish harsh conditions for development and success of any third party; and by establishment of single rather than proportional representation districts, they have been able to monopolize the electoral system excluding any hope of success for any minor third party. They can even act to outlaw a rising third party and officially destroy it. This is what exactly happened in the1920s when the Socialist Party developing strong, was able to capture the government of many cities and gain representation in state legislatures. The party was declared illegal, its leaders were arrested, its offices were destroyed and its funds in banks were frozen. It was not until the 1970s that under the Freedom of Information Act the party had access to government archives, sued the government and was granted damages.

Second, mainly because of the control of the two major parties by the elite and their commitment to the capitalistic economic system, people have moved away from these parties ever increasing the size of independent voters, doubling its size during the last 30 years. Presently, more than one-third of the eligible voters consider themselves as independent and the electoral success of any of the two major parties depends on each party's ability to attract more independent voter. Neither of the two parties has a long range objective and philosophically both are strongly capitalistic oriented. For this reason there is no ideological loyalty to the party, only 5% of the membership take active part in party operation, and members of one party voting for the candidate of another during different elections in not unusual.

Third, whether a party member or not, masses of voters do not bother to participate in the elections- about 52% in presidential, 30-40% in congressional, and 10-30% in local elections. The result has become the takeover of the electoral system and ensuing governmental functions by the elite and major interest groups supporting it. In actual sense, in the United States we do not have majority representation either at the national or state level.

Candidates are selected by a small minority of the eligible voters. For example, if a presidential candidate received 54% of popular vote, when only 52% of the eligible voters actually voted, he becomes elected by only 28.6% of the total eligible voters. He represents a small minority and not the majority of the voting population. In 1980 Reagan received 51.6 % of the popular vote where only 54% of the eligible population voted. It was proper to assume that he received only 27% votes of the total eligible voters. For his second term, he received 59% of the popular vote amounting only to 29% of the total voting population. For the same token, in the 1988 election Bush received 54% or 27% of the total voting population. In 2000 and 2004 elections Bush received 25% and 26% of the total eligible voters respectively. The situation is more tragic in the case of congressional members and local officials.

Fourth, constitutionally, states have control over the electoral process including those pertaining to the national offices. Therefore, states are where nearly all antidemocratic activities rest. Financing the elections, particularly the campaign expenditures by the candidates is mainly controlled by the elite through direct or institutional contributions. In general this is handled by each party in a way that ordinarily over 95% of the House representatives and 86% of senators are continually reelected. Nearly all of them serve the elite family. At the time of any social unrest this Congress passes appropriate welfare legislation by which a few billion dollars is distributed among the poor and lower working class or small farm operators in order to quiet down the situation and maintain stability for the proper operation of the elite institutions. Another serious problem relates to the process of voter registration which is more or less, and at times highly corrupt, in favor of one party or the other. The money for such programs, presently amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, does not come out from the elite pocket but mainly from those of the middle and working class in the form of additional taxation. Many rich people, thanks to laws passed to protect their income, either don't pay any tax or pay a very nominal amount compared to the size of their annual income. To show just an example, according to an Internal Revenue Service report, of 529,460 couples and individuals who reported total annual income above 0,000 on their tax returns, 595 paid no taxes while their income averaged 0,000and two out of every three had capital gains averaging 490,000. Another 33,805 having incomes over 0,000 paid only 15% tax, typically less than a middle class family, and 3,000 paid less than 10%.[4]

Another serious electoral problem relates to the process of voter registration in each state which is regularly abused in some states and manipulated in favor of one party or another. During a presidential elections this abuse is estimated to be in excess of two million votes. For example, the studies show that in 2000 presidential elections in florida alone, tens of thousands of Afro-American voters, 90% of them expected to vote Democrat, were deprived from voting through registration abuses.[5]

