The Sage Observer

Our Government of the Corporatocracy and Power Elite

          As you know, I have been talking about this subject for a very long time now. You may even be growing tired of hearing about it—probably are. But I really hope not. This should mean so very much to you, your children, your grandchildren, and all who follow whom you love. As I think about it, even those you don’t. Really! Our very democracy is at stake.

          As we look back over our nation’s history since its founding, we have come a long way, and we have changed mightily. Notwithstanding the many similarities that remain just below the surface, there is little comparison of what we were then to what we are as a people and a nation today. We were born on a farm, an agrarian people, raised in the city during the industrial revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and graduated to the current age of technology in which we live, today. We have seen an agricultural revolution, an industrial revolution, a revolution in technology; and, continuing throughout, not the least of which included a civil war, and a political and social revolution.

One can argue the details; but, essentially, our country was born in an age of mercantilism at the advent of capitalism which has given us the highest standard of living in the history of the world. It has, also, given us some of the deepest and longest depressions along with abject misery. Today we are seeing that what it has given us on the one hand, it has taken away with the other—a rapidly increasing disparity between the very rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots, unemployment, poverty, and misery. As prophesied by Joseph A. Schumpeter in his book, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, we are on the brink of seeing the self destruction of capitalism (just as we saw the self destruction of Socialism through Communism) and its evolution into an oligarchy of fascism—the death of democracy and our democratic republic. Those of you who are old enough surely remember Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini in the 1930’s and 40’s.

          Recently, PBS, The Public Broadcasting Service, an American broadcast television network, presented a program titled “The Roosevelts”, a commentary summarizing their history and that of our country from the beginning of the twentieth century through the end of World War II. It displays for all to see a picture of the rise in the Corporatocracy during the twentieth century and the great depression of the thirties. Before that, “tack on” the rise in the Corporatocracy in the eighteen hundreds and the following great depression of 1873. After that, “tack on” the rise again of the Corporatocracy in the last quarter of the twentieth century and the great recession of the first part of the twenty-first. In conjunction with that, take note of the great prosperity in this country during the fifties and sixties, the age of the middleclass, the greatest prosperity in the history of our nation, an age, relatively speaking, when the Corporatocracy was at a low point.

Now, look to the present. I ask you. With the Corporatocracy in control once again, where is the prosperity of the people now. I’ll tell you. It’s “down the drain”. The middle class is disappearing; the underclass is growing larger and larger, the top one percent has exploded, and we have millions of people (not on the books) unemployed, and many, men, women, and children homeless, sleeping in shelters, cars, under bridges, and on the streets while we walk around and over them every day. And where are the jobs? The answer is, they have been outsourced to slave labor overseas while many, too many, of the jobs that remain are priced at starvation wages. Just look at current welfare costs. Exclude corporate welfare, however, in your observation, as it is so great it obscures the welfare of the people.

          Am I opposed to business? No! Absolutely not! We need business. We need leaders. But we need them to serve the needs of man—to serve us. That is why man created business. That is why God created people with leadership abilities. We need business to serve. We need men (elected by the people) to lead. What we don’t need is for them to rule us. Service must be their priority—not profit. Profit is necessary. It is an expense of doing business (I have said this before) just like the rent or the electric light bill, wages, insurance, etc. The good of the nation, the good of the people—must be the objective of all. Rape and pillage of the people through theft and speculation by the Corporatocracy and Plutocracy (the Power Elite) is not acceptable.

          What do we do about this? How do we do it? We do it by doing our job as citizens in a democracy. Citizens have responsibilities beyond their back yard.

For one, we need, once and for all, to determine the direction in which our country should go and go there. Shifting back and forth, changing direction, every four or eight years is ludicrous and, in the end, unproductive and expensive. 

Next, we need to change our elected representatives, most of them anyway, getting rid of those who are just in their jobs for their own interests. We need representatives with values (we need people with values, too) who will sincerely represent the interests of the people.

Third, we need to amend our Constitution, keeping our Declaration of Independence, Preamble, Bill of Rights, and proceed from there. To this end, our first priority must be to take private money out of politics—every penny, lock, stock, and barrel. History has proven, if one penny is left, the thieves will find a way around the rules. All campaign financing must be paid through the medium of taxation. In conjunction with this, we need an amendment to provide for comprehensive voting law reform, which among other things; will eliminate the Electoral College and political gerrymandering thereby enabling the will of the people. I also believe every citizen should be allowed to vote, including convicted felons who have paid their debt to society, upon presentation of proper legal identification. Let us return to being a democratic republic of the people, by the people, and for the people. Let the people govern our nation—not multinational corporations and world governments. The foregoing are the greatest and most important issues facing our nation today because they are the very essence of our democracy, our democratic republic.

It is an obvious problem in our nation that we are badly in need of tax reform. Everybody, in one way or the other, needs the services of government, but they don’t want to pay for them. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, December 4, 1902 thru January 12, 1932, is quoted as having said, “I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.” The fact is (everybody knows this) our government needs revenues to provide the services our people need from government, and those revenues must come from the people and business. To that end, it is only fair that everyone must contribute to those revenues according to their ability to pay, and that ability must be determined by one’s income and wealth. Your politics notwithstanding, everyone knows that our tax laws are way out of kilter and obsolete; and everyone is not paying their fair share in accordance with their ability to pay. Everyone knows this. This needs and must be changed. We must increase the rates within our progressive system of personal taxation, and the effective rates of taxation upon corporations must be adjusted to reality, including the elimination of loopholes and corporate welfare. Corporate inversions must be controlled, if not eliminated, and our lost corporate revenues must be recovered even if we need to increase tariffs on imports to compensate for their loss.

Presently, our Constitution provides for only the Civil Rights of the people. The emphasis is on individuality. What it has not provided for, to date, is the Social Rights of the people (most do not recognize that). Socially, in conjunction with our emphasis, civilly, on individuality, the rule is survival of the fittest (let the devil take the hindmost). We need, in amending our Constitution, to provide for Social Security and Disability Protection, Public Access to Single Payer National Healthcare modeled after Medicare, National Unemployment Insurance, and Public Education, among others.  I have suggested taxpayer paid education pre K through the first four years of college or vocational school, which ever the student chooses, the goal being gainful employment for all. The details can be worked out but attendance would be mandatory with severe penalties for non-participation. Also, there must be no discrimination, money or otherwise. There must be equal opportunity for all. The results will more than pay for the expense in reduced welfare, prison population, and increased standard of living for the country as a whole. Did we not see comparable results from the GI Bill? That’s how I acquired my education. There was no silver spoon in my mouth when I was born at the bottom of the great depression. I was almost homeless.

We need to restore equal opportunity to our people—all the people. This does not mean guaranteed success. It means equal opportunity for success for all. As we are now, equal opportunity is a myth.

In the mean time, this is Ronald Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com signing off. Email me at mtss86@comcast.net.

P.S. Did I mention or say anything above about us needing war? I don’t think so. Although we might come to such, it should be only under our lifesaving need. War is negative productivity, gaining nothing in the long run except for the Corporatocracy and Power Elite. Really. What did we gain in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.?