- by Alan Adaschik

Modern corporations span the globe and possess resources that exceed that of many governments. The only protection people have against the excesses of these rich and powerful organizations is government and the only thing which ensures that a government does this is its constitution. However, this protection will be there only if the constitution in question is a viable and functional document.

Once a constitution is compromised in any manner, even to the slightest degree, it has failed and having failed once, is useless for the prime function for which it was written; controlling government. A government with a failed constitution is free to pick and choose which provisions it will obey and which it will not. Like dominos, one by one, key provisions will be violated until the government in question is out of control and those elected to serve are free to sell themselves and their nation to the highest bidder.

So it is in the United States of America. Corporate thinking totally dominates every aspect of our government and indeed, the situation has progressed to the point where our government works for our corporate masters instead of us. Unfortunately, far too many Americans have no problem with this state of affairs because they are blind to the difference between capitalism, our prevailing economic system and our government which we created to govern our affairs and provide essential services necessary for our common good. Two of the most important services provided by a government are defense and leveling the playing field between competing elements in society.

There are grave consequences for society when corporations dominate government. Corporations exist to earn profits. To do so they seek advantage in the market place. This goal is at cross purposes with government's prime function of leveling the playing field and when corporations call the shots, this important responsibility is grievously compromised. However, in order for this to happen accountability must also be compromised. With accountability gone corruption will thrive and eventually engulf every aspect and area of government. This is our situation in America today. Our government not only keeps secrets on matters of national security, but also hides how it works and makes decisions so we will not have a clue about what it is doing. Our government is now so corrupt that we are no longer just customers of corporations, but their victims as well.

A corporation is run by a President or Chief Executive Officer. This individual is responsible only to his board of directors and is in total charge of every aspect of the corporation he heads. In other words, a CEO is a dictator. He "decides" and everyone else obeys. In a republic, a President is responsible to a congress of elected representatives who serve as the nation's board of directors. When corporations take over government, this key check and balance breaks down because both congress and the president are controlled by the same people. The end result of this is that a nation's President will be transformed from being an administrator with well defined and limited responsibilities, to a dictator in total control of everything that a government does. In the United States today, President Bush, "The Decider", has dismantled almost every check and balance which controlled and limited the prerogatives of his office. He truly has become a dictator, above the law and answerable only to the special interests who were instrumental in getting him elected.

This state of affairs is truly regrettable not only because Americans no longer have a say in how we are governed, but also because our government only addresses issues which are important to corporations, ignores important issues critical to the common good, and when push comes to shove, sides with the corporations when the interests of citizens and corporations clash. Of late, the best examples of this are our border with Mexico, environmental concerns, global warming, and over-population.

In the past, most corporations operated within the confines of national boundaries and their markets were defined by those boundaries. As a result, corporate executives had no problem with the concept of nationhood as it once existed. However, now that globalization is upon us, national boundaries are an inconvenience and an annoyance to a corporation. Therefore, they want them ignored and dissolved which is exactly what President Bush is doing to our border with Mexico. And he is doing this against the will of the American people. What Americans want is not what global corporations want, but because they are in charge, we do not stand a snowball's chance in hell of ever having our will prevail over theirs. This truth speaks volumes about the democracy we think we have and take so much pride in.

Congress pays lip service to stopping the flood of illegal immigrants while our President does nothing to stop it. But the situation is far worse than this. In defiance of the wishes of the American people and in disregard of the provisions of our Constitution, presently President Bush is forging an economic union with Canada and Mexico that will dissolve our borders even more and reduce being an American to something akin to being a fan of a baseball or football team. The team is there and people take pride in being associated with its name, but the relationship is meaningless and of no real consequence to anyone. Most Americans would not vote for or approve of this economic union, but it is happening anyway because this is what our corporate masters want.

Presently, George Bush has the worst record on environmental and quality of life issues than any other President in history. He has insured that the revolving door between private industry and governmental regulatory agencies is well oiled and swinging freely. From the exploitation and sell off of public lands to the wholesale corruption of governmental agencies created to protect the public's interest, there is no limit to the abominations and atrocities that George Bush and his corporate cronies are ramming down our throats. And Congress sits back and does nothing while this happens. Every time that President Bush refuses to obey a law passed by Congress or issues a signing statement that nullifies the law being passed, he is in contempt of Congress and should be impeached. Does any of this concern Congress? Of course not, because both our President and Congress bow to the same corporate masters. It is not likely that Congress will reign in a President who is doing the bidding of the same people who control Congress?

