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I think the left is misfiring when they blame corporations. Trying to destroy corporations will never solve Americas problems, it will just cause unemployment and stagnating wages.
The problem is that corporations buy politicians. Who's fault is that? It is politicians fault, not corporations fault. We need to vote in people who want to reduce the power of lobbying. We need to stop handing out tax breaks to certain companies.
In this area, the right is better. At least some conservative politicians are proposing flat taxes or the fair tax which is more progressive. The Democrats are not proposing anything, and seem content with the fact that companies such as GM get huge tax breaks.
Correct. Corporations are not inherently evil. People running the show can often be, however (and this applies to government as well as ANY organization of people). With me so far?
That, my dear, is what you might call absolutism? Would you?
Only if you believe that all people are inherently evil....
Is this a serious question? It must be one of the DUMBEST questions I've ever seen asked on this forum, and that's sayin' something.
Governments have the power of force. Businesses don't. Pretty simple, and I can't believe that someone asked that insanely stupid question.
Your post here shows part of the problem in the USA today and proves the point of the OP.
Do you REALLY believe that there is NO paranoia about Govt. in America today........... as soon as the Govt. suggests that they are going to create or run something there are screams of "the Govt. isn't capable of running anything" or partisan political hate fests yet if a private company suggests that they are going to take something over or run something there are nodding heads or cries of "Capitalism built the USA and it is all we need to keep America strong" or we hear..... "we need smaller Govt"........ yet no one party ever really reduces the size of Govt. when they get into the Whitehouse....... even after the next election... The size of Govt will not be reduced no matter whether the Liberals or Democrats get into office.
Both parties know that the feeling created in America today is of a inept Govt. who cannot run the Country without Big corporations to guide them...... Absolute "hogwash" but many Americans are easily manipulated by corporate America.... maybe because that is all they know and they are scared of real change in case America falls apart..... it won't.
The question of the OP is absolutely relevant and vital if we really want to understand why America is no longer a fit place to live in for millions of good hard working everyday Americans. I know some do not want to even dip their toe into this subject as in their minds corporate America and capitalism is the "holy grail" of how America became great..... Not the fact that the land owners used slaves to build their wealth or as America grew there was a system of the wealthy white's and everyone else was just unskilled labour to make the wealthy wealthier! Even when there was a sense of some kind of real community in the USA with a Social Security plan in place or a hard days work meaning a hard days pay, there was still this segretaion by color and gender that was accepted in those days but NOT accepted today and this is leading to problems as the BIGOTS at the top do NOT like this at all..... they are fighting tooth and nail to stop real change and stop every single American from being EQUAL.
This Country now has a new "Civil war"... not north and South but rich and poor (right and left).
We vote a Govt. into office for the good of the Whole nation.........
get that..... the good of the WHOLE NATION, not just for the wealth of the corporations and for the power now given to the wealthy............
THE WHOLE NATION!....... rich or poor, educated or uneducated, black or white, male or female, gay or straight, religous or agnostic, Republican or Democrat........... Everyone.
Unfortunately there are far too many in power here who make a fortune by keeping the big corporations in business and it will not be in their personal best interests to actually make the Govt. succesful in running the Country, it's like having the "Foxes in charge of the Chicken coop"
Let's get one thing straight here......America is a democracy.... we vote in a Govt. to make sure that our best interests are served and to run the Country and for us to have a say in how things work here.
We DON'T vote in the CEO's of the big corporations or indeed have any say in how they affect our lives.... tough luck if we don't ike what they do..... tough luck if we can't afford their premiums.... tough luck if we are without health care because their premiums are too high or we have to have really bad schemes as the best ones are way beyond our pocket... or they rip us off daily without us having any other choices because they have the monopoly here and thay all set their high prices together with just minor differences between them. Americans now fear the big corporations yet are brainwashed into thinking that it is the Govt. that is destroying us......NO..
It is the greed of corporate America that is destroying us.
WE vote the Govt into power to run the Country NOT the Corporations and as can be seen by other Countries ..... the Govt has the power to make sure that we ALL benefit.
So once again...... The OP had it right here asking WHY people are paranoid of the Govt and not the Corporations...........
Fear of the Govt. is the corporations tactics to "pick our pockets" and unfortunately it works.
Only if you believe that all people are inherently evil....
No, that idea of yours demonstrates a lack of capacity in you to comprehend this simple statement (emphasis added so you have one less excuse to not get it): "People running the show can often be, however."
It will take an idiot to take this...
"If men were angels, there would be no need for government"
- James Madison
To go singing about how Madison believed that all people are evil.
at least the government is ELECTED by the people and it's main duty is the represent the people (though that doesn't always happen) and their main purpose is to help fix societal problems and help guide society. (and it doesn't always do this) but at least its the SETUP PURPOSE of the govenrment.
Actually, there is a fair bit of democracy in regards to how the general public can deals with corporations, they can refuse to do business with them. Corporations spend billions of dollars to find out what people want and trying to figure out how to appeal to people.
