Corporatism
December 15, 2005
I read today that Germany's ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroder has launched a corporate career. This isn't surprising; political hacks the world over are on corporate payrolls while in office. Gerhard is simply extending his corporate career, since governance is the corporate way. The masses are simply democratic window dressing serving as cannon fodder to expand and protect global enterprise when needed. Most of the time, we consume the output of our politicians' sponsors, especially, at Christmas.
I think it was in 2001, when Jim Hightower, the Texas maverick, wrote, "Politicians should be required to wear the corporate logos of their biggest contributors on their clothes like NASCAR drivers, so we'd know who they sold out to." Some politicians, like Bush, Cheney, DeLay, would have more logos than suits showing. Think how clarifying it would be to know, just by looking, what the game was all about. The posturing, the true meaning behind the piety would fall away. Might as well extend the practice to judicial robes as well.
As it stands now, corporate democracy has little in common with the roots of democracy established in the 18th century. Actually, military personnel should also be logo ensconced. They'd know why they were shedding their blood and the blood of others . . . Chevron/Texaco, Halliburton, Lockheed, GM, and so on.
I'm finding the Dean Reed book intriguing because it looks at the life of an individual I knew via the evolution of his political thought over a few decades. While his road would not be my road, at least he acted upon his concerns. While the word, corporatism, wasn't used during Dean's years, he saw the writing on the wall.
Picks of the day:
Bolivia's election deserves a history lesson
"The prospect of socialist peasant leader Evo Morales as Bolivia's next president disturbed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Charles Shapiro. 'It would not be welcome news in Washington to see the increasingly belligerent Cuban-Venezuelan combo become a trio,' he emailed on October 21, 2005 to the Miami Herald's Andres Oppenheimer (Dec 4, 2005)."
Good one to read through to remind us of US politicians pushing corporate interests. Maybe we'll have to sink further into a two class society before we appreciate what democracy really is.
Forest salvation
"The ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest are a multi-layered complex carbon storehouse to rival the tropical rainforests. If the US would join the rest of the world in implementing the Kyoto agreement, we could offset some of our greenhouse gas emissions with what is left of our old growth forests. But just like Papua New Guinea, the timber pirates, along with the oil men and other resource extractors 'have their tentacles in virtually every orifice of government, and to some respect can be said to be running the country.'
"Last week, the Washington Post reported that US chief climate negotiator Harlan Watson was essentially nominated for the position by Exxon Mobil. This is just one more indication of the extent to which the United States government has been body-snatched by corporate interests."
Talk about serendipity!
"Body-snatched by corporate interests" captures the reality of our government.
The real Christmas scandal
"Following the teachings of Jesus, who condemned the actions of those who put public piety before care for the poor, a group of over 200 religious leaders came to Washington yesterday to protest the House budget, which they called 'the real Christmas scandal.'"
Back in 60s, I had a pin that read, "Kill a commie for Christ." Now, under BushCo it would read, "Starve a poor person for Christ." Well, there'd also be the "Kill a terrorist for Christ" pin as well.
Does 30,000 mean anything to Bush?
"On Monday, for the first time, Bush acknowledged that his Iraq War has taken a large toll on the Iraqi people. But he fobbed it off as if it were nothing."
Because, for him, it is nothing. Anyway, some estimates are much higher, 100,000.
Global Eye
"So now we know: Next time the fire will come in Iran. The blow will be delivered by proxy, but that will not spare the true perpetrator from the firestorm of blowback and unintended consequences that will follow. Even now, the gruesome deaths of many innocent people in many lands are growing in futurity's womb.
"The Rubicon of the new war was crossed on Oct. 27. Oddly enough for this renewal of the ancient enmity between the heirs of Athens and Persia, the decisive event occurred on the edge of the Arctic Circle, at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, where a Russian rocket lifted an Iranian spy satellite, the Sinah-1, into orbit. This launch, scarcely noticed at the time, has accelerated the inevitable strike on Iran's nuclear facilities: Israel is now readying an attack for no later than the end of March, The Sunday Times reports."
Perpetual war fueled by insatiable greed and religious fervor.
Pentagon's domestic spying operations target opponents of Iraq war
"As Congress moves toward passage of a bill to extend the USA Patriot Act, scattered reports are surfacing in the US media of a massive expansion of domestic spying operations by the US military. The reports make clear that US citizens engaged in peaceful and legal political activity in opposition to the war in Iraq and aggressive military recruiting tactics are being monitored by military intelligence agencies and included in rapidly expanding secret data banks."
Assuming the mantle of the Gestapo in the war on freedom.
Pentagon rolls out stealth PR
"A $300 million Pentagon psychological warfare operation includes plans for placing pro-American messages in foreign media outlets without disclosing the U.S. government as the source, one of the military officials in charge of the program says."
