Palin, Nader, & Augustus Agree the Problem is “Corporate Socialism”

Corporate Socialism, after B. Lebedev
Image by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via Flickr

Duke Augustus was pleasantly surprised last night to hear former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin describe the US economy as “Corporate Socialism.”  This a a term that the Duke has been using for years to describe the US economy.  And a term that a quick Google search show was also used by Ralph Nader. The concept is simple.  The US has not had a capitalist economy since the first Europeans landed.  Classical Capitalism requires buyers and sellers with equal power and equal information.  Instead, the US has an economy planned by a small group, the classical definition of socialism.  That small group is not a politburo.  It is a klatch of large corporations.  Hence “corporate socialism.”

Duke Augustus agrees with Palin’s first conclusion.  That once we recognize that our economy is “corporate socialism”, it is clear that the bailouts are merely self-dealing by the oligarchs who run the economy.  The bailouts do not favor the flesh and blood citizens.  After all, large corporations do not make jobs — small and medium size companies are the job engines of the US economy.  Large corporations do not invest in the US economy.  They don’t even pay taxes.  These large corporations hide any profits they get in off-shore tax shelters and then use the tax rebates they get to lobby the US Congress to give them a tax holiday to bring these sheltered profits back while only paying a 5% tax. 

This is where Governor Palin and Duke Augustus (and probably Ralph Nader) part ways.  The governor thinks that in exchange for no longer giving the corporations bailouts that we should stop taxing them.  We should give up giving them something they never should have got, in exchange for stopping bothering them about dodging paying taxes.  That’s like saying if you stop robbing banks, we won’t prosecute you for tax fraud.  Huh?

Maybe the Governor does not understand that corporations are creations of the state.  The only way to create a corporation is to get permission of the state.  In exchange for limited liability, the corporation is supposed to act in the public good.  Somewhere along the line this has gotten all messed up.  Now corporations are only supposed to act for the good of their shareholders, who have already gotten the benefit of limited liability.  And in exchange for that limited liability the public gets nothing.

And the deal with US corporations has gotten worse for the public.  Because a 19th century Supreme Court Justice misread commentary on a prior case as giving life to corporations, they now have the rights of flesh-and-blood people.  Here’s where the Duke returns to a concept the Governor mentioned.  Yes, let’s “cut the corporations loose.”  Let’s stop treating them as human beings.  Let’s get the corporations and their lobbyists out of our elections. Elections are for flesh-and-blood people.   Let’s stop the corporations from clogging up our courts, especially the Supreme Court.  Courts are meant to adjudicate the rights of flesh-and-blood people.  Let’s stop pretending that corporations are people protected under the Constitution. Where are the original intentionalists when you need them?  The authors of the US Constitution would be ROTFLMAO if you had told them that the hard-fought Bill of rights was drafted for corporations.   It’s taken 2 centuries of struggle to give rights under the Constitution to flesh-and-blood humans other than rich, white males.  Why do corporations get a free pass?  Wait a minute, who runs those corporations?

And what has this go to do with peace?  Who controls the Democratic/Republican parties that have been pushing the US into more and more war? Who benefits the most when the US goes to war? Corporate War Profiteers.   Who especially benefits from all the oil wars that are killing the US economy?  Corporate Oil Companies.

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