--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And the so-called 'political process' is…" description: "\"“And the so-called 'political process' is a fraud: Our elected officials, like our bureaucratic functionaries, like even our judges, are largely the in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bef/edward-abbey-254_bureaucratic_and-the-so-called-political-process-is-a_487235.png" --- # And the so-called 'political process' is a fraud: Our… ![“And the so-called 'political process' is a fraud: Our elected officials, like our bureaucratic functionaries, like even our judges, are largely the indentured servants of the commercial interests.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bef/edward-abbey-254_bureaucratic_and-the-so-called-political-process-is-a_487235.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bef/edward-abbey-254_bureaucratic_and-the-so-called-political-process-is-a_487235.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bef/edward-abbey-254_bureaucratic_and-the-so-called-political-process-is-a_487235.png) > ““And the so-called 'political process' is a fraud: Our elected officials, like our bureaucratic functionaries, like even our judges, are largely the indentured servants of the commercial interests.”” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political institutions often serve commercial interests over the public good. **In simple terms:** Politics serves profit, not people. Key Takeaway Demand transparency and accountability. Themes politics corruption economic power public trust Mood critical urgent Type activist analytical When to use this quote - voting - activism - policy advocacy Key Concepts political economy institutional critique Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens reduce corporate influence? - What reforms could restore public trust? A Different Perspective Change is slow and resistance is strong. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bureaucratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic/) [Bureaucratic Functionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bureaucratic-functionaries-4177485/) [Called Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-political-2297387/) [Corporations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporations/) [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Fraud Elected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fraud-elected-4177484/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Like Bureaucratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-bureaucratic-4177486/) [Ows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ows-138551/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) ## Related quotes > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. 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The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/by-the-age-of-eighteen-a-human-has-acquired-enough-joy-and-heartache/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. 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Why this cult of wilderness? Why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/but-why-the-questioner-insists-why-do-people-like-you-pretend-to-love/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-is-a-youth-with-a-molotov-cocktail-in-his-hand-culture/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying -- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/all-revolutions-have-failed-perhaps-but-rebellion-for-good-cause-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Me, I'm living under a sword too, as Jack may have told you. An old wino's disease, which could lay me in the grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/me-i-m-living-under-a-sword-too-as-jack-may-have-told-you-an-old-wino/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Look here, I want to say, for godsake folks get out of them there machines, take off those fucking sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/look-here-i-want-to-say-for-godsake-folks-get-out-of-them-there/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reason-has-seldom-failed-us-because-it-has-seldom-been-tried/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“What is the essence of the art of writing? Part One: Have something to say. Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More Bureaucratic quotes > [My first company, Pure Software, was exciting and innovative in the first few years and bureaucratic and painful in the last few before it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/my-first-company-pure-software-was-exciting-and-innovative-in-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. 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