Gangs of America

On a labor day weekend it seems appropriate to mention the book that I'm currently reading. That book is Ted Nace's excellent and thorough work "Gangs of America" that details the successive rise and falls of corporate power and its influence on the lives of the worlds people.

In it Nace details the birth of corporations as an entity in Europe and their rise to dominance in the world in the 17th and 18th century. He describes the oppressive business practices and appauling treatment of "employees" in pre-Independence America that eventually lead to the Boston Tea Party and the Declaration of Independence.

Nace then goes on to describe how the fiercely anti-corporate conditions and protections of the early 1800s were gradually erroded away in the courts of America, until the landmark and now infamous 1886 Supreme Court case of Santa Clara County vs. South Pacific Railroad. He brings new insight and understanding to the circumstances of that case and its outcome which explain how it came to enthrone corporations as people in American civilisation. From there on he traces the second great rise of corporate power in America from late 1800s through to the end of the 1930s which occured in the name of the social Darwinism, a widely held belief at the time. Social Darwinism was a particularly evil piece of work that believed marking live hard for the unfortunate was good for society and helped weed out the weak elements to build a stronger, more vital society. It seems all to close to an economic form of eugenics, the scheme siezed on by Adolft Hitler to breed a "master race".

Finally the social unrest and rampant unemployment the followed the depression finally got so out of control that in 1937 Roosevelt was elected and his "New Deal" finally put a halt to the rapid decay in workers and peoples rights and put expansion of corporate powers on hold. The thirty or so years following Roosevelt's turn around brought unprecedented economic growth that was beneficial to both the corporations and the people of America. This was a period in which the share of wealth owned by the top 1% of the nation fell from 45% in 1929 to 20% in 1971.

As we all know, or should know by now if you have read "White Collar Sweat-Shop", the years following 1971 have ushered in another period of massive increases in corporate rights, power and the consequent decline in living standards of the great majority of Americans. Since 1971, inspite of unprecedented economic growth, we the people have "enjoyed" thirty years of stasis or decline of middle class and lower class wages in the face of declining social benefits and increased working hours. In the mean time the wealth of the nation has been drastically redistributed up again until the vast majority of the nations wealth is concentrated in the top 5% of the nations wealthiest people.

If you're not one of those one in twenty people who are wealthier, healthier and more powerful than the other 19 in 20 people, then basically you're screwed. The benefit of thirty years of growth have just passed you by leaving you in the dust and feeling less healthy, working harder, getting less education, being depressed more of the time, and questioning anything that gets in your way of consumerism but not knowing why or when that became your #1 goal in life.

One recurring theme of all books on this topic of corporate power in America is that the key factor in its perpetuation is the influence of monied corporations in the courts and in the government of the country. Nace in particular outlines with chilling detail how time after time control of the Supreme Court by lawyers biased to corporate interests has wrecked havoc on the hard-won life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of the American people at the expense of corporate "life", "liberty" and pursuit of "happiness" i.e. wealth.

Anyone who believes that Supreme Court nominations are just boring technicalities that need not concern should grab this book and read it with a passion because their life, libery and pursuit of happiness quite literally lives hangs the thread that suspends the scales of justice enshrined in the body of the Supreme Court. Hartmann's book "Unequal Protection" goes into greater detail about the framing of the United States Constitution and how it was intended that the Supreme Court be more independent from the executive branch.

However the failure of that independence and the influence of corporate money on the elected bodies that determine Supreme Court's composition form a deadly triangle that threaten to topple the very substance of the country and the principles apon which it was founded. In fact, a great many who have studied corporate personhood are inclinded to believe this has already happened and we, the people, the sovereign people, must rush to stop the fall of the country before it becomes irrevocably crushed beneath a corporate plutocracy that will dominate world society for centuries to come.

I'm hoping that the remainder of Nace's book brings forth some concrete ideas that will inspire the average reader, who no doubt feels weak and demoralized by the crushing blows of corporate power they have endured with thus far. It is easy to feel hopeless and helpless, and conclude that corporate rule on our lives and our relegation to have no other role in soceity than consumer is inevitable. Life as only a consumer is a meaningless one that naturally leads to depression. For this we are prescribed legalized drugs for which we pay (of course) to take away the pain and boredom of a meaningless life. Chemically fortified we can return to working and consuming thus sustaining growth of wealth over growth of quality of life, liberty and happiness.

To quote Douglas Adams (which I ought to more often, given the title of this blog)

"This Planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much all of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy"

It is clear to me that it is not to late to make a change, and that it is essential to do so for the good of all people on this planet. We must unite and press for a constitutional ammendment that will irrevokably grant natural people, those that are born and die according to the natural cycle of nature, the right to supreme sovereignty over their country and destiny. The effect of this will spread like ripple across the world as American corporations are cut off from exploiting people across the world. It will empower the people to direct their country to act with courage, honour and humility. Yes we will still have the power to screw things up, but it will be at the will of the people and not the will unconcious, inhuman mega-corporations that have no interest other than the perpetuation of wealth and a supplicant all-consuming population.

You can find out more about Ted Nace's book and the issues it addresses at the books web site www.gangsofamerica.com.