Fresias Deconstruction of American History - Essay Example

Fresia's thesis examines the criterion of democracy through the nodes of different 'centres', in his case historical personalities, who produce an ideological discourse. He discovers the manner in which it affects the society and how its "spontaneous" thought processes are absorbed in the cultural set-up of a nation. What is most important to notice in his assumptions is the manner in which he cites historical back-ups to his arguments. He starts off by claiming that the Framers of the American constitution were a conglomeration of people who wanted to create a situation of power for themselves.

By citing various quotes, such as Benjamin Rush, who considered the plebs as "scums", Fresia makes it clear that the original motif of these people were to create a situation where by they could carry on the legacy of dominance and pass it off by qualifying it as democracy. In doing so, he points the bloody manner in which the so-called 'sacred' American constitution came to be chartered: "Perhaps even more shocking than the personal opinions of the Framers, is the process by which the Constitution was ratified secrecy, deceit and even violence played key roles in the Constitution's passage.

These unsavoury tactics were used by the Framers and their allies because the majority of the people were against the ratification of the Constitution."Fresia connects the historical facts with the contemporary American policy of elite decision-making. He points out that whenever, the interests of elites and the public interest coincide, and even if it does not, the elites tend to call the rosters. Fresia blames the policy of "unchecked corporate power" for this and goes on to elucidate the hypocrisy of these corporate-government elites, who in the name of national interest, formulates laws violating accepted standards of decency.

He also explains that these covert and anti-democratic measures are not new developments but have been the method of guaranteeing class rule "ever since the Framers decided that they needed the present political system to protect their power and privilege".Fresia's deconstruction of American history follows Bordieu's pattern of the 'habitus' and describes how the discourse of Americanisation has been aided by the structuring of thought-processes, social engineering and archetypal pattern of understanding in a particular way (like the Christian concept of good and evil).

The Descartian sense of logic which are propagated by these power mongers make them institutionalised instruments of Repressive State Apparatus: agents of repression, like the Police, that teach by force and violence, in order to maintain the necessary consensus. Fresia says:"As citizens we are supposed to be like the nation's school children who are given no choice but to stand by their desks and mindlessly recite a pledge of allegiance to a flag, a pledge that was introduced into schools at the turn of the century to counter the influence of ideas that immigrant school children had received from their parents and from distant lands.

"He goes on to quote Benjamin Rush's famous lines: "I consider it possible to convert men into republican machines. This must be done, if we expect them to perform their parts properly, in the great machine of the government of the state.": and deduce that the motif of