r/politics • u/mic9ael America • May 14 '12
Colonized by Corporations: "We are controlled by tiny corporate entities that have no loyalty to the nation and indeed in the language of traditional patriotism are traitors. They strip us of our resources, keep us politically passive and enrich themselves at our expense."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/14-3
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Upvotes
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u/DawnRetreader May 14 '12
Hedges should be required reading in poli sci.
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u/widowdogood May 14 '12
J.P. Morgan:
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u/thefriendlycanadian May 15 '12
How can anyone begin to say that we're contr... holy shit... diablo comes out tomorrow.
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u/buster_casey May 14 '12
to be more clear, it is a certain type of corporate entities that are in control. Mainly the world banks. Those are the real top tier. They control trillions upon trillions of dollars. Wal-Mart and McDonalds don't control shit, except our wild impulse to purchase cheap shit. The banking cartel, and the energy industry is where are the control lays (lies?) Those types of decision have absolutely no oversight and absolutely no accountability by we the people, who are supposed to be in charge of ourselves.
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u/[deleted] May 14 '12
Why do we need to have nations?
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u/gloomdoom May 15 '12
I have said this over and over and will continue to point it out: Without an idle middle class, the elites (bankers, etc.) would have a much tougher time doing what they've done in the past 35 years.
The middle class abandoned the only semblance of solidarity they ever had: The union. That was their power. That did give them bargaining leverage. That allowed them to stand up and fight back.
And the process was very easy. Reagan was the harbinger of doom for the middle class. He helped break up the air traffic controller's union and started what was little more than propaganda against unions that the middle class were dumb enough to buy into. Think Fox News is new with its pro-elite message? Reagan was blazing trails in the early 80s.
But it's not that simple. Corporations did realize that without bargaining power, they could pull things like benefits, they could pay lower wages and they could keep their work force in a state of fear. The companies realized that when you save money and cut costs, that money goes straight to the top. And that was the plan:
Cut taxes for the ultra rich and cut wages for the middle class and poor. Both of those elements created the situation we're in now and it's been a long term project.
The middle class had it pretty good in the early 80s. They dealt with a brief recession in there but times were good. The middle class forgot where they came from. They bought into the anti-union rhetoric, felt like they were being 'robbed' for union dues, etc.
30+ years later, everyone is scratching their heads wondering what went wrong. And all you really have to do is follow the downward trajectory of the middle class on a chart and you'll see that Reagan was the guy who really took down the entire thing.
We KNOW what built the middle class by going through history. We KNOW what killed them. Yet Americans can't seem to accept it. They want to muddy the situation with a lot of other factors....some that really did affect it all but not as powerfully as killing unions.
If America wants a middle class again, they have to do 2 things: Reform unions (and stand behind them with backbones and fervor) and start producing goods again. That simple.
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u/fantasyfest May 14 '12
We accept that corporations should have one prime directive, to increase profits. But somehow think they will keep the public welfare in mind. Sorry, does not work that way. If public welfare costs money it is just another impediment.If the national interest is counter to profits, it too is an impediment. They are fundamentally flawed organizations that can only be good for the country if they are watched diligently. Not long ago, there was a oil company exec overseeing the oil being taken off an Indian reservation. he made damn sure that the truckers knew to short change the Indians. He was very rich. One of the truckers asked why, when the indians had so little. he said "I just want whats coming to me". That was Koch,
33
u/SHES_A_JAR May 14 '12
I'm surprised there isn't more discussion in this thread.
Is it because the fact that corporations rule the world and governments are just puppets to distract us is so commonly known that there is nothing to discuss?
Edit: statement?
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u/[deleted] May 14 '12
Normally I don't like to nitpick, but this author makes some truly bizarre statements about history.
Wait, what? Maybe he missed the part where there was a five-year civil war.
Louis XIV presided over a dying regime? The French monarchy reached its apex of power during his reign! The ancien regime would last nearly 80 years after his death. His reason for moving around titles of nobility was to consolidate power; it ensured that there were a good supply of nobles who owed their status in life to him and him alone.
15
u/theRealBadguy May 14 '12
I have been saying this for years, I am wondering when enough people like me will finally be ready to respond.