I also fail to see how government "fixes" societal problems for the most part. Often a lot of "fixes" make things worse or introduce a whole new set of problems. Jim Crow laws, the War on Drugs, Eugenics programs (a lot people forget that forced sterilization programs took place in the US, Canada, Sweden, the UK, and other nations up into the 60s), the persecution of homosexuals, and so on.
That's only dealing with American history. What about all the other lovely government programs throughout history. Apartheid, the Holocaust, the collectivization programs of the USSR, the Great Purge, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, forced abortions in the People's Republic of China, Pol Pot's entire reign, the outlawing of abortion in Communist Romania, and so on.
corporations answer TO THEMSELVES and the people DO NOT ELECT them and their sole purpose is SIMPLY to make money.. their PURPOSE has NOTHING TO DO with bettering society... sure they create jobs, but that's a BYPRODUCT of the whole making money thing.. it's not their purpose.
No. Corporations answer to their shareholders, customers, potential customers, and even sometimes to their employees.
They create jobs and products that people want and that is indeed a byproduct of the profit motive, not the main purpose. However, that is one of the beauties of the free market. Organizations and individuals seeking profit often do more good than many government programs that actually attempt to do some good.
Also, as somewhat of a side note, the people who collect those profits can do a lot of good as well. The Green Revolution which increase agricultural yields worldwide and allowed the feeding of about a billion or so people was mostly funded by the Rockefellar Foundation and the Ford Foundation. Which are private charities founded by businessman that founded corporations and became billionaires.
also, corporations already practically RUN a good portion of the government (you know that evil thing to be paranoid of)
So you say that corporations are sleazy, answer to nobody, and are completely amoral and then use corporate influence on the government as example on why it is illogical to distrust the government?
Do some corporations have a major influence on the government? Yes and that's a bad thing. If fact, that is another reason why the size of government and the power it holds should be limited. Corporations purposely try to influence government so they can get around having to compete with rival industries and businesses and as a way around having to listen to their customers.
why are people paranoid of the government but NOT CORPORATIONS?
makes no sense.
In the end, governments have guns and means to affect every aspect of our lives and the ability to use both with few consequences. That is the main reason why you should generally distrust (and even fear) government more than a corporation. The city government has greater potential to make my life a living hell than the largest corporation could if it were so inclined and with entirely legal means as well.
Make no mistake. I am not excusing everything that corporations do. I have plenty of beefs with them as well. I just think that government is worse.
Also, I would like to elaborate on my views on government. I am not an anarchist. Nor do I believe in elaborate conspiracy theories about the government. I do not believe that I face any type of government retribution for posting this or any other post on this forum.
I believe that government is like fire. It is immensely useful and does in fact make our life better in many ways. It can heat our homes, cook our food, forge our metal, and generate our power. That being said, there are countless uses which fire is completely unsuitable for and fire also has destructive side and has the potential to take everything away from you.
at least the government is ELECTED by the people and it's main duty is the represent the people (though that doesn't always happen) and their main purpose is to help fix societal problems and help guide society. (and it doesn't always do this) but at least its the SETUP PURPOSE of the govenrment.
corporations answer TO THEMSELVES and the people DO NOT ELECT them and their sole purpose is SIMPLY to make money.. their PURPOSE has NOTHING TO DO with bettering society... sure they create jobs, but that's a BYPRODUCT of the whole making money thing.. it's not their purpose.
also, corporations already practically RUN a good portion of the government (you know that evil thing to be paranoid of)
why are people paranoid of the government but NOT CORPORATIONS?
Actually, there is a fair bit of democracy in regards to how the general public can deals with corporations, they can refuse to do business with them. Corporations spend billions of dollars to find out what people want and trying to figure out how to appeal to people.
Really? Let's take gas for instance. Do you really have any choice, but to buy from the few providers these services? The fact is if you want a job, in most place that means you need to drive and that means you must buy gas. The same goes for electricity, modern life means you must buy.
They create jobs and products that people want and that is indeed a byproduct of the profit motive, not the main purpose. However, that is one of the beauties of the free market. Organizations and individuals seeking profit often do more good than many government programs that actually attempt to do some good.
If that were the case why do we need law to protect us from the profit motive? It is because of profit motive that food safety and enviromental laws are needed. It is because of profit motive that millions are going without health care.The profit motive at good as like innovation, but there are negative incentives that more often than not it falls on government to control.
In the end, governments have guns and means to affect every aspect of our lives and the ability to use both with few consequences. That is the main reason why you should generally distrust (and even fear) government more than a corporation. The city government has greater potential to make my life a living hell than the largest corporation could if it were so inclined and with entirely legal means as well.
At the end of the day I can vote, goverment is directly anwserable to me. I have to buy gas and electricity. I can't vote out their CEO's. I have option to buy food from independent stores, but in many part of the country the only option is Walmart. You have so much consildation today, unless you're willing to live completly off grid the modern life requires that people buy many basics from corporations.
Maybe the libertarians would prefer a military-corporate dictatorship, since the military is the only part of the government they have any sort of respect or trust for.
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