Sheldon S. Wolin

"Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism" a review (Philly.com)

(In Democracy Inc., political theorist Sheldon S. Wolin successfully transcends the Left/Right paradigm and challenges his readers to do the same, pointing out the malevolent influence that corporate America inflicts on the U.S. political system, and by extension, the political systems of the world. Whether Democrats or Republicans are elected, important foreign and domestic policy decisions seem redundant. (e.g. Despite the new President, Afghanistan remains a battleground and the 'War on Terror' seems entrenched. Despite a Democratic majority, Health Care reform seems a distant dream for economically over-burdened civilians.) Does the U.S. elite run the country, or do the people? Is there any hope for the present system? How do we go about changing the system for the better? Wolin provides context, research, and sorely needed scholarship on these complex issues that cannot simply be solved by voting for a different body in a business suit, or by desperately scapegoating one faction or another. The best political book I am likely to read this year, I recommend it enthusiastically to all users or visitors to 911blogger.com, this book is a small education unto itself. I was glad to find the following review... -rep.)

A warning of creeping totalitarianism in U.S

Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism by Sheldon S. Wolin - Princeton University Press. 376 pp. $29.95

Reviewed by Chris Hedges

The United States, if it does not radically alter course, will become a totalitarian state. That is the argument of Sheldon S. Wolin's Democracy Incorporated.

This is no political screed. It is a brilliant, nuanced, and detailed dissection of the abject failings of the American political system by one of the nation's preeminent political theorists. It is a work that will rank as one of the most important pieces of political philosophy of the new century. By the time Wolin, who taught political philosophy at Berkeley and Princeton, is finished, it is clear that unless Barack Obama radically restructures corporate and military industrial power, our democracy is doomed.

Wolin uses the term inverted totalitarianism to describe our descent into despotism. "Inverted" totalitarianism does not revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader, as "classical" kinds of totalitarianism do. The power centers of inverted totalitarianism are corporate and usually anonymous. It does not openly discredit democracy. It pays homage to the democratic ideal, patriotism, and the Constitution while quietly subverting democratic institutions.

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