The threat of global warming and its inevitable consequences has been known to modern science since the nineteen fifties. We are now over fifty years down the road from the first scientific evidence that global warming was happening and only recently has our Federal Government acknowledged the phenomenon. And even now their candor did not come about because the threat is real, but instead, because the problem has become so clearly evident that it cannot be denied any longer. However, despite acknowledging its existence and despite the clear and present danger to us all, the Federal Government is still doing nothing to address the problem. Nothing, nada, zilch, zero! We spend billions to fight a war of subjugation in a foreign nation, but do nothing to fight a threat that is far more dangerous than world terrorism.

This bitter irony exists because corporations believe that taking steps to counter global warming will reduce profits and affect their ability to plunder and exploit the world's resources. Therefore, they are against the science of global warming and are spending huge sums of money to discredit not only the science but the scientists who work in this field. Al Gore, who has championed the case for global warming for most of his life, was Vice-President of the United States and even in this capacity our corporate masters were able to keep him from bringing this threat to the attention of the American people. Only now after leaving the public service is Mr. Gore finally able to freely serve the public by doing what he wasn't allowed to do as our Vice-President.

Fifty years of opportunity have passed. During those fifty years we could have addressed the problem of global warming when the solutions were relatively cheap and easy. Now the situation has progressed to the point where the solutions are no longer cheap and easy and even if we begin to make the sacrifices necessary to address the problem, we still will suffer its effects for years to come and indeed, the possibility exists that it may be too late to anything at all. Our corporate masters are directly responsible for the missed opportunity to address global warming sooner and for putting us in the terrible situation we now face. Profits are more important to them than anything including the quality of life on this planet and the well being of all human kind.

Nowhere is the depravity of corporate thinking and priorities more evident than when it comes to the issue of over-population. Over-population transcends global warming as an issue because it is the root cause of global warming. Furthermore, it is the underlying driving force behind every other serious problem that mankind presently faces. Flying in the face of these truths is the fact that corporations believe population growth is good for business. More people means cheap labor and more customers. Who cares that more people also results in more global warming, more pollution, more crowded roads, more crowded cities, more crime, more urban sprawl, more extinct wild life, less green space and a lower quality of life for all concerned with the exception, of course, of our corporate masters. Why should they care if you or I breathe noxious fumes while we sit in traffic for three or four light changes on the way to the store to buy a loaf of bread. Such mundane things are of no concern to them as they fly around in their corporate jets and are shuttled to their spacious mansions and mega-yachts by helicopter.

Presently, world population hovers at about 6 billion people. At this level, everything we have that makes life possible and worthwhile is being stretched to its limit and almost nothing we do is being done on a sustainable basis. Our climate, our food supply, our sources of clean drinkable water, the planets wildlife, and our quality of life are at risk. Presently, our Federal Government is doing nothing to address any of these problems because "it is bad for business". Their position is that we have no reason to be concerned about the future because such concerns will reduce corporate profitability. The truth be damned when there is money to be made by ignoring it.

World population is exploding. It took us four-thousand years to reach a population level of 6 billion people and at this level life on this planet as we know it is at risk. What will happen to us over the next fifty years as the world's population climbs to 9 billion people as presently projected? Is there any way for a reasonable person to deny that we are in for a disaster of biblical proportions? Incredibly, this is exactly what our corporate masters do because thinking otherwise puts profits at risk and because they believe their wealth and power will make them immune to the realities the rest of us are facing. Yes, this kind of thinking is absurd, but what do you expect from a group of people concerned only with making money and feathering their nests?

In conclusion, corporate thinking now reigns supreme over our government and has corrupted it to the point where it is a criminal enterprise. But our situation is far worse than this. Our government really is not our government, but a brain child of the New World Order that is only the shell of what it once was. The problem is that a corporate run world is nothing more than a dictatorship by people whose only motivations in life are to take advantage of others and increase their wealth and power. They more than any other group of people are the least qualified to rule and in consideration of the great challenges we face in an over-crowded and shrinking world, their short sighted and self-serving leadership will spell disaster for all of mankind.

In 1991, David Rockefeller said, "The supra-national sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries." By his statement clearly Mr. Rockefeller clearly demonstrates that he and his cronies are out of touch with reality. With people like this in charge at this critical time in history is a recipe for disaster, not only for Americans, but also for every other living thing on the planet. We have a difficult road ahead and the last thing we need is a cabal of amoral self-serving egotists not only making the road more difficult, but actively working to destroy every possible chance we have of succeeding.