First of all, people need to understand that we do not live in a free market capitalistic economic system, although the corporatism is cleverly
disguised as such. It's quite simple really - capitalism and free market ideology is all about competition. Through competition, companies and
corporations would have to heed the demands of the market place - the people - a truly democratic process. Some would argue that this is the case in
our society, that we vote with our dollars and can easily sanction those who do not play by our rules. In competing, the quality of products would
rise while the price drops. The problem is - and it's documented brilliantly by men such as David Cay Johnston in his book Free Lunch, which everyone
should read - corporations such as Wal Mart, Cabelas, major league sports, and hundreds of others receive tax payer funded subsidies from the federal
government on a regular basis. This means that these businesses do not need to pay any fealty to the consumer for they make their profits, and then
some, through this process. This is why corporate power has such a stranglehold on our governmental process, they can legislate themselves free monies
and gifts. Adam Smith referred to them as "bounties", and whenever these subsidies, or bounties, are at play the corporation will always attempt to
secure payment through these means instead of making decent products at affordable prices. This effectively subverts the whole market place and
economy.
I myself am a conservative libertarian and I'll never understand how other so-called conservatives can complain about waste and fraud and welfare
abuse without first mentioning the billions given away, for free, to these companies. There's no doubt that social welfare programs are abused and
taxpayer money is wasted on lazy people, but just as corporations and government are not inherently evil, neither are social programs designed to
feed, cloth, and house those who are not able to do such things for themselves. Everyone on all sides seems to want to throw the baby out with the
bath water. The food stamp statistics are telling, as a large majority of those receiving these benefits work and many others are children or
disabled, despite the fact that EBT and SNAP benefits are used as another way to make profits by companies like Wal-Mart and JP Morgan. The fact of
the matter is, even as a conservative, I support social welfare programs because they do more to help a society than burden it when run correctly and
legitimately. No ones going out to by an iPhone or a TV when they're starving to death and have no place to sleep.
Now, I don't blame corporations for making money. However, I do blame them for making money off of the misfortune of Americans, for profiting in spite
of the suffering their actions cause Americans, and particularly the middle class. In recent years this has become more and more the case. We, as a
people, must ask ourselves what it is we want from our society and the business leaders therein. Is the sole motivator really to make as much money as
possible? Do we really want to worship wealth as the end all, be all, and the most important thing one can do, become wealthy? And does this
motivation really help support a society or make it prosper? I think that question can be answered just by looking at our world today. Companies like
GE and Exxon used to be American companies. Now they are American-based transnational corporations, that quite frankly have no loyalty to the United
States of America nor it's people. This is described eloquently by researchers such as Chris Hedges and Sheldon Wolden, whom Hedges often quotes.
Wolden, in his book Democracy Incorporated, describes inverted totalitarianism as what we are now experiencing, in which corporations and their
lobbyists - who essentially dictate our laws - pay no fealty, no patriotism, no loyalty to America despite proclaiming that they do. Despite making
commercials about how much they love America and how patriotic they are in reality they are shipping jobs overseas, raking in record profits while
real wages gradually drop, pay NO taxes in many cases which means not giving back to the communities in which they operate, polluting and destroying
the environment, and as previously stated all the while receive billions from us, the tax payer, thanks to their representatives in DC disguised as
our own.
It's ironic to me that those in Washington are up in arms every day telling us that they need all these resources and the jurisdiction, and that we
must sacrifice our liberties, so that they can protect us from "terrorists" that hate us, to protect the innocent from victimization. And yet while
one of us is more likely to die from one of our own law enforcement agents than from a terrorist, millions of us are victimized each day from
predatory corporations gouging us at the gas pump, at the bank, at the grocery store, in the hospitals, and so on. No matter your political leanings,
no one seems to have their priorities straight.
edit on 21-6-2013 by PatriotGames2 because: (no reason given)