Thursday, December 22, 2016

US Still Controlled by Elite Despite Trump's Claim to Speak for Working Class
By Liu Caiyu
Global Times
2016/12/22 23:28:39

Key positions filled by elite though working class support Trump

Chinese experts said that the US presidential election has been rigged by money and the elite class, which sheds light on problems in the political system of the country.

"The US election has become a game for the rich. It should be described as 'one dollar one vote' rather than 'one man one vote'," Zhang Weiwei, dean of the China Institute at Shanghai's Fudan University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Democracy in the US equals to casting votes," said Zhang, adding that individuals and enterprises can help candidates they favor win by making financial contributions, which may also lead to corruption.

"The Electoral College was set up to prevent tyranny of the government. But it seems that the system has been hijacked by small groups, who supported an 'extremist' [Donald Trump]," Liu Weidong, a research fellow at the Institute of American Studies of the China Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Hillary Clinton surpassed President-elect Donald Trump by almost 2.9 million votes, according to revised and certified final election results, CNN reported on Thursday.

"During the presidential election, the media, which is supposed to be 'the fourth estate' and operate independently, was controlled by the elite class. The media became isolated from the public and the their coverage and polls tended to back Clinton," Liu said.

"The US political system will collapse without the support of the elite class," Liu said, pointing that although Trump has boasted himself as the representative of the working class, he still named a group of elites to key positions in his administration, such as ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin with deep ties to Wall Street as treasury secretary.

Liu added that running the presidential campaign and managing a country are two separate things and the American people only enjoy a "temporary democracy" when they go to polls.

"The Democrats were arrogant and overconfident in the presidential election because they thought they had responded to the needs of their support groups - the poor, women and ethnic minorities - with immigration bills and healthcare policies. However, the Democratic politicians alienated the white-collar workers, who eventually turned to Trump," said Liu.

Both political parties were isolated from the public no matter who the candidates claimed they stood for, Liu said.

Racial tension in the American society is also a long-existing problem. "Black males are nearly three times more likely than white males to be killed when law enforcement officers use force," according to a new study led by James Buehler, a professor at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University, the US News website reported on Wednesday.

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