Protest to Occupation: From Capitalist Democracy to Self-Determination

In his recent piece in Political Affairs, Jean Paul Holmes lays out with precision and clarity the insidious influence that corporations have on our supposedly democratic governance.

Lobbying is a constant component of corporate strategy. In 2010, the oil and gas industry spent over 146 million dollars while employing 802 lobbyists, the pharmaceutical industry spent over 244 million dollars while employing 1,612 lobbyists, and finance (insurance and real estate) spent over 475 million dollars while employing 2,563 lobbyists. In comparison, public sector unions, representing the largest non-corporate, politically active institutions in the U.S., spent just over 14 million dollars and had a mere 150 lobbyists.

He further describes the domination of corporate and business elites in terms of total donations to political campaigns -- "Less than one percent of the population made these donations, 81 percent of whom had incomes of more than $100,000 a year. These donations pale in comparison to the amount of money businesses donate directly to candidates' political parties, which comprise near 90 percent of total contributions in any given election."

Through an extensive network of think tanks and institutes, a constant stream of pro-corporate policies are continuously fed to representatives in Congress and Senate. Corporations are "institutions of organized power and are the foundations that allow the capitalist class the constant influence in politics which the Occupy Movement stands against."

The Occupy movement, as Mr. Holmes asserts, is an attempt "to seriously pose capitalism as a question." It isn't simply a matter of producing a list of demands for reforms, although that may be part of what is happening. But rather, he argues, it is time to ask whether we must reconsider the compatibility and internal contradictions of the concept of "capitalist democracy" itself. "The Occupy Movement [has] introduced many to the process of self-determination." Perhaps what we need is not capitalist democracy, but rather "democratic economy" -- self-organizing, self-directing, self-empowering. "This idea can be conceptualized as parallel to the goal of "democracy in the workplace", a phrase the labor movement currently uses in its struggle."

In conclusion, Mr. Holmes states "There can be no real political democracy until there is economic democracy."