corporations

It’s True: Freedom is Not Free

With the exception of religion, corporations are the leading cause of misery and pain for most of humanity. Corporate greed is real and very dangerous.

The corporate world as it is defined today is a consequent of the Mont Pelerin Society of the 20’s and 30’s and now because of the political maneuvering of the Republican party corporations have the rights of individuals. Our government, on the other hand once valued and funded, has been devalued, unempowered and starved by a corporate economy known as neo-liberalism.

Donald Trump and the Republican party today are nothing more than an arm of the neo-liberal economy and a move by corporations (coupled with religious nationalism) to overthrow any vestige of a working democracy that this country (the USA) has ever had. There is no other word for this oligarchic and theocratic move than neo-fascism.

Trump’s neo-fascist tendencies and the Republican’s continued support of him are barely veiled. Make no mistake. None. A vote for Donald Trump and the Republican party on November 4th is a vote for a neo-fascist backed by corporate and religious fanatics. It is true: freedom is not free. And we must fight this onslaught of greed and power or we will not be free from their sick worldview.

Excerpts from The Trump Diaries: The Role of Money

The conservative movement, controlled by major corporations are the main, if not sole reason that the traditional ideals of America are being threatened and undermined, not only in the USA but in numerous countries.  The conservative movement that placed Trump and his administration into office is motivated by money, but money does not sell, ironically enough.  What does sell is unwarranted ideology. 

Patriotism, a popular/populist ideal, often signifies a love of country, but under the guise of the conservative movement and its religious affiliations, patriotism becomes less a love of country and more a fanatical support of one’s own country as defined by a particular ideology, in this case Christianity.

Nationalism is another useful ideology to the conservative movement.  Nationalism lowers the categorical criteria for making others your enemy.  The conservative party’s goal is, simply put, to create a corporatocracy using nationalistic overtones and religious ideologies to bolster the idea, much in the same way that Hitler did in Germany, making promises to a continually more desperate population made so by the very movement the population came to support. 

All of this seems to point to a particular attitude of apathy and even loathing towards the American public by corporations and their stockholders as well as the conservative movement.  The legitimacy of the Trump administration and the conservative movement that supports it hinges upon nothing more than empty, twisted laws.  The emperor has no clothes, but it is becoming against the law to point this out.

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Government

“Nothing is more dangerous than the influence of…private interests on public affairs; and the abuse of the laws by the government is less evil than the corruption of the legislator, which is the infallible result of the pursuit of private interests.”           -Rousseau, The Social Contract

If there are those who come complaining of government evils, dismiss them as ignorant if not stupid. The government is what we make of it. If we make nothing of it, then a void is lay open to be filled by the most vile and despicable of corporate shills who will lay waste to all that is good for the price of a few trinkets and the illusion of power.

Those that blame governments are not willing to blame themselves for the problems that they create. Instead, they look to others and other things. But if beauty is in the eye of the beholder then so is evil.

Truth is Like Poetry 10

Problem: Poverty           

There have always been the poor and most likely there will always be impoverished people.  Poverty has been an excuse, a plague, a problem, and a scapegoat throughout history.  In other words, the problem of poverty seems to be a natural consequence of civilization.  The solution for this general poverty would be the allocation of funds, goods, and services to people across the planet, but this takes money, planning, and a political desire.  These are in actuality the problems of poverty.

Income disparities are often the consequences of politics and greed, corporate greed in particular.  Corporate greed alone probably accounts for a great percentage of global poverty, which is to say that most poverty is human-born.  Even if corporations (which hold the vast majority of the wealth on the planet, not including governments*) were to find the motivation to try to solve general poverty, planning such an endeavor would prove unlikely given the history of governments across the planet.  Furthermore, most governments are at least in part controlled by large sums of corporate monies.

Lastly, the political desire to eradicate global poverty would be necessary.  This alone is enough to make this endeavor impossible.  Human beings are tribal and primarily understand their immediate surroundings.  An endeavor to end world poverty is beyond the scope of human empathy not to mention political will.  There might be a way to conjure political will to eradicate poverty, but it would most likely be limited at best.

Solution: John Rawls “invisible curtain”

            John Rawls, an ethical philosopher, wrote The Theory of Justice which introduced a philosophical theory of justice based upon two principles which are important.  They are:

First Principle: Each person has the same indefeasible claim to a fully adequate scheme of equal basic liberties, which scheme is compatible with the same scheme of liberties for all;

Second Principle: Social and economic inequalities are to satisfy two conditions:

  1. They are to be attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity;
  2. They are to be to the greatest benefit of the least-advantaged members of society (the difference principle) (JF, 42–43).

These two principles play a part when citizens (individuals within a given society) are put behind what he calls the “invisible curtain”.  In short, all theories of justice in that given society are to be made by everyone within that society.  However, no individual actually knows their particular place in that society.  In this way, everyone has ‘skin in the game’ so to speak.

With Rawls’ hypothetical ‘curtain’ in place, the likelihood of anyone allowing for extreme poverty would at least be lowered.

Truth Is Like Poetry 8

5.    Problem: War*

War is, of course, waged for numerous reasons but all of these reasons can be summed up into two basic camps.  First, there is the need and desire for resources, and then there is the desire for political power.  These two often coincide with each other.  Of course, the problem of war is steeped in human limitations (greed, arrogance etc…) as well.  As the population grows, the world becomes smaller, and more and more nations become richer, resources will continue to grow in importance.  The obvious problem here is that there is limited resources and a seeming exponential growth in population.  The other side of the population growth is that more and more people desire to live in more and more luxury: more things, more tech, more consumerism.

Secondly, the desire for political power is a ubiquitous problem for those in power.  And, as political power often equates to economic power, war is often waged for money.  Money and politics rarely mix well, especially when business and government coincide.  Oligarchical and plutocratic tendencies are as old as human society.  So common and accepted is the idea of corporately-corrupt politicians that a new term has been bandied: corporatocracy.  But these problems have now become even more dangerous with the easy spread of disinformation coupled together with public fear and ignorance.

War is often the result of the sordid soup of politics, money, and power, but it is almost always based upon fear and ignorance.  While we may never rid ourselves of our warlike tendencies, we can at least accept that we are a violent species and start changing from there.

Solution: National governments/Global Economies (the UN)

            The solution to war is, of course, a complicated one.  Not so easily come to and won’t happen quickly.  But, in order to create a workable basis government(s) must work together, which they rarely do on a larger scale.  For this reason, an international government is needed.  This sets the stage for two things.  First, national interests become cultural and social, not economic; and secondly national interests are separated from the economic interests.  The European Union is, perhaps, an example of this on a smaller scale.  Each country keeps its autonomy to an extent, but economic needs and desires are defined on a larger scale.

            With an economic “government” on a global scale, economic power and decision-making are spread over numerous countries, which still maintain power and decision-making on a cultural and social level.  The idea is the separation of political power while maintaining a global interest economically.  With a global economic system, each country will hopefully have a more vested interest in each other while at the same time being separate countries.  A global economic government which is comprised of both economic and political powers will only be larger cauldrons in which the same old problems cook.