With all these factual observations, one can easily conclude that there is no real democracy in the United States, at the national level in particular. The effect of such lack of democracy has placed the nation in over six trillion dollars in debt the major beneficiary of which has been as always the economic elite. Over 0 billion a year is paid in interest on this debt by taxpayers money. Realistically speaking, the U.S. President and Congress are both strong supporters and protectors of the economic elite and major interest groups which contribute to their electoral campaigns. The U.S. foreign policies are not based on international law or mutual respect to sovereignty of other nations, but to protect the U.S. capitalistic interests abroad. Any system not sympathetic to capitalistic values is not considered democratic. Such countries are considered not friendly to American policies, therefore, subject to pressure and regime change. For example, U.S. seceded Panama territory from Colombia in 1903 to build the Canal because of the Colombian government's rejection of the project. It has controlled the politics and economy of the country since. When General Noriega disobeyed, Panama was invaded in December 1989 and an "appropriate" obedient government was installed. Noriega, the head of a foreign country was captured, brought to the United States, tried, convicted and jailed. Granada was invaded in October 1983 to oust a Marxist oriented socialist government. An acceptable government was established under the U.S. occupation. Dominican Republic was invaded in April 1965. It was also occupied from 1916 to 1924. Troops were sent to Mexico in April 1914 to block arms shipments to Mexican revolutionaries. They stayed in Mexico for eight months. Haiti was invaded in 1915 and it remained under occupation til 1934. U.S. Marines were sent to Nicaragua in 1912 to protect the friendly government. Some Marines stayed there for 13 years. They were sent again in 1927 and stayed til 1933 when Samosa was established as the ruler. The Samosa family ruled until the Sandinista revolution in1979. U.S. troops landed in Honduras in three separate occasions, between 1912 and 1926, to protect American business interests. Starting in 1980 U.S. troops were regularly stationed in Honduras in order to protect Contra rebellion forces and impose pressure on Nicaraguan Sandinista government. Between 1898 and 1921 Marines were landed in Cuba on four occasion and remained there for a total of 12 years. U.S. established its present naval base at Guantanamo Bay in 1903. In early 1970s Chile democratically elected a Marxist government and chose Dr. Allende as President. This tended to destroy the U.S. government's theory of associating Marxism with dictatorship which was the basis of the Cold War policies. The Chilean government had to be overthrown. It was done by the CIA and millions of American taxpayers money in 1973.

These are just some regional examples. The U.S. has followed the same lawless and often utterly brutal and destructive foreign policy, causing thousands of death and distraction of properties, through overt and covert actions in other parts of the world particularly in the Far East and the Middle East, anytime the U.S. elite had substantial economic and ideological interest. For example, the U.S. government efforts, in 1960s, to change the Marxist oriented socialist government of Indonesia, ruled since 1945 by Sukarno, and establish a new friendly system under the rule of Suharto caused a genocide by the new government of over 800,000 mostly innocent lives of men women and children. In just a few months in 1965 more than 200,000 people allegedly associated with Communist Party were slaughtered.[6] Since 2001, tens of thousands have died in Afghanistan War and, according to new estimates, over one million have been killed in war in Iraq, over 95% innocent men, women and children, and 4.5 million have been displaced one half of them escaping to the neighboring countries and the rest becoming refugees in their own land.

Some decades ago the great American Philosopher John Dewey described the American system as follows: "the reactionaries are in possession of force, in not only the army and police, but in the press and the schools. The only reason they do not advocate the use of force is the fact that they are already in possession of it, so their policy is to cover up its insistence with idealistic phrases- of which their present use of individual initiative and liberty is a striking example.... It is absurd to conceive liberty as that of the business entrepreneur and ignore the imminent regimentation to which workers are subjugated, intellectual as well as manual workers.[7] The American political system is not democratic in a true sense. Democracy is used carefully and skillfully as a facade to cover the ills of capitalism and actual control of the system by a very small elite.

References:

1. James Burns et al, Government by the Poeple, 14th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1990, p. 279.

2. Ibid., p. 302

3. United Press International, "Tax breaks Cost Treasury Billion," Wisconsin state Journal, June 5, 1971, Sec. 1, p. 3.

4. Associated Press, Washington, D.C., "Tax Dodge. Some still Don't pay U.S.," Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday, October, 1989, p. 6A.

5. For a detailed documentation see Reza Rezazadeh Electronic Electoral System: Simple, Abuse Free, Voter Friendly, Xilibris, 2002, Chapter 2.

6. World Book, 2001, vol. 10, p. 238.

7. John Dewey, "The Future of Liberalism," The Journal of Philosophy, vol.32, no. 9, April 25, 1935.

Dr. Reza Rezazadeh

1080 Eastman Street, Platteville, WI 53818

Phone: (608)348-7064


Post-Capitalistic Free Market Economy - How America Can Be Rescued (Part III)

Price Dog Fences Wireless


Twitter Facebook Flickr RSS



Fran�ais Deutsch Italiano Portugu�s
Espa�ol ??? ??? ?????







Sponsor Links