I was shocked to see the corporate-financier Lowy Institute of Australia tweet a story explaining the ins-and-outs of think tanks. I was equally shocked to actually read the article, titled "Devaluing the Think Tank," written by Tevi Troy and published in "National Affairs." It describes what is basically an extra-legal process where national policy is not produced by our elected representatives within the legislative branch, but rather in these policy think-tanks and in some cases, even described as being "marketed."
Image: "Your nation's policy has been brought to you by...." These represent just some of the corporate sponsors of just one single think-tank (the Brookings Institution) that creates both foreign and domestic policy for the United States, extra-legally beyond the nation's legislative branch, as well as the blueprints for America's future wars of conquest. Afterward, all that remains is for "elected representatives" to rubber stamp it and for the corporate-media to sell it to an unsuspecting public.
I was impressed by the depth at which Troy covered the inner workings of policy think-tanks and was only disappointed in three respects. One, Troy never mentions who actually funds and directs these think-tanks. Two, because of the first omission, the illusion that these think-tanks are aligned along and driven by political parties is created. And three, Troy whitewashes, and even defends think-tanks and their role in policy making that should remain exclusively within the realm of elected representatives and the legislative branch.
However, these omissions are easily remedied by reading "Naming Names: Your Real Government" and "Clinton Turns to Naked Corporate-Fascism" where the real forces driving this think-tank industry described by Troy is fully explained. While reading these three articles together is not going to be "light reading," those who succeed in doing so will walk away fully enlightened of how policy, both domestic and foreign, is created throughout the dominion of Wall Street and London.
Understanding how utterly futile faith in our representative form of government is when our "representatives" are simply handed policy by established think-tanks funded by a combine of billion-dollar multinational corporations is the first step in devising viable solutions to correcting this enormous imbalance of power.
