Communication Studies: 2014-08-24

https://libcom.org/library/capitalist-democracy-illusion-choice

Supporters of capitalist democracy generally claim that it is the best—if
not the only—way of organising a free society. Capitalist democracy
provides the conditions, they claim, under which each of us can determine
the course of our own destiny and enjoy all the benefits in terms of
creative autonomy and individual self-development that accrue to a truly
free people.

They say that freedom is something we enjoy as a result of choosing those
political representatives whose policies best reflect the dictates of our
own conscience to make laws on our behalf. We achieve the common good, they
say, by compelling all to respect the laws, which are applied equally to all
without fear or favour.

These claims are myths. The fact that many of us commonly confuse these
myths with facts changes nothing, since the truth of an idea is not
determined by the number of people who believe it.

While capitalist democracy appears to offer us choice—choice being the
cornerstone of our freedom—the fact is that the choices it offers are not
meaningful ones. Since capitalist democracy provides us with meaningless
choices, it also provides us with the illusion of choice, and thus the
illusion of freedom.