The privatization
of prisons is expanding rapidly. In most societies prisons are run by the
state where the incentive is to have fewer prisoners with a lower recidivism
rate. In a private system the perverse incentive is to maximize the number of
prisoners, and raise the recidivism rate in order to maximize profits. This results in higher
numbers of prisoners, broken families, poor healthcare for inmates, and few
resources spent to prepare inmates to reenter society. This has contributed to
the shame of the US having largest
prison population on the planet whether measured in absolute numbers or on
a per capita basis, with most prisoners serving time for non-violent crimes.
The private for profit prison industry is growing and has actually influenced immigration
legislation in Arizona in order to gain more inmates and raise profits. Think of the
impact that private prisons, private policing, private
contractors providing soldiers for hire, all with loyalty to $$$ instead of
their country. We will quickly devolve into a fascist controlled state. This aspect of corporate control should be one of the most
frightening to everyone who holds freedom and democracy dear.
Lack of Prosecution for Financial Fraud
If a criminal gets away with committing a crime, there is a strong likelihood
that they will commit it again. The lack
of prosecution for the major financial fraud that brought about the 2008
economic collapse almost guarantees that it will happen again. Justice Department
officials have stated that these are difficult and complex cases. However, during
the Savings & Loan crisis, there were thousands of successful felony
convictions , despite the fact that it was 1/70 the size of the 2008 crisis.
In fact when the 50 Attorneys General were close to starting their own
prosecutions due to the lack of any federal action, the Obama administration
stepped in and negotiated its own agreement.
To paraphrase David Petrovich ,
the Executive Director for Society For Preservation of Continued Homeownership:
"This
agreement granted immunity to the big banks for the criminal robosigning where they forged documents and fraudulently
tried to present them in courts across the country. This was essentially
another bailout of the banks only this time the bailout was not in the form of
money, but rather where changes were made in the law to retroactively
transform banks' illegal behavior into legal behavior. (Watch how this concept
of "retroactive" immunity comes up again.) Think about what would happen if you
or I forged notarized signatures and tried to pass them off in court. We certainly
would serve prison time. Yet, these huge banks were let off the hook even after
forging tens of thousands of these signatures and illegally foreclosing on
peoples' homes."
We also recently
had the spectacle of the Senate Banking Committee " questioning "
one of its largest
donors . While wearing presidential seal cuff links, presumably to show his
powerful connections, JP Morgan chair Jamie Dimon, easily handled all the softball
questions asked of him. Dimon lost
over $3 billion (and growing) on risky derivative bets and yet these same
senators actually had the audacity to ask him for input and advice on
regulating his bank. Think about the implications of total immunity from
prosecution for financial crimes in an environment where the TPP has been
approved and global corporations are the effective government.
Lack of Protection for Whistleblowers
The
increasing prosecution
and harassment of whistleblowers has a