Corporations vs. Citizens
M. Orhan Tarhan
May 31, 2007
In my previous article I discussed the influence of petroleum corporations on our foreign policy. In order to take the bridles of our political life in our own hand, and stop being led like a docile caw by our nose, we have to go to the bottom of this question: How do the corporations get that powerful and what can be done to take that power back? This question is really at the bottom of the question of popular sovereignty and of peace and war. We are not an independent people until we assure the allegiance of our own representatives, senators and presidents.
For centuries citizens have formed corporations to do things they cannot do single-handedly. We have corporations that drill for oil in the middle of the sea and distribute gasoline in our cities, that they produce in huge refineries. We have corporations that manufacture all sorts of things. We have corporations that distribute and sell products, others that give a service like operating a hotel, or an air line, and so on. The list would be too long to put it here. We are all glad that corporations make our lives easier and that they provide us employment. But these organizations that are formed by citizens, and for citizens, eventually acquire a sort of personality separate from that of the citizens, and turn into industrial Frankensteins that (who?) work for their own interests, that may be against the interests of us citizens.
The best examples are, of course, the petroleum corporations, that are practically running our foreign policy, that make us make war in the Middle East, and cause thousands of our young people to die or be wounded. The oil industry interest is so effective, that the President of the United States resists the strong pressure from Congress to end the war soon, even by members of his own party. Representatives will be re-elected in 2008. They have to listen to the voice of the people who want the war ended. The President will not be elected any more, has personal interest in oil, and insists in continuing the war.
A second example are the drug companies. Drug companies in the U.S. have peculiar pricing policies. They are charging all their research expenses to us Americans and sell their drugs abroad at much lower prices. This is called “dumping.” In the 60’s and 70’s the U.S. was punishing Japanese steel manufacturers for exporting steel to the U.S. at below their domestic price. Now our drug companies are doing exactly the same thing, and the government says nothing, because politicians receive huge funds from drug corporations. Everywhere , industries try to favor their own citizens in pricing, not ours, In 2005 my wife’s and my prescriptions and the insurance to get them was costing us over $10,000 a year. In Canada the same American-made drugs were priced considerably lower. I remember, AARP tried to import drugs from Canada for its members, the United States government (People WE had elected) forbade the import of Canadian drugs. They did that while talking of free trade with the other side of their mouth. They proved that they are in the pockets of the drug industry. I think that was absolutely disgusting!
I would like to mention a third example: Our border with Mexico seems to be open to a flow of illegal alien invasion of the United States. I hear that the number of these illegal immigrants has reached 12 million in the entire country. They provide cheap labor to some industries, and these industries are against measures to control that flow of aliens. But, the local communities pay for services (hospitalization, schooling) to the illegals without getting any taxes from them. Those communities are screaming foul.
The border states with Mexico that have most of the trouble (and crime that comes with it,) are for strict control of our border. Their representatives want first to be able to control the border. A large part of Congress has been sold to the cheap-labor hungry industries and are talking of eventually giving citizenship to the illegal immigrants. Here again the interests of the populations in border states clash with the interest of business The Federal government does not apply existing laws and takes the side of the business, only border state representatives care for the citizens. President Bush is of course for business, Democrats do not want to offend the Hispanic vote, it is any body’s guess whether the border problem will ever be resolved. I think it is awful to see people we have put there with our vote, to defend Corporations against us.
How does a corporation get so much power over us citizens? We stupid citizens give it to them. As you have read in my previous article, it starts at the election of our representatives, senators, and presidents. These people need money for being elected. We citizens can give them a little, but corporations can donate fortunes. Thus, corporations are hijacking our election system and buy the allegiance of our representatives, senators and presidents. When Corporations’ interests and citizens’ interests are conflicting, our dear representatives, senators and presidents unashamedly side with the corporations. That is disgusting! But we have no one else to blame than ourselves. The millions of dollars that are paid to our representatives, etc. during elections by corporations is a legalized way of bribing them to mind the corporations’ interest than the citizen’s interests as they should. Other civilized democracies have found a different method to provide for the election money of their representatives. Public funding of elections leaves the corporations outside the loop. Corporations can then no longer buy politicians, not legally anyway.
If we want to shake off the hegemony of the corporations over us, we should get organized, outside of existing political parties, and announce that we will be voting only for candidates who promise to work for public funding of elections. Changing the existing system of lobbying will be opposed by – whom else? – the corporations and it will be very difficult to pass such a law. But it is terribly important, actually vital to try it insistently.
