God and Country
by PHIL JONES
The genius of democracy is that it holds the government accountable to the governed. The people in office have to rule in a way that is acceptable to the people or the people can vote them out. In a healthy, functioning democracy, that is pretty much what happens.
Unfortunately, ours is no longer a healthy, functioning democracy. We still have the vote, but elections have become so expensive that politicians who wish to get elected need to concern themselves with the wishes of the big-money interests who fund their campaigns. Those donors are mostly businessmen and women, and they expect a return on their investment. No, our government is no longer accountable to the people.
There used to be a glimmer of hope for our democracy. When campaigns were funded by individual citizens, large numbers of ordinary voters could compete with a small number of millionaires and billionaires in fundraising. But along came the Supreme Court “Citizens United” ruling, allowing unlimited donations by corporations. Ordinary citizens can no longer compete because multinational corporation donations dwarf those of even the wealthiest individuals.
For example, Coca-Cola alone could have outspent both Obama and McCain in 2008, by spending just 2 percent of their corporate profits. The largest corporations operate in nearly every country in the world and have more money and power than most national governments. Multinational corporations are a far greater threat to our democracy.
Corporations now control our politics. We have no way of knowing which ones are supporting which politicians and in what amounts, because Citizens United allows donations to be secret. A recent Republican filibuster in the Senate is keeping it that way.
It is clear that corporations will increasingly control the actions of the United States government. A good idea to ask ourselves – in what direction will they lead? This much is clear: corporations are loyal to their own bottom line, and more specifically, their short-term (quarterly) profits, which we have foolishly allowed to drive the entire free market system.
Since corporations care only for short-term profits, a strong and effective national government in the United States actually hinders their aims. Far better for their bottom line would be a weak and highly complicit American government that allows them greater and greater leeway to ignore labor, safety and environmental standards. Believe it or not, “free trade” agreements already in place give corporations the right to sue national governments for any action which reduces their anticipated profits.
In other words, corporations will influence the government, not in the public interest, but in their own short-term interest. As markets become freer and more global, the power to govern passes increasingly from national governments to global corporations. The interests of those corporations grow more and more dissimilar to the interests of ordinary people. This concentration of power is no longer accountable to the people – you and me. This concentration of power is a huge threat, not only to our liberty, but to our health and well-being.
God save the United States of America from the corporate takeover that is closing in.
