Corporatocracy

Sep 14, 2010 08:27

I just learned this word, CORPORATOCRACY, and it wasn't by accident. I wanted to write about how corporations are more or less taking over the governance of our nation, and I assumed there was a word for it. After some Googling and a browse through Wikipedia I found it. It was much more obvious than I thought and that was a bit disappointing, but there is it.

So I want to write about this because I have an inkling of an idea about how to curb this influence and power. The free market needs boundaries. Not geographic ones, but political ones based on choice.

As evidenced by the market crash of 2008, large corporations can be a danger to society and to themselves. Limitless growth has been the American capitalist dream for decades if not centuries. The government has made attempts to place monitors and regulations onto corporations with limited success. However, soon enough the regulated became the regulators by way of political appointment and monetary influence and the whole system has begun to tail spin. But it's not the corporations that are going down, but the american consumer that now takes the hit. This process of governing has endless roadblocks and stopgaps comprised of "special interest groups" that pull all the stops and spare no expense to claim their stake. The groups are more often than not corporations with any amount of gain to be made through political leverage and law making. They can now bend the system to whatever end they require to allow themselves limitless growth.

So what's so bad about growing bigger? Well, look at Walmart's affect on the local businesses of rural towns. Look at the stronghold Verizon has on telecommunications with a virtual monopoly in many parts of the country. As anyone with knowledge of our economy will tell you, the small businesses are what keep this country going, and in my opinion are what make it great. 'Protecting small businesses' may be the #1 buzz phrase of every politician. Where does this desire to be a huge corporation come from? Just greed? The largest company in the world of nearly every industry resides in the US. But according to nearly everyone that's not what makes us great, and it's not what sustains us as the most wealthy and powerful nation on the globe.

Too often huge corporations will option to fight their battles with other corporations in the courtroom rather than in the market. The only real innovation now comes from smaller businesses that have to fight and innovate to stay alive. But they are frequently brought down at a whim by some conglomeration with relatively infinite money through the courts, or forced into settling losing their company and identity.

So where is the incentive to be a small business and stay that way? Why don't small businesses have stronger rights and access to the political process? Why not set limits on business rights as corporations get bigger and bigger? If a corporation should make the greedy choice to become so big then the consequences should be loss of political power. I'm not gonna dance around it, these people are greedy. Put political penalty on those that would have the non-constitutional power to affect our government (and our lives) for their own self interest.

Case and point. (Ars Technica)

_Charles

politics, gripe, philosophy

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