"Those who formally rule take their signals and commands not from the electorate as a body, but from a small group of men. This group will be called the Establishment. It exists even though that existence is stoutly denied. It is one of the secrets of the American social order... A second secret is the fact that the existence of the Establishment - the ruling class - is not supposed to be discussed."
by:
Arthur S. Miller
George Washington University Professor of Law
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Today is not different from any other day in history when tyranny ruled.
 -- Mike, Norwalk     
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     -- Logan, Memphis, TN      
    Yep he knows all the secrets. Bet they have a class "conspiracy 101". Everybody thinks they know things to be true just because they hear a rumor and it sounds good. College professors are the worst.
     -- warren, olathe     
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    Woodrow Wilson said pretty much the same thing. And we're only allowed to vote to give the "illusion" of participation and choice. We have no real choice. We have owners. We're tax slaves and cannon fodder.
     -- J Carlton, Calgary     
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    Absolutely true. It's one of the reasons the press never reports on one of the most influential organizations in the world -- the Council on Foreign Relations, a private organization whose stated goal is world governance under the control of the World Bank/IMF, UN, International Court, and other corporations of the ruling class. CFR members include every news anchor, nearly every president since its formation, congressmen, senators, media barons, banking houses, university presidents, and on and on. The CFR controls both political parties, selects the candidates (except Ron Paul), and fills government offices with their members. It is no conspiracy -- it is their stated objectives, and they have been very successful at keeping America steadily marching towards socialism.
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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    Ruling class is what politics is all about. Many of us can be part of ruling classes in our own home towns, counties etcetera. Most of us sit around and complain about the "ruling class" for instance that runs the school system but do not get involved. Mike is right unfortunately. According to some on this site our founders established a government based on "natural law". Heck we had just revolted a few years earlier to overthrow the government of "natural law". The argument of the English tyrannt was that it was a governiment of "natual law" the divine right of Kings etcetera. If America is now a government or constitution of "natual law" I say the revolution was in vain and it is time to revolt again and establish a true republican government "of, by, and for the people" not by "natural law" nor by a limited establishment which some say is what the founders were.
     -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas     
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    Waffler--it's your freedom to do so, but for the sake of us who actually study this stuff, don't talk about what you don't know.
     -- Logan, Memphis, TN     
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    Waffler, you make me smile and shake my head once more. The point of natural law is, it stays the same, no matter what words people use to describe current political activities or how convoluted definitions become. Theft, murder, and tyranny of any kind does not fall within natural law's jurisdiction, no matter what is held as politically correct. When tyranny is in full swing, natural law is being ignored or, broken at worst. The divine right of kings is a natural law; not that one individual or a group of individuals being organized in to a numerically percentaged body is superior to any one person but rather, each individual is a king and priest, an ultimate sovereign and Caesar. America was once a constitutional government of natural law, it is not now. America is now a democratic oligarchy, closely resembling an abusive theocracy with no resemblance and little to no adherence to natural law, disregarding constitutional restraints. If there were a revolution, as you have conjectured, we could return to representative Constitutional Republic, of, by and for the people, being a nation of laws, not a nation at the whim of power/war mongering men. One of the agendas of today's stoutly denied establishment is to re-define natural law or attempt to abolish it all together.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    The Constitution was set up to abolish and prevent the Establishment from taking over. It worked so well that it took them over a hundred years to finally do so. Now they have been slowly implementing it. Tyranny is an old philosophy that often goes by other names (socialism, fascism, even democracy). It can only be defeated when people truly want to have freedom. That day will come again. I want to be ready when it does.
     -- Ben, Springfield MO     
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    Ben we were told just the other day by Mike and Logan that the writers of the constitution were not representatives of the people but representatives of the "states", in other words of the establishment at that time. "Natual law" as I demonstrated earlier is what ever those in power wish to claim it to be. The British monarchy and its adherents saw it as the natural order of things. "Natural law" is similar to the phrase "common sense". That phrase is a convention generally used to get ones own way. When you want someone to do something or understand something the way that you do just tell them "It is common sense." The reason for polls and surveys which are taken in a scientific and statistically correct way is to find out what people believe rather than just saying people believe this or that because it is "common sense" from one persons perspective. I suggest many folks like the establishment when they think it comports with their views such as the colonial state appointed Constitutional Assembly.
     -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas     
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    Sorry the purpose of a poll is to express the opinion of the pollster. To understand a poll result you have to know what the pollster was up to and find out the exact questions that were asked. Till then all the poll is is propaganda.
     -- warren, olathe     
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    Forgot one other valuable piece of poll fact. The pollster often decides after taking the poll to exclude certain groups of people to enhance the results he was fishing for when he designed the questions. Often the entire poll is thrown out if it cannot be used for the purpose of the pollster. Get a politician that follows the polls and you have a puppet of the press.
     -- warren, olathe     
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    Waffler, please don't try and repeat or capsulize what I've said, you are wrong again; and, your stated definitions are also as absurd as they are incorrect. I guess you must be a Democrat fully steeped in that most sacred tradition of Lenin, namely "A lie told often enough becomes the truth." By way of an ultra terse history lesson: Any time a government official acts according to "LAW" (as is averse to man's unlawful - possibly legal - codes, rules, statutes) he/she represents the individual's (We The People) life, liberty, property, happiness, authority, rights, powers, privileges, liberty, freedom, etc. A Democracy and the agendas of today's stoutly denied establishment act to dummy down We The People so that they understand not liberty's or freedom's attributes while establishing tyranny to protect themselves.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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     -- Henry Bronaugh, Chicago Heights,illinois      
    Make yourself the establishment
     -- David, Phoenix AZ     
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    The Bill of Rights does not contain a list of rights that are given to the American people by the government. Instead it provides a list of the rights that are inherently ours, and they can’t be taken away by the government. M Connelly 2011
     -- Abby     
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    Are we paying taxes or tribute?
     -- Cal, lewisville, tx     
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    "Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction of stolen goods", H.L. Mencken
     -- jim k, Austin, Tx     
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