One last observation.

With domestic politics being ineffectual, then special interests and big business have a free rein.

I think it was Teddy Roosevelt who said “The business of America is business”.

That definitely seems to ring true.

Paul.

Now it makes more sense. Over here you guys vote for the person. In the UK we tend to vote for ideas and a party. Our head of state isn’t elected and has the job for life. Real politics is in the house of commons (similar to congress) who traditionally clan together in parties along class lines, with each class voting for their own economic interest. The party with the majority in the commons gets to govern and gets to make all the decisions.

A few of observations.

1. All Americans seem to see themselves as “middle class”. So in a sense America is a “classless society”.

2. Although people don’t aligned themselves to class based politics, there does seem to be a massive gap between rich and poor. So class does exist.

3. In the absence of class based politics, people look to values. In this regard there are two Americas. The liberal outward looking America around the coasts and the conservative, religious inward looking America in the middle and the south. The two seem to hold each other in distain.

The other thing is that the US constitution seems geared to ensure that politics is ineffectual. The checks and balances seem to ensure that on the domestic front at least, nothing changes and nothing gets done. The only theatre were American presidents seem able to act is overseas, and we have seen what that can lead to…

Not sure what, but there is definitely something broken here.

Shame since the US is the most powerful democracy in the world