I read where the convict in waiting, equal justice for all being tested to its core, has announced great plans for his one day as dictator. Per his recent pronouncements, he will build a wall, thereby continuing to band-aid the effect, rather than addressing the fundamental causes of the worldwide immigration crisis.
Further, he is going to drill, drill, drill, whatever that means—other than more damage to a climate and environment already in peril. That agenda is typical of Donald Trump, wrong on priorities, short on meaningful detail, but spoken loudly to overcome its deficiencies.
However, this essay presents my do-list for that day. It would be easy to go the grand route: end world hunger, reverse climate decline, etc.; but fixing the world’s problems takes money, so my day would start on the trail of money.
Over the past four decades, wealthy individuals and corporations have bastardized our legal and tax systems to create greater opportunities to steal, while simultaneously increasing their immunity from punishment. So, my first action would address that problem by revising the appropriate legislation to stop blaming the inanimate corporation for the intentional misdeeds of its executives and requiring that punishment be focused on those who actually did the deed. Consistent enforcement of predefined punishment for Executive Class crime should cause those so inclined to have second thoughts.
On the tax side, it will be goodbye to all those tax avoidance sleight-of-hand clauses that proliferate our current tax code. Achieving a fair tax structure is a critical component in solving the debt/budget crisis. Accomplishing a fair tax structure is not a difficult task if those with uncontrolled self-interest are left out of the discussions.
After breakfast, but still on the money hunt, it is time to go after the massive waste of money by our government. The fraud, waste, and abuse cases that we too infrequently hear about on the news are a drop in the bucket to the total waste generated by Congressional micromanagement; counterproductive organizational and operational policies; poorly thought-out program/project definition, implementation, and review; out-of-date procurement practices; and that is just a starter set of underlying causes.
This waste is prevalent in both ongoing government activity and in the handling of unexpected demands requiring government response. It starts with rounding the cost to the next million, or billion, or ten billion, and goes downhill from there. The total cost and waste from the inept handling of the monetary (shutdown) side of the COVID-19 pandemic will never be determined because of the unmeasurable indirect cost incurred due to the poor problem definition and failure to consider the implications of the chosen solution.
While an after-lunch nap is appealing, I don’t want to waste a minute of this one-of-a-kind opportunity. I will turn my attention to a subject that underlies much of what we have already discussed. This threat, increasing corporate power and influence, has been steadily growing over the past half-century and underlies other problems like creating special treatments with the tax code. While some individuals still may exert undue influence, much of the power and influence has transitioned to those with corporate backing.
As background, consider the transition of Wall Street from being primarily a trading service center to a profit center. That transition pressured corporations into being measured against Wall Street profit expectations, thereby forcing corporate planning decisions to defer to short-term profits. At the same time, businesses were increasingly valued on hype rather than performance. This change was further fueled by the movement in corporate management from home-grown to B-school/Law-school trained.
The initial vehicle for accumulating the required power and influence was the large multinational (conglomerate) corporation whose existence drew lots of discussion but little meaningful regulation. However, their size and visibility still make regulating their conduct possible should the government ever get serious about the subject.
But the new challenge to our Nation’s economic foundation is coming from the corporate dark world, the various forms of private equity organizations that increasingly own and create mini-monopolies in business segments. Among the many business segments, they are buying land and housing, veterinary practices and boarding kennels, marinas and water access, all with the intent of controlling that segment.
This emerging problem is far more threatening because of the relative secrecy about its intent, the magnitude of acquisitions, and the degree of control over the Country’s economic structure. Step one to understanding the current status of this corporation segment requires demanding increased light on its activities by requiring full disclosure of corporate holdings, organization structure and ownership, and financial reporting.
After a well-earned cocktail and early dinner, there is one more thing that needs my attention. A working definition for this multifaceted problem is: “returning the Country, its government, and its people to the level of quality necessary to preserve Democracy.” I will touch on some critical elements with the following list. None are new, all are neglected.
- In case you haven’t noticed: 1) While one is far worse than the other, both political parties have become more about their agenda than the Nation’s common well-being; 2) The quality of the people now serving in Congress, from leadership to the back bench, is in serious need of upgrading. We need to attract better, more competent people into the process.
- In concert with the above, we need to eliminate lies and misrepresentations as a normal and acceptable means of communication. Knowingly repeating a lie is wrong and perpetual lying must pay a price up to the loss of coverage. There are simply too many subjects and too many sources of information to allow unchallenged intentional falsehoods to influence what people come to believe.
- Private money must be removed from all levels of politics in all forms and at all times.
- Demand that the Fourth Estate live up to its historical reputation and fulfill its communication responsibilities to the citizenry.
- Remind Voters of their responsibilities in a Democracy and encourage them to stop taking the easy way out and to actively participate in their duties.
- Remind everyone that we are a multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-individual society and that, under a Democracy, all have equal rights to mutual respect and to the protection of their private boundaries.
It has been a long day, but my day as a dictator has come to an end. To the extent there are errors in fact or assumptions underlying parts of my agenda, I apologize, but I doubt any mistakes would alter my priorities as expressed.
A citizen not named Donald J. Trump