Editor's note: Keith Lamb is a University of Oxford graduate with a Master of Science in Contemporary Chinese Studies. His primary research interests are China's international relations and "socialism with Chinese characteristics." The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

In an essay by the former Singaporean statesman and academic Kishore Mahbubani, he raises the case for the U.S. being a plutocracy which he calls "America's existential question." Citing quantitive research he demonstrates that policy is made for the super wealthy rather than the common man. Consequently, the U.S. has an idealized democratic electoral facade covering its plutocracy.

This plutocracy enforces a false consciousness over the majority through the concentration of media ownership. Political lobbying and funding of political parties and think tanks, which amounts to legalized corruption, give them direct control over the levers of power. Through financing think tanks, public debate and future policy is conditioned. Of course, there is also traditional "cash for services" corruption.

Nancy Pelosi is a product of this systemic plutocracy. One direct form of corruption has been her husband's "run of trading luck." Before Pelosi arrived in China's Taiwan region, my hypothesis was that she could be using the trip to line her own family pockets. Already, this prediction appears to be coming true.

Unreported by the mainstream media and by Nancy Pelosi's delegation was that her son Paul Pelosi Jr. accompanied her to Taiwan. Paul Pelosi Jr., who has been involved in a number of fraudulent companies, was first spotted with his mother because he was wearing the same tie that he wore on his Ukraine trip.

Considering a democratic electorate might believe they have the right to know where their tax money is going we should ask why Paul Pelosi Jr. presence was covered up. This notion is particularly prudent when one considers the trip could potentially ignite a World War.

I contend that Paul Pelosi Jr., backed by the political power of his mother, went to talk business. The Blitz writes that despite never having had a proper job, since the advent of the Democrats coming back into power, he was coincidently put on the board of two tech companies that specialize in lithium batteries. Considering the Pelosi family's "interest" in tech companies this doesn't look good. I suggest a keen eye is kept on Taiwan's battery companies such as ProLogium which seeks to expand into Europe and the U.S. in 2023.

Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan wasn't just a crude alignment of her family's personal financial interests. In fact, it's far more systemic than that. The American Report details that the lobbying company Gephardt Government Affairs, whose motto is "Strategy Access Results" received a commission of over $3 million from Taiwan authorities to lobby Nancy Pelosi.

The fact is that cash from Taiwan's independence forces has been flooding the U.S. "democratic system" for some time now. A report by Responsible Statecraft calls this funding "omnipresent and rarely disclosed." Mint Press News has detailed how this money is also used to control the Western think-tank machinery.

On a domestic level, lobbying has a nefarious impact on democracy. Take the U.S. prison industrial complex which seeks to persuade the government to lock up more Americans and convert tax dollars into private profit. However, on an international level, with arms companies pushing for war, the consequences could be even worse for those who receive a dose of U.S. "democracy."

Taiwan independence forces donate to influential pro-hegemonic think tanks headed by former CIA and defense officials like the Brookings Institute, the Atlantic Council, and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Money also flows to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation which has been instrumental in promoting the "Xinjiang genocide and slavery" lies. This in turn works towards cementing a false consciousness amongst Westerners that the U.S. and its allies commit war in the name of a righteous cause.

Make no mistake the aim is to profit from arms sales and potential wars which are sold using the "China threat" advertising campaign. Coincidently, money has been granted from the Atlantic Council to an academic employed by the Taiwan military, who advises Taiwan to "work more closely with the U.S." and as such purchase U.S. weapons. Then, ASPI which concocts reports on China's human rights is also funded directly by the military-industrial complex as well as tech companies like Google and Facebook.

For the sake of world peace and development, this democratic facade must be called out. Already, in the Global South, where the full brutal impact of U.S. "democracy" has been felt, false consciousness propped up by U.S. soft power is on the wane. As such, the road to common prosperity has been chosen by over 100 countries that have signed up for the Belt and Road Initiative.

However, in the U.S. while the election of Donald Trump and the storming of the Senate is representative that some are conscious of a plutocratic swamp real democratic change and democratic control of state apparatus nevertheless remains lacking. This is because the U.S. is mired in an elitist-backed culture war used for the purpose of divide and rule.

Corruption in plain sight and the fermenting of global disorder characterized by Pelosi's "case study" will not change until a mass democratic people's movement overcomes the reactionary narrative of the right and the gaslighting of liberal elites to solve America's existential question.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on Twitter to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)