Nicholas Louw (“Bush plans to create culture of
ownership,” Oct. 21) believes that “the tendency for
people to rely on others for their well-being is a source of
self-destruction and that it perpetuates diminished opportunity as
a consequence of apathy.”
I completely agree, but with one exception ““ dependency is
self-destructive only depending on whose hands you’re in.
What Louw fails to address is that by stripping government of its
power, we are cutting the chains that bind a much more dangerous,
much craftier beast ““ the corporation.
Every time you watch a Lakers game broadcast live from the
Staples Center on your Magnavox television, sitting on your
La-Z-Boy chair, and you flip the channel to ESPN SportsCenter, only
to find a commercial for Budweiser, you are experiencing an ominous
corporate presence.
“These companies aren’t that bad,” you say.
Hey, if it weren’t for them, where would we be? Living in
dirt huts?
While corporations have brought many conveniences to our daily
lives, I argue that to bring us these luxuries, we tend to ignore
that corporations attempt to take control of everything we do, see
and think.
“Why do corporations want such power?” you may ask.
For the sole purpose of maximizing the wealth of their
shareholders. In fact, it is illegal for a corporation to do
anything that does not directly benefit the shareholders.
This is why corporations perform actions such as paying the
legal fees associated with an oil spill rather than the more
expensive route of mopping up the spill. It’s also why they
neglect to raise wages for the sweatshop laborers who make your
Nikes.
In other words, it’s OK for corporations to harm you and
other people around the world, as long as the companies turn a
profit.
Enron, a major contributor to the Bush administration in the
last election cycle, has been accused of helping to manufacture an
artificial energy shortage that drove the price of electricity and
the company’s profits sky high at the expense of
Californians.
The major shareholder of a subsidiary of Bechtel ““ a major
benefactor of the reconstruction contracts in Iraq ““ took
over the water system in Bolivia and sold it back to the
country’s citizens for a profit, making it illegal for some
Bolivians to catch company-owned rainwater.
IBM likely ignored the plight of Jews during the Holocaust while
servicing punch-card machines in Nazi death camps.
Are these the socially, morally responsible things to do? No.
But the corporation doesn’t care. It can cover its
metaphorical behind by paying the legal fees. And then it can go
back to business as usual since people will still demand its
products.
When Louw states that “our private property rights come
second to the needs of society,” you can easily substitute
“our” for “corporate.” The U.S. government
answers to U.S. citizens. With lax corporate laws, corporations
answer to themselves. With government control, corporations are
restrained by government, which is ultimately controlled by you,
the voter.
Now if the only thing holding these creatures back from
domination and destruction at your expense is the leash of the
government, would you want to cut them loose?
President Bush supports scaling back and removing legislation
that keeps corporations in check. He poses this as a fight for
individual freedom.
To me, freedom in the United States is dictated by the people of
the country, through representational government and the laws
enacted to protect us. Freedom is not handing over our power to the
unrestrained, morally irresponsible will of the corporation.
Bush sees a culture of ownership for the United States. Do we
want to live in a world where corporations own the water we drink
or even our DNA? It’s already happening.
What do many Bush supporters say to all this? They try to play
down the claims, spinning the charges by saying, “The
Democrats do it too,” or flat-out deny it, saying the
accusers are full of lies and deceit. My guess is the majority of
Bush supporters are not even aware there is a problem.
I would rather vote for a candidate who will restore the
restraints that keep corporations at bay. I support a candidate who
will never hand over my power through the government and give it to
a select rich few. Down to my last breath of McAir.
Cholfin is a fourth”“year paleobiology
student.