Nothing better shows corporate control over the government than Washington's basic response to the current economic crisis. First, we had "the rescue", then "the recovery". Trillions in public money flowed to the biggest US banks, insurance companies, etc. That "bailed" them out (is it just me or is there a suggestion of criminality in that phrase?), while we waited for benefits to "trickle down" to the rest of us.Of course, the real reason is much more fundamental than tax avoidance by the corporations and the rich. This is an effect, not a cause. But, of course, this liberal media outlet, and anyone that works for them, can't go that far.
The twin pillars of capitalism, the right to "own" economic enterprises and the sanctity of contracts, have created a small class of people whose material interests are fundamentally opposed to the majority. The private "ownership" of socially produced wealth by individuals has allowed the latter to appropriate ever greater portions of this wealth. The growing concentration of ownership that has naturally occurred over the capitalist period has created a class of people who have at their disposal tremendous powers of influence and instruments of coercion. During this period this has resulted in the rich becoming ever richer and the poor ever poorer. This fundamental social contradiction is now being played out in the horrific insurrections in North Africa and the Middle East, and we will be seeing this class war here in the US. The protests in Madison, Wisconsin are only the beginning.