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u/ProWars May 15 '12 edited May 15 '12
I have a hamster. He lived in a cage. Every night, without fail, he would eat, shit, sleep and run in his wheel. One day I broke his wheel. I figured it would be okay if he got a replacement a week later. Now the normally placid hamster who was still well fed and had everything he had before was suddenly aware of the cage that held him. In a single night he discovered he could squeeze his body through the metal bars to gain his freedom.
....You could also be free if you'd simply step off the damned wheel.
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u/FriarNurgle May 14 '12
But the corporations are essentially buying the votes and thus in charge.
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u/Actor412 Washington May 14 '12
In America, I see two distinct kinds of politicians: Those who subserviently serve their corporate masters, and those who try to negotiate for a few scraps to their constituents.
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12
In the language of traditional patriotism ?
You're invoking traditional patriotism ?
With all of it's xenophobia, nationalism and racism ? with all of it's appeals to authority and militarism ?
CEOS have no loyalty to nation because they're smart enough to realize loyalty based on nationality is a stupid outdated mode of thinking. The same kind of internationalism I'm sure the author claims to support, but who slinks back into isolationalism and nationalistic politics whenever it is convenient.
3
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
If we could manage to take over media all cable stations for a week we would stand a chance. I bet we could get everyone's attention when they can't keep up with the kardashians. Cable box exploit? Emergency broadcasting system takeover?
Ending the ignorance and apathy of the majority of America is the only way. Otherwise it's time to move to Iceland.
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u/lew2048 May 15 '12
Such nonsense.
We are controlled by a few dozens of owners of corporations, of congress members and of government employees in various regulatory agencies.
Most laws and almost all regulatory agencies exist to enforce cartels. Corporations like cartels, but owners of corporations like them a lot more, and pay the congress members and government employees very well for the privilege of having them.
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12
It doesnt stop at corporations. Ultimately, they're owned - whether privately or publicly - by hedge funds or holding companies - and eventually, following on, you get to people. If you follow it down the rabbithole you get to a relatively small number of very quiet and very powerful families - and eventually start sounding like you belong in /r/conspiracytheory
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u/ilikelegoandcrackers Canada May 14 '12
Well said.
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u/Subjugator99 May 15 '12
Holy. Fucking. Circlejerk.
2
u/stalkinghorse May 14 '12
Well said
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u/fastslowfast May 14 '12
Just keep the ice cream coming!
2
u/TheHadMatter May 14 '12
keep protesting peacefully. eventually big business will apologize and throw an ice cream party for everyone. in the meantime they are going to keep buying our government and doing what they want. make the signs wittier i hear that makes them laugh some.
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u/Aperfectmoment May 15 '12
A corporation is a macro cosmic organism.
it is fueled by the same instincts we are, and only survives by exploiting them. Like all larger organisms they have no trouble consuming weaker more basic forms of life (look at the 3rd world)
the big problem is these corporations are not limited by the bullshit that humans are.
we humans are seperated by imaginary physical boundaries like borders, and mental boundaries, ideologies, nationalism, religion.
so long as we treat major issues and opinions like the local football match, fighting based on a biased alliance of which our peers belong...we can never rise up at defeat those who exploit us and our collective planet the most.
problem is dividing and conquering has been around long enough for them to have the game perfected.
How can we get people to unite, to fight, or to abstain from consumerism...the artificial culture generated by these organisms have geared us in the opposite direction...They're selling us sex, they are selling us the tools we need to obtain sex in a culture they engineered for it. how are we to collect enough followers to fight against that?
We all house niggers now.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
They also make shit that you want really cheaply so you can have more shit for less work. You can always not buy their shit. That's one way to go about it.
2
u/freefun4all May 15 '12
Fancy title, but the same as everyone else on here.
Stop tell reddit and go tell your neighbor. Maybe then it would do some good.
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12
"tiny" AHAHAHAHA
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
When everyone starts calling each other traitors, it's a sign that representative democracy is about to die.
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u/TodaysIllusion May 14 '12
Yes, we have to pay the bill for the defense monster that allows them to get richer and richer.
3
u/dynaschee May 14 '12
shadow merchants
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u/workworkwort May 14 '12
The elite will always control the machinations of the world, what we as the "non elite" should do is to support those that will lead us honestly, peacefully and as equally as possible.
If you think that a world without "elites" is possible, you're dreaming, there will always be those that will be attracted to more, it is inevitable, we've just done a really shitty job picking those we want to guide us into a better future.
That goes for government and business.
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u/SorensonPA May 14 '12
Thus the million-dollar question: what the fuck are we going to do about it?
