"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. ... corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." -Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 (letter to Col. William F. Elkins) Ref: "The Lincoln Encyclopedia", Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)
Which Bill runs the country, Clinton or Gates?
You might say that society is run by the government...So who runs the government?
It's usually claimed that it's you, the voter - as if choosing between two rich old men counts as control! Candidates are chosen by how much donation money they can bring into their political party. And who makes donations?
Imagine you're watching a drag race. One guy wins, so he's called the world's best driver - would you believe this? Or would you decide it's a better idea to take a closer look at their machine?
Who pays the politicians?
With all of the TV ads, signs, and conventions, the main way politicians are controlled is through donations to political campaigns.
Who donates to political campaigns?
The top ten donators, from the Mother Jones top ten:
By the end of last summer, no fewer than 10 congressional committees and subcommittees were investigating whether the Clinton administration's policy of allowing aerospace company Loral Space & Communications to launch satellites in China had helped advance Beijing's own missile technology research program. Following the scent, the media has focused its attention on the unfortunate object of the president's affections, Bernard L. Schwartz, the slight, bald, septuagenarian CEO of Loral.
Schwartz has given Democrats $1.4 million since 1991, during the Clinton years, and was a member of the Mother Jones 400 well before he became mired in this scandal ... As Mother Jones reported last year, he was honored on his 71st birthday with a private White House dinner. It's because of this access, Clinton's critics suggest, that the president rubber-stamped Loral's launches in China--even after Loral apparently ignored security procedures in 1996 by faxing Beijing a draft report about a Chinese rocket crash that destroyed a Loral satellite.
Lindner, 79, is the CEO of Chiquita Brands International. [Probably owns a central American a "banana republic" or two]
Do you see a pattern? Very wealthy, old (Average age: 65! I know we've got an aging population, but this is insane) CEOs and property owners (They include their wives' names to add confusion) give to political parties as a business transaction. (If they weren't shrewd, would they be rich? Okay, they probably still would, but that's not the point) It's like the former USSR: the economy and the government are controlled by the same old men!
Who else?
Much like fake charities that fund terrorists, many innocent looking "Christian" organizations fund hateful right-wingers. Take a look at the Orwellian monstrosities in bold:
Janet Folger, CRA's Director and creator of the so-called "Truth in Love" ad campaign, said on July 15, 1998, on ABC's "Nightline" that "I very much support" criminal penalties for homosexual contact. (Take a look at the "Truth about love" newsletter, that claimed that the "homosexual movement has already invaded our schools" and asserted that "children are being targeted for 'gay sex.'" In his newsletter, he published a photo of very young children under a headline reading: "Sex with Children? Homosexuals Say Yes!" (Though just which particular homosexual he was quoting was never mentioned!)
When Rev. Kennedy launched the Center for Reclaiming America in June of 1996, he wrote in a fundraising letter: "In this war for America's soul, Christians have defended their positions long enough. It is time to go on the offensive. It is time to win this war." (Notice the war theme again?)
Don Wildmon of the American Family Association, for example, warned his supporters, "Since homosexuals cannot reproduce, the only way for them to 'breed' is to RECRUIT! And who are their targets for recruitment? Children!" [emphasis in original]. Televangelist Pat Robertson has likened gays to Nazis. Focus on the Family's James Dobson has predicted that gays are going to oppress Christians. Anti-gay hatred is a staple of Religious Right organizations and figures.)
Largent's ties to the Religious Right are as extensive as any candidate for a House leadership position. He has served on the boards of the Christian Film and Television Commission, (Probably a group of censors) Oklahomans for Children and Families, and the Madison Project, a PAC operated by Religious
In addition, Largent has served as one of the national leaders of the so-called "parental rights" movement, an initiative that would make it more difficult to investigate child abuse cases (Irony!) and increase the power of the Religious Right to interfere with public school curriculum.
Largent recently sent letters of support to Reggie White, the controversial spokesman for the Family Research Council, and has spoken out strongly against gays and lesbians. "When you get to the facts that homosexual sex between men is an unhealthy lifestyle - totally unhealthy lifestyle - and that it's unnatural... I do believe it's an issue much like abortion where I don't think there's a middle ground," Largent said on the Lehrer News Hour this past July.
REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN: Both incumbent Rep. John Boehner (OH) and challenger Rep. J.C. Watts (OK) earned 100 percent ratings from the Christian Coalition, although one might argue that Watts is more of the Religious Right's darling. Watts was a speaker at this year's Christian Coalition "Road to Victory" Conference, and has spoken for each of the past two years at CEO America's pro-voucher conference.
HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Like the incumbent, Rep. Dick Armey (TX), Rep. Dunn (WA) and Rep. Largent (OK) each received 100 percent ratings in the latest Christian Coalition scorecard (for Dunn, this was an increase over her earlier rating of 83). Dunn received the highest American Conservative Union rating of any member of the House leadership last year, and has served on the Congressional Advisory Board of the Leadership Institute, a conservative entity headed by Morton Blackwell that trains and places conservatives in media and in government. While some Religious Right activists distrust Dunn because she opposes a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, Dunn's background suggests she is a conservative dressed in a moderate's clothing: "I have always been a proponent of softening our rhetoric," she once said. "I believe we can pursue the same positions we have been, but we don't need to be so harsh and scary about it." If they're being harsh and scary now, what she'd have to be advocating hypnosis!
How else does the aristocracy control the government?
Outside of elections, those that control a country's economy can simply hold it hostage. Thus politicians are always trying to be "business friendly". This is not because business would be "killed" by "business unfriendliness" (that would only mean less profits and pay for CEOs and executives) - it's because if a country isn't among the most eager to meet their demands, they'll take their money to somewhere that is. In this "race to the bottom", each country bids at a higher cost to their society (mainly through lower wages) - yet in the end the international-investment-auction has only one winner!
So when a politician says that "business friendly policies create jobs", he might as well be saying "paying the hostage-taker saves lives". A government can choose to not be "business friendly" - and a hostage is always free to ignore the hijacker.