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07/05/2013 07:08:12 AM · #1 |
This was published today in the Cape Cod Times. Lawrence Brown is a local teacher and columnist. It's well worth a read on this anniversary of American independence.
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The Founders vs the Funders
By LAWRENCE BROWN
July 05, 2013
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country ... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."
— Attributed to Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864
After the Constitutional Convention, a lady asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of government we were getting and he famously answered, "A Republic — if you can keep it." Well, we're not keeping it. What's happening to our democracy is what's happening to the Internet. Hackers have figured out how to game the system, how to corrupt it for their own advantage.
We see it everywhere. The common thread is not differences in our faith; it's not about whether we're gay or straight, or whether our ancestors were African or Asian or Hispanic ... even though we've allowed ourselves to be divided over all these things.
It's about money. It's about the power of concentrated wealth — personal wealth and corporate wealth. Both of these have combined into what we call special interest wealth to overwhelm the voices of ordinary people.
Concentrated wealth existed in the colonies when our union was founded, and there were advocates from the very beginning to link political leverage to wealth and property. "The people who own the country ought to govern it," said signer John Jay, and individual states set their own requirements on how much property a citizen should own to vote or run for office. Black people were judged in the Constitution to be 3/5 of a human being, giving southern states more representation in the House without franchising black people politically.
By the 1890s, courts had ruled that corporations should be legally regarded as "persons," thereby extending to them various civil rights that citizens enjoy, such as the right to free speech. The door was open for corporate cash to flow into our electoral process. All the ingredients to realize Lincoln's nightmare scenario were in place but one, and that fell into place with the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling that opened the floodgates for corporate and special-interest money to pour into our electoral process.
Here's what we've got now. Nationwide, more than 4,000 deaths by murder and manslaughter are blamed on methamphetamine use. Total estimated national cost of the meth epidemic: more than $23 billion. In 2006, Oregon responded to its meth epidemic by requiring that pseudoephedrine (an ingredient in several cold remedies and in the illegal concoction of crystal meth) be sold only behind the counter with a doctor's prescription. Since the bill passed, Oregon saw a 96 percent decline in illegal meth labs, and a 40 percent drop in property crime.
But the pharmaceutical industry brings in over $600 million from the sale of pseudoephedrine. So after Oregon's howling success, Big Pharma money and lobbyists flooded into states considering following Oregon's lead. Pressure on individual legislators became unbearable. Results: of the 24 interested states, only one could pass legislation.
When investigators revealed shocking malpractices in some of our biggest industrialized farms, agricultural interests in several farming states pushed through "Ag-Gag" laws, making whistle-blowing illegal and permitting the agricultural industry to essentially regulate itself.
Meanwhile, Congress is quietly weakening the 2010 Dodd-Frank legislation written after the 2008 crash. After banking lobbyists donated over $1.3 million to key legislators, the referees are again leaving the field. One might be tempted to wonder if we've learned anything from the financial debacle that stripped millions of Americans of their economic security — and we have. We've learned that our government is corrupted, seriously if not fatally.
There must be a tipping point beyond which the interests of ordinary Americans are eclipsed by the financial contributions, media campaigns and organizational abilities of concentrated wealth. If we have not already passed such a point, we cannot be far from it.
Hope you enjoyed the Fourth.
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(Emphasis mine)
Message edited by author 2013-07-05 07:12:13. |
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07/05/2013 07:56:38 AM · #2 |
This article is so very correct and merely scratches the surface of the corruption in State and Federal governments. We are now governed by an elite class of plutocrats. They have sold out the middle class to corporate interests through free trade. Since the 1990's more than 50,000 manufacturers have packed up and left the country for Asian shores able to hire cheap labor and ship their wares back to our nation without paying tarrifs. The career politicians all manage to remain in office through the inflow of corporate lobby money. New politicians who get elected are instantly corrupted (Marco Rubio). This Republic is unfortunately no longer recognizable. There once was a dream called America.
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07/05/2013 08:20:40 AM · #3 |
Everyone wants change but no one wants to change. The demographic that realizes the problem and is the cause of the problem, won't do what it takes to fix the problem.
We keep buying shit.
Stop spending and start saving your money.
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07/05/2013 11:31:05 AM · #4 |
| The authenticity of the Lincoln quote is disputable, but the sentiment is not. |
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07/05/2013 11:48:19 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by Mike:
Everyone wants change but no one wants to change. The demographic that realizes the problem and is the cause of the problem, won't do what it takes to fix the problem.
We keep buying shit.
Stop spending and start saving your money. |
Tell the folks with no choice but to work at the local Walmart to stop complaining and start saving... |
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07/05/2013 11:57:52 AM · #6 |
Excellent column and so true. The middle class in this country is shrinking and no one seems to care
The rich get richer and the corporations and special interests control our government. Our government representatives could care less what the "people" want. |
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07/05/2013 12:26:09 PM · #7 |
| how much are we willing to sacrifice to force changes? we need another Martin Luther King, true indignation and the ability to sing. |
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07/05/2013 12:47:55 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by tnun:
how much are we willing to sacrifice to force changes? we need another Martin Luther King, true indignation and the ability to sing. |
Well, that's the problem isn't it?
Hell, I'm guilty - I have my bread and circus, and I'm admittedly somewhat content with it. |
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07/05/2013 03:58:24 PM · #9 |
Speaking of... How do you think the founders would feel about a government that doesn't know how to tell the truth?
Well done Senator, well done, thank you for helping us to see just how easily the state department lies.
Now, let me ask you this - no one would have even really CARED if he was out on a boat when shit went down, imagine how fantastic their lies when something actually important is at stake.
As was said previously, hackers have gamed the system, and there is no admin to stop them. |
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07/05/2013 04:48:44 PM · #10 |
nice share, bear!
