As a child, I, like most other youngsters, was taught about the Ancient Athenian Democracy.  It was made to seem the perfect form of government in which all of the adult citizens participated.  As my schooling proceeded, I was introduced to the idea of the American Democracy and was led to believe that it was pretty much like the early Greek version, but a Congress had been introduced because, unlike early Athens, it was not practical for all of the citizens to gather in order to participate in decision making.  Then I was taught about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the phrase “Of the People, By the People and For the People” became engraved upon my mind.  I had a very warm and comfortable feeling about my nation and its government.

 But as time went on, my staunch certainty of the perfection of our government began to weaken.  I began to hear that the Athenian Democracy wasn’t as perfect as I had been taught: that, in fact, only the members of a male aristocracy gathered and voted on issues, not the entire adult population.[i]  Then in 1961, during his last address of his Presidency to the people, Dwight Eisenhower said. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial [Sic] complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”.[ii]  During the Vietnam War I hearkened back to Ike’s warning and, as the war progressed, it became more and more clear that the military-industrial complex was alive and well and growing in power.  As time has passed, multinational corporations have added to the block of influence that directs the actions of our government.