We have the best election system among Western states, most likely the best system in the World. But it is not quite a democracy, because it is hijacked by corporations. Because it is bought with money, I would call it “Plutocracy”. We should all work very hard to convert it to real democracy that serves us citizens and get back our independence and popular sovereignty.
For centuries citizens have formed corporations to do things they cannot do single-handedly. We have corporations that drill for oil in the middle of the sea and distribute gasoline in our cities, that they produce in huge refineries. We have corporations that manufacture all sorts of things. We have corporations that distribute and sell products, others that give a service like operating a hotel, or an air line, and so on. The list would be too long to put it here. We are all glad that corporations make our lives easier and that they provide us employment. But these organizations that are formed by citizens, and for citizens, eventually acquire a sort of personality separate from that of the citizens, and turn into industrial Frankensteins that (who?) work for their own interests, that may be against the interests of us citizens.
The best examples are, of course, the petroleum corporations, that are practically running our foreign policy, that make us make war in the Middle East, and cause thousands of our young people to die or be wounded. The oil industry interest is so effective, that the President of the United States resists the strong pressure from Congress to end the war soon, even by members of his own party. Representatives will be re-elected in 2008. They have to listen to the voice of the people who want the war ended. The President will not be elected any more, has personal interest in oil, and insists in continuing the war.
A second example are the drug companies. Drug companies in the U.S. have peculiar pricing policies. They are charging all their research expenses to us Americans and sell their drugs abroad at much lower prices. This is called “dumping.” In the 60’s and 70’s the U.S. was punishing Japanese steel manufacturers for exporting steel to the U.S. at below their domestic price. Now our drug companies are doing exactly the same thing, and the government says nothing, because politicians receive huge funds from drug corporations. Everywhere , industries try to favor their own citizens in pricing, not ours, In 2005 my wife’s and my prescriptions and the insurance to get them was costing us over $10,000 a year. In Canada the same American-made drugs were priced considerably lower. I remember, AARP tried to import drugs from Canada for its members, the United States government (People WE had elected) forbade the import of Canadian drugs. They did that while talking of free trade with the other side of their mouth. They proved that they are in the pockets of the drug industry. I think that was absolutely disgusting!
I would like to mention a third example: Our border with Mexico seems to be open to a flow of illegal alien invasion of the United States. I hear that the number of these illegal immigrants has reached 12 million in the entire country. They provide cheap labor to some industries, and these industries are against measures to control that flow of aliens. But, the local communities pay for services (hospitalization, schooling) to the illegals without getting any taxes from them. Those communities are screaming foul.
The border states with Mexico that have most of the trouble (and crime that comes with it,) are for strict control of our border. Their representatives want first to be able to control the border. A large part of Congress has been sold to the cheap-labor hungry industries and are talking of eventually giving citizenship to the illegal immigrants. Here again the interests of the populations in border states clash with the interest of business The Federal government does not apply existing laws and takes the side of the business, only border state representatives care for the citizens. President Bush is of course for business, Democrats do not want to offend the Hispanic vote, it is any body’s guess whether the border problem will ever be resolved. I think it is awful to see people we have put there with our vote, to defend Corporations against us.
How does a corporation get so much power over us citizens? We stupid citizens give it to them. As you have read in my previous article, it starts at the election of our representatives, senators, and presidents. These people need money for being elected. We citizens can give them a little, but corporations can donate fortunes. Thus, corporations are hijacking our election system and buy the allegiance of our representatives, senators and presidents. When Corporations’ interests and citizens’ interests are conflicting, our dear representatives, senators and presidents unashamedly side with the corporations. That is disgusting! But we have no one else to blame than ourselves. The millions of dollars that are paid to our representatives, etc. during elections by corporations is a legalized way of bribing them to mind the corporations’ interest than the citizen’s interests as they should. Other civilized democracies have found a different method to provide for the election money of their representatives. Public funding of elections leaves the corporations outside the loop. Corporations can then no longer buy politicians, not legally anyway.
If we want to shake off the hegemony of the corporations over us, we should get organized, outside of existing political parties, and announce that we will be voting only for candidates who promise to work for public funding of elections. Changing the existing system of lobbying will be opposed by – whom else? – the corporations and it will be very difficult to pass such a law. But it is terribly important, actually vital to try it insistently.
We have the best election system among Western states, most likely the best system in the World. But it is not quite a democracy, because it is hijacked by corporations. Because it is bought with money, I would call it “Plutocracy”. We should all work very hard to convert it to real democracy that serves us citizens and get back our independence and popular sovereignty.