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does any of this make sense...
* You can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally.
* You have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion.
* The only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got here is evolution, but the government stops a $15 million construction project to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction
* You have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor or check out a library book, but not to vote who runs the government.
* The government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt.
* Proposed in NYC: you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat.
* An 80-year-old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a woman in a hijab is only subject to having her neck and head searched.
* The government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more.
* A seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher’s "cute," but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable.
* Children are forcibly removed from parents who discipline them with spankings while children of addicts are left in filth and drug infested “homes”... you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.
* Hard work and success are met with higher taxes and more government intrusion, while not working is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid, subsidized housing and free cell phones.
* The government's plan for getting people back to work is to incentivize NOT working with 99 weeks of unemployment checks and no requirement to prove they applied but can’t find work.
* Being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you more "safe" according to the government.
sigh... |
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07/05/2013 05:23:16 PM · #11 |
| Gee, that list looks familiar. Not necessarily true, but familiar. |
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07/05/2013 05:37:46 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by scalvert:
Gee, that list looks familiar. Not necessarily true, but familiar. |
all food for thought. while some might seem hyperbolic, most are rooted in reality. |
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07/05/2013 06:00:30 PM · #13 |
| Just because something is rooted in reality does not mean it's a cause for alarm. |
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07/05/2013 06:11:58 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by scalvert:
Just because something is rooted in reality does not mean it's a cause for alarm. |
just more proof of not enough common sense. |
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07/05/2013 06:19:36 PM · #15 |
Skip, what is your point? The original discussion concerns something rather more profound than differences of belief, or of political correctness, or of common sense. Like Cory, I reckon that I am a little too comfortable to do anything about it, but am willing to entertain some serious wondering rather than petty righteous squabbling.
Message edited by author 2013-07-05 18:20:17. |
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07/05/2013 06:28:10 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by tnun:
Skip, what is your point? |
the point? these are just some of the things that happen when we, as citizens, do not stay informed or involved, when we let our governments run amok. as i said, food for thought. it's not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing, it's a matter of being uncomfortable enough to do something about it. |
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07/05/2013 06:45:26 PM · #17 |
Skip, I appreciate your examples for what they are, but they don't seem to be especially on target for the discussion I was trying to foster, which has to do with how entrenched financial interests have seized control of our (supposedly democratic) government in the most grotesque way imaginable. I don't even think it has to do any longer with "we citizens" staying "informed", because there's apparently no longer any way we can BE rationally informed. I have no idea what the solution is, but the situation is terrifying. Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Ag, Big Medicine, Big-every-fricking-thing are in charge of the country and running it on the principle that there's no higher motive than profits and the public welfare be damned.
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07/05/2013 07:00:40 PM · #18 |
| Yes, I'm terrified, not so much because these things are happening, but because we the people seem so helpless to really make any changes. We're a nation of lazy, comfortable citizens who don't believe things will actually get worse. I don't know what the answer is. |
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07/05/2013 07:22:49 PM · #19 |
I have had many discussions with a close friend of mine who really helped to break me of the spell of "idolatry" of a political party. It took some convincing to get out of the mode of defending one party over the other. Since I have become aware of the seriousness of the problem I have consistently asked him what exactly we could do as a citizenry to take action and effect change. He didn't have the answer either, but the one thing that can be done is what  Bear_Music has done here... inform the citizenry. Have the polite conversations. Be armed with the truth. Don't fall into the trap of hyperbole or inflammatory rhetoric.
I am sure  Skip meant well, but I don't even believe half of those type of stories printed in the news. I don't trust the news media one bit. Not Fox, not CNN, not MSNBC. All the networks and major media groups are guilty of manipulation. |
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07/05/2013 07:27:52 PM · #20 |
Here is a very quick video (2:15) to shed some more light on the problem and to help foster the discussion. It is about a year and a half old, but still very relevant.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeqKiY2cN08 |
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07/05/2013 07:44:33 PM · #21 |
@bear_music consider those things as examples of both the distractions/consequences of our subordination. any of those items can be argued to death, but to what end? to keep us distracted, to keep us from holding people accountable.
@el-roi as i said, some may be hyperbolized, but i can assure you the 7-yr-old being suspended is true, as well as the pop-tart gun story.
all the same, to put it on topic, i believe we could fight big-anything, if we'd collectively get off our asses and quit yelling at each other over smoke-screen issues. we've lost our sense of priorities and have become slave to hypocritical habits.
we order diet cola to go with our pizza, but we have no clue what chemicals are in either - and if we did, we'd eat neither. but we eat what we are fed because it's comfortable and we are too far removed from taking care of ourselves.
we want to help those who can't help themselves, but we don't know where to draw the line as to who needs how much help. the consequence? we leave it up to the government, and then we go around and around and around about whether enough or too much is being done. and in the mean time, very few of those who could use the help are getting any assistance in terms of developing type of literacy (financial, dietary, etc). and all our hand-wringing does nothing but sideline us while big-whatever keeps on doing what they're doing.
get the picture? all the time spent online, name-calling, justifying, rationalizing, wind-pissing, bashing, etc doesn't move anything forward. it just lets the players keep on playing us.
/rant. i'll get back to doing what i typically try to do: shut up and do good |
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07/05/2013 07:54:31 PM · #22 |
| yO SkIP, sorry if I snarked, Actually I DID snark, so sorry for snarking. Let us speak truth. |
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07/05/2013 08:08:45 PM · #23 |
| The only food for thought in that list is the reminder to continue to become a stronger independent thinker. |
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07/05/2013 08:29:00 PM · #24 |
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07/05/2013 08:51:09 PM · #25 |
I saw this last year and was like... WOW! It was one of those things that helped me understand the problem. Nice one. |
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