It comes down to values and power. The fate of America turns on the outcome of a contest between forces aligned behind two competing economic systems with dramatically different values, structures, and agendas. One is the greed-driven, money-serving corporate-ruled Wall Street Economy that measures its success exclusively by the financial profits it generates for the already rich. It neither acknowledges nor accepts responsibility for the economic, social, environmental, and political devastation it leaves in its wake.
The other economy is comprised of the democratic, community-rooted, market-based life-serving Main Street economies that ordinary people are rebuilding across the nation and around the world. This emerging New Economy measures success by its contribution to securing adequate and meaningful livelihoods for everyone in a balanced relationship to nature.
Huh. Interesting take, but the first paragraph seems to be an “Incredible Hulk” version of the second paragraph since the second paragraph describes what the Western World was like for quite a while.
This is why I always take issue with people telling me I’m anti-corporate—I’m not. I just believe in moderation. I’m 99% sure that if we go back in time with how corporations are run (not just to make as much money as possible, aka, not to the extreme) we’d see a return to the good old days of the American economy. I think we need to regulate the shit out of corporations, passing laws that prohibit any outsourcing of ANY and ALL jobs, ban tax incentives for businesses completely, make it a jailable offense to hire illegal immigrants, force environmental and worker safety standards, require products be made with materials ONLY found inside the country and put caps on executive salaries.
Will this kill a lot of businesses in the US? Damn right it will. But only the assholes. Good people who run businesses are already doing this sort of thing. RIGHT?
Oh, you say you’re a good person who is running a business that would be killed by this draconian, sweeping changes? Well, good riddance then. Because if you’re not caring about your workers, your customers, the environment, and you’re only in it for the money you can’t call yourself a good person.
We need to grow up and face the music. Our economy is falling apart around our ears and we’re mostly pretending it isn’t. Only sweeping changes like this will make a difference. We need to pull back from the extreme we’ve let the corporations get to.
Oh and the “emerging new economy” the original post refers to? I have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about. Nothing “market-based” ever has a “balanced relationship to nature.” We need to constantly ride the levels of regulation. Sometimes we need a bit more and sometimes a bit less, but clearly, we need a LOT more right now as corporations are just a bunch of sociopathic Godzillas.
