People are finally seeing the truth of their condition.
Our Democratic Republic has been stolen by the corporations.
65% of people want a public option.
0% of corporations want a public option.
Corporations win.
Game over, or game on?
We sometimes get so entranced by the details that the big picture escapes us. And then, sometimes, it all becomes so clear. We wonder why we never saw it before. We wonder how we let it happen. We get angry. Very angry.
"Capitalism – A Love Story" hasn’t opened in my town yet but I’ve seen MM interviewed about it and it sounds like he’s very much on target about the nature of the problem. There are a few things that I think need clarifying. I think part of Michaels framing may generate too much resistance among Independents. Clarifying some items can help overcome that.
Let’s step back and look at the Big Picture to clarify where we are ("The captain’s in the chart room navigatin’ on a star. He can’t tell where we’re goin’ ‘cause he don’t know where we are." Joe Walsh)
Let’s define some terms so that we, and R’s & Independents can have a discussion ("Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for?" ~ Robert Browning)
Let’s put some options on the table for driving real change ("The universe is Change. Our lives are what our thoughts make it." Marcus Aurelius)
The Big Picture
The last century has seen some of the most dramatic changes in human history and the pace of change is accelerating. In that century, the population of the world grew from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion. What kind of world will we live in? Here are the most profound changes in the world over the last century:
- The rise of democracy
- The rise of corporations
- The rise of corporate media/propaganda to protect corporations from democracy
The American Revolution said to the world 'we don't need Shamans or Warlords or Kings to rule us'. For a while we had our freedom, and democracy spread. This shook the foundations of the world. Shamans, Warlords and Kings had concentrated power and wealth for the entire history of humankind. Democracy, if it was about anything, was about the decentralization of power and therefore also about the decentralization of wealth. Concentrations of Power don't take kindly to Decentralization--it makes control cost more--it's inefficient. The second two trends are the actions taken by Power to fight back against Democracy.
Defining Terms
Capitalism – a political/economic system to preserve and protect the interests of capital. What we have today.
Market Economy – an economic system where land, labor and capital are put to their highest economic utility as defined by the individual decisions of the market participants. What Adam Smith, Bastiat, Von Mises, Hayek, et al argued for.
Regulated Market Economy – a Market economy in which governments take measures to address externalities and promote the general welfare of the people. What our Founding Fathers seemed to argue for.
Corporate media propaganda likes to conflate Capitalism with Democracy and the dreams of the Founding Fathers. This is one of the Big Lies. This is how they are attacking HCR and how they will support the upcoming Supreme Court decision that will (I’m betting) cement the special privileges of corporations over the innate rights of flesh and blood people.
Corporate personhood has never been anything other than a way to protect the flesh and blood people within corporations from the consequences of their actions and enable them to concentrate wealth and power. Corporate personhood is in truth, a special right that only wealthy people enjoy--the right to pursue wealth without worrying about how your actions affect others. In this it is not only anti-American but it is also (wait for it... this is a good one....) anti-libertarian. Why? Because the foundation of libertarianism is individual responsibility and the notion that one has a right to do as one wills so long as they don't interfere with the equal rights of others. Corporate personhood is a denial of individual responsibility and the non-aggression principle and is therefore profoundly anti-libertarian.
Options for real change
Why don't we see more change after a big election like '08? Because the elections are just part of the 'bread and circuses' strategy of the corporatocracy. Republicans and Democrats are (with only a few exceptions) simply the two sides of the one Corporate party.
The real game is:
Corporate media to redefine reality
+
Campaign contributions to control representatives
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Lobbying to remind representatives who owns them.
The reason why we have two parties in our corporatocrcacy is so that one party can cement the gains made by the other party and to maintain the fiction of democracy.
Just a couple of examples:
• Just about everything in the U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. act was proposed during the Clinton administration and made law during the Bush administration.
• FISA abuses and WOT begun under Bush, as yet not repudiated by Obama.
• NAFTA and every other major economic legislation
We should move toward campaign finance reform to change this system of de facto one party rule. One of the ideas I like best is that every candidate must petition to get on the ballot—incumbents, major party candidates, everyone. Primaries would be funded by contributions from individuals only—no PACs, no bundling of contributions, no corporate donations—and donations are limited to some minimal amount per person, say $50. The winners then go on to publicly funded elections.
We must also limit the power of Congress to create economic winners and losers. As long as Congress has this power, money will chase that power. The test here can be "does the bill support the general welfare or is it benefiting a specific area, industry, or company?"
Summing up
We live in a corporatocracy. Accept that.
Now do everything you can to change that.
Your Democratic Republic has been stolen from you. What are you going to do about it?
Is it game over, or game on?