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Originally Posted by roachboy
i keep arguing here and elsewhere that the current economic and social problems--crises--that the americans face are the direct result of the model of capital accumulation that was put into place across the 1970s and 80s, and so is the result of the history of the united states since that period.
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Goes back farther than that. Once we changed our laws to view corporations as legally individual people, we were on the road to disaster because once they are individuals in the eyes of the law, they suddenly have rights, instead of privileges. It should be a privilege to operate a business in this country - a privilege granted to everyone provided they follow certain rules, but a privilege nonetheless. The rules are simple. Pay your people a living wage, make their workplace as safe as possible, and don't screw over the customer. As it is, should a corporation do any of these misdeeds, their right to remain in business remains unchallenged. At most they'll have to pay a fine which, stacked up against corporate bankrolls, is a pittance. And since the fine comes from corporate coffers rather than the pockets of the bastards who committed the violation, there's no real incentive to be a decent "corporate citizen," a phrase which in itself should be abolished.
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it is interesting in this regard to notice the extent to which the mainstream press, particularly the newspapers (television seems to have a medium-specific form of ADD in this respect) are already focused on obama's economic agenda as if all that we need do is stumble from here to there and thigns will be hunky dory.
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Because the media is owned by corporations and is therefore part of the shell game to distract the American people from the real problem, which is that corporations have been allowed to take over the government. Who has more influence over the politicians - you, or a megabillion dollar corporation which can donate to campaigns and hire lobbyists and exert all sorts of other influence over every aspect of government. I won't even dignify that question with a question mark because the answer is obvious.
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i am surprised by the lack of reaction on the part of the people to this--you know, out in the streets kind of reaction. i think this passivity does not bode well. i think this passivity is a real problem.
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Yes, it is, but you shouldn't be surprised. No one reacted to Hitler either until it was far too late, and Hitler started off by declaring a war against a nebulous and intangible enemy (specifically, terrorists - this was before he unveiled his Jewish eradication desires), and corporatized the government (btw a corporatocracy is also known as a fascist government) and thereby locked up power for himself and kept the people from being able to stop it.
I'm not saying the US government is getting ready to go kill Jews, but the other aspects of the Nazi party's domination of German politics have frightening parallels to our current state of affairs. Both governments 1) declared a war on terror following a catastrophic attack on a landmark building, 2) established a Department of Homeland Security (in Germany it was the department of Security for the Homeland, or the Schutzstaffel, better known to us as the SS), 3) declared that opposition to the government was unpatriotic, 4) used private corporations to achieve governmental goals, and 5) evoked extreme nationalism and "patriotism" - "You're either with us, or you're against us.
The very concept of a war on terror would make Orwell quake in his boots. Terrorism is not an enemy - it is a tactic. You can't declare war on a tactic, because that war by definition can never end. This is why real wars are one nation against another nation. But wars are excellent things to distract people with, and they're also excellent re-election strategies, and so a war that can never end in the "victory" W and his cronies supposedly seek is a very good strategic move, as long as you don't really care about the long-term fate of your democracy.
There's more to be said here, but it's Christmas so I'll give y'all a break
