A World of Nations or a World of Corporations - the choice is yours

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

Lately, the Right has seized and successfully sold a mantra that I see great evil coming from. They have somehow convinced the population as a whole that government in general is bad and that a goal for all of us should be to have the smallest government possible. Why? Because according to them: government is inefficient, bureaucratic, and expensive and we would all be better off if private enterprise took over many (if not most) of the roles of government.

These people would be happy to privatize all healthcare, education, natural resources, transportation, communications, military and police operations, and tax collection functions among others. And many foolish people buy into this notion primarily because they believe small government will result in fewer taxes and they will keep more of the money they earn.

I could not disagree more. If you privatize these functions you will turn over some of the major roles of government to companies, whose sole reason for being is PROFIT. Wars are being fought to bring PROFIT to certain companies and certain people. For profit healthcare has brought us to a situation where the head of one company got 1 BILLION (not a typo)in bonuses. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/07/10/8380799/.

Corporations have no allegiance to anyone but their bottom line. They are happy to outsource the American economy if it enhances their profits, which they then dole out to the upper tier of management. The crumbs left over they disperse to the stockholders. Nothing is left for the employees, who see their pay reduced and their benefits cut and the nation gets fewer and fewer tax dollars from wage or sales tax.

Small government will cause Americans to spend more and keep less, erode our national strength and security and result in a world ruled by oligarchs as the power of nations diminish and the power of global corporations becomes supreme.

[orpupilofnature57]

1. No it's up to Congress,as is Impeachment Proceedings if only to slow him down.

From the second after his inauguration Shrub has worked to undermine the economy for Everyone except the 1%,his base.

[xchrom]

2. this is one of the out comes of the straussian universe

we've been forced to live in.

the choices weren't ours to make in some ways -- reagan ''faces down'' unions with firing of the tower folk -- and is praised.

nixon makes trade an official arm of american diplomacy -- sealing corporate influence within the capitals corridors.

and so on --

it would take an extraoridinary act on the part of one of our political parties to extricate corporate influence and power from the national political blood stream.

can our Real Desparate Housewives and Husbands and their fat middleclass paychecks stand the kind of personal pain it would take for that to happen?

i don't know --

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. Well I think in this What's In It For Me world - it's time for

the populace as a whole ( the 99% that is not the 1% that comprises Bush's base to shout -

Hey! Wait a minute! What About Me?