I read today that Germany's ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroder has launched a corporate career. This isn't surprising; political hacks the world over are on corporate payrolls while in office. Gerhard is simply extending his corporate career, since governance is the corporate way. The masses are simply democratic window dressing serving as cannon fodder to expand and protect global enterprise when needed. Most of the time, we consume the output of our politicians' sponsors, especially, at Christmas.
I think it was in 2001, when Jim Hightower, the Texas maverick, wrote, "Politicians should be required to wear the corporate logos of their biggest contributors on their clothes like NASCAR drivers, so we'd know who they sold out to." Some politicians, like Bush, Cheney, DeLay, would have more logos than suits showing. Think how clarifying it would be to know, just by looking, what the game was all about. The posturing, the true meaning behind the piety would fall away. Might as well extend the practice to judicial robes as well.
As it stands now, corporate democracy has little in common with the roots of democracy established in the 18th century. Actually, military personnel should also be logo ensconced. They'd know why they were shedding their blood and the blood of others . . . Chevron/Texaco, Halliburton, Lockheed, GM, and so on.
I'm finding the Dean Reed book intriguing because it looks at the life of an individual I knew via the evolution of his political thought over a few decades. While his road would not be my road, at least he acted upon his concerns. While the word, corporatism, wasn't used during Dean's years, he saw the writing on the wall.
Picks of the day:
Bolivia's election deserves a history lesson
"The prospect of socialist peasant leader Evo Morales as Bolivia's next president disturbed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Charles Shapiro. 'It would not be welcome news in Washington to see the increasingly belligerent Cuban-Venezuelan combo become a trio,' he emailed on October 21, 2005 to the Miami Herald's Andres Oppenheimer (Dec 4, 2005)."
Good one to read through to remind us of US politicians pushing corporate interests. Maybe we'll have to sink further into a two class society before we appreciate what democracy really is.
Forest salvation
"The ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest are a multi-layered complex carbon storehouse to rival the tropical rainforests. If the US would join the rest of the world in implementing the Kyoto agreement, we could offset some of our greenhouse gas emissions with what is left of our old growth forests. But just like Papua New Guinea, the timber pirates, along with the oil men and other resource extractors 'have their tentacles in virtually every orifice of government, and to some respect can be said to be running the country.'
"Last week, the Washington Post reported that US chief climate negotiator Harlan Watson was essentially nominated for the position by Exxon Mobil. This is just one more indication of the extent to which the United States government has been body-snatched by corporate interests."
Talk about serendipity!
"Body-snatched by corporate interests" captures the reality of our government.
The real Christmas scandal
"Following the teachings of Jesus, who condemned the actions of those who put public piety before care for the poor, a group of over 200 religious leaders came to Washington yesterday to protest the House budget, which they called 'the real Christmas scandal.'"
Back in 60s, I had a pin that read, "Kill a commie for Christ." Now, under BushCo it would read, "Starve a poor person for Christ." Well, there'd also be the "Kill a terrorist for Christ" pin as well.
Does 30,000 mean anything to Bush?
"On Monday, for the first time, Bush acknowledged that his Iraq War has taken a large toll on the Iraqi people. But he fobbed it off as if it were nothing."
Because, for him, it is nothing. Anyway, some estimates are much higher, 100,000.
Global Eye
"So now we know: Next time the fire will come in Iran. The blow will be delivered by proxy, but that will not spare the true perpetrator from the firestorm of blowback and unintended consequences that will follow. Even now, the gruesome deaths of many innocent people in many lands are growing in futurity's womb.
"The Rubicon of the new war was crossed on Oct. 27. Oddly enough for this renewal of the ancient enmity between the heirs of Athens and Persia, the decisive event occurred on the edge of the Arctic Circle, at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, where a Russian rocket lifted an Iranian spy satellite, the Sinah-1, into orbit. This launch, scarcely noticed at the time, has accelerated the inevitable strike on Iran's nuclear facilities: Israel is now readying an attack for no later than the end of March, The Sunday Times reports."
Perpetual war fueled by insatiable greed and religious fervor.
Pentagon's domestic spying operations target opponents of Iraq war
"As Congress moves toward passage of a bill to extend the USA Patriot Act, scattered reports are surfacing in the US media of a massive expansion of domestic spying operations by the US military. The reports make clear that US citizens engaged in peaceful and legal political activity in opposition to the war in Iraq and aggressive military recruiting tactics are being monitored by military intelligence agencies and included in rapidly expanding secret data banks."
Assuming the mantle of the Gestapo in the war on freedom.
Pentagon rolls out stealth PR
"A $300 million Pentagon psychological warfare operation includes plans for placing pro-American messages in foreign media outlets without disclosing the U.S. government as the source, one of the military officials in charge of the program says."
posted by Jerry | 8:40 PM
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