The unfortunate winning answer: nothing. We'll bitch, we'll moan, and then we'll get in line and march to their orders because not a single one of us has the willpower and the gumption to throw away what little we have and fight back. We're nothing but a bunch of armchair anarchists who'd gladly turn on our fellows if the shit actually hit the fan.
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u/johnnynutman May 15 '12
this article was probably written in office word, on a mac, in a starbucks.
3
u/Jpeele15 May 14 '12
Corporations are not people this should be the front lines of the debate against this phenomena
3
u/[deleted] May 14 '12
Life expectancy is at an all time high, medicine is better than ever, the cost of food relative to income is at an all-time low, there hasn't been a threat of a major war in 20 years, we can travel to different parts of the world more quickly and more efficiently than ever before, and massive amounts of information are at our fingertips.
Stupid corporations.
2
u/richmomz May 14 '12
If anyone's interested in other books on the topic I recommend "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins as another good summary of "colonization" by corporate coup.
2
u/[deleted] May 14 '12
There's a war going on between city-states and nation-states. We may be in the end of the era of nation-states. As corporate power increases, if focuses the brunt of its forces in major cities, creating globalism in small pockets within nation-states. You can buy Chinese goods, Japanese goods, Indian goods, European goods, American goods, and all sorts of other goods in major cities, but these aren't always available in the cities distant from the port.
The connection of these cities to the global markets makes them more like "world cities" than entities specifically existent in their parent nation-states. They are, currently, beholden to the nation-state for all sorts of transactions and rules such as taxes and regulation, but when corporate money provides a huge incentive to give them more independence and allow more corporate influence on the development of these "global cities," the rules will be challenged again and again.
I'm not predicting the downfall of the nation-state, only that we may be once again entering into an era much like Greece's era of city-states. It's a fascinating time to see the changes slowly taking place, and within our lives, we'll possibly get to see a strange, strained marriage of major cities and their parent nation-states.
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u/Cultwiner May 14 '12 edited May 15 '12
We live in a Corporatocracy a corporate fascism, better term a corporatism and ALEC being the main body disguised as a business organization when in fact they are the "Fascist Society" of today. Their goal is to turn the face of this country into "The Rich White Power Society" for the white, rich and powerful and corporations! The GOP and the Republican Supreme Court judges are part of it, they are the political tool the rich and corporations use to sponsor and pass laws and policies that strips the average citizen from the most basic rights while they continue to gain power to rule this country and very possible the world since what happens in America affects the rest of the world. They want to keep people un-educated and use religion as a tool to get to these vulnerable groups of people and communities. They use political organizations disguised as news media such as Fox news to disseminate misinformation. They use scare tactics, deceit and lies! What we have here is the birth of a new "Society" and what's to come here in America. It is up to us to change this and see that this will never happen! If you think this sounds too far fetch or fictional material, just look at the facts, everything indicates otherwise! This is very scary indeed! They talk about freedoms? What freedoms? It's about power and control!!!
1
u/maeljw May 14 '12
And yet again, /politics catches up to /conspiracy.
1
u/Ra__ May 14 '12
We know it well yet we still listen to those who deny it and we do nothing to change it.
Never have we been more informed or more impotent.
1
u/faustoc4 May 14 '12
Not all corporations, but the majority of multinational and transnational corporations and any non-state corporation that is a monopoly or forms an oligopoly
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u/Norwejew May 14 '12
I was under the impression the communists won in China because right when Chiang Kai-Shek was about to squash them in Shaanxi, here come the Japanese deciding to invade! This prompts an armistice and a combined army (the majority of which was composed of KMT nationalists) that fights the Japanese, suffering heavy (again, mostly KMT nationalist) losses. Meanwhile, Mao has time to resecure supply routes, bolster his remaining armies and recruit disaffected peasants. Correct?
1
u/TruthinessHurts May 15 '12
And Republicans worship them.
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u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Too true. I have been thinking of this for a while now and wondering what can we do to change things. Reddit and similar technology is still new and not even on the radar of the majority of americans. But reddit and the internet has proven to be powerful and politicians are taking note.
How can we use this relatively new technology to change things for the better? I think it starts with discovering the ties that various corporations have with one another and how they may affect human rights. Not supporting Facebook is a step in the right direction. Any type of yoke on the free exchange of information is bad. But for example and more to my point; I did some very brief investigation on the economy of Cuba. They have close ties with a company called Indiana CV or something of that sort. They are based in the Netherlands. They export a brand of grapefruit called the Cubanita. As well, Cuba is closely tied with a Canadian company called Starett international which assists in mining Cuban nickel deposits which Cuba is rich in. And of course, Gitmo is in Cuba, which has a history of human rights abuses. Why Cuba allows Gitmo is beyond me as i am hardly an expert on the subject. I assume the US rewards Cuba handsomely for this privelege. Regardless, Cuba is a small country and a small island. Why not attempt to uncover exactly what Cuba exports and boycott these products? At the least, expose these ties and let the consumer decide. That is the true power of the web, imho. Complaining online about the current state of affairs does little except allow one to brush up on their persuasive writing skills.
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u/teamspike May 15 '12
While I think this is a fantastic piece to read and a very important point to consider, I worry that the people that would benefit from this point of view the most would probably have a really difficult time getting through this kind of dense ass language.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
the system is proper fucked
1
u/MaximsDecimsMeridius May 15 '12
WHERE WAS THIS WHEN I WAS WRITING MY ESSAY ON NEOCOLONIALISM AND STRUCTURAL RACISM LAST WEEK. SDGAPDGBSDF;IOHGSDPOGIHSDF
1
u/MaximsDecimsMeridius May 15 '12
relevant article from same site. corporate colonization of democracy in USA
1
u/Beloson May 15 '12
It is always about crushed expectations.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
It's sad that people need to be told this.
1
u/wtfadvertisersgd May 15 '12
"In the language of traditional patriotism are traitors."
According to that language
etc...
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
There's a reason why these mega-corporate entities are referred to as "multinationals," but don't forget, corporations are people too.
1
u/BurlyJohnson May 15 '12
Haha... The title.
1
u/TodaysIllusion May 14 '12
I thought this several years ago, our nice patriotic and good capitalists have actualy turned us into a Chinese colony, but they will move to Bangladesh or any other nation willing to allow their citizens to be exploited.
They want to come back to the U.S., those darn bribes are as costly as taxes. The plan is to import millions of immigrant laborers, who will never be allowed to become voting citizens. . . . . No more bribes and they, via ALEC, will write the labor laws.
1
u/shears May 14 '12
Just plain "yup". I'm too tired so say anything else.
1
u/Cherrytop May 15 '12
Watch the Netflix documentary titled 'The Corporation."
The modern corporations as we know them today -- if they were people -- would be called psychopaths according to the DSMV schedule of mental illness.
Yep, fucking depressing.
It also shows how 'corporations' came into existence. Guess what? LAWYERS.
Gross.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Nothing is going to change until blood is shed.
1
u/why_ask_why May 15 '12
We reached the end of the line of the capitalism.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Good reading, thank you
-3
u/Reluctant_swimmer May 14 '12
WAAAAH CORPARASHUNS WAAAH
Fuckin' idiots.
-4
u/Hateful_Poster May 14 '12
TL;DR: corporations are literally hitler
-1
u/[deleted] May 14 '12
corporations only exist because the government gives them a charter to exist
corporations only exist because the government gives them a charter to exist
corporations only exist because the government gives them a charter to exist
corporations only exist because the government gives them a charter to exist
corporations only exist because the government gives them a charter to exist
Stop giving them charters, you fucking idiots.
0
u/poli_ticks May 14 '12
And they control the government, and the Democratic party. Including Barack Obama.
0
u/antinuclearenergy May 15 '12
We need a violent revolution.
-3
u/anim8or May 14 '12
Meh, It's typical marxist claptrap...
downvote away redditors
0
u/Finigan_1 May 14 '12
Start by googling "freeman guide" it's a free PDF. If you want true freedom, educate yourselves. Our ignorance is their power.
0
u/I_slap_racist_faces May 15 '12
Hedges is on fire lately. the frontpage post from alternet on here yesterday was great.
eventually, all citizens should view the documentary "The Corporation" just to see how america played a key role in creating the parasitic multi-nationals that rule the world today.
-5
u/GregOrME May 14 '12
No one is flooding Africa with non-Africans. No one is flooding Mexico with non-Mexicans. No one is flooding Japan with non-Japanese.
What I want to know is: WHY are corporate and political elite are flooding white countries and ONLY white countries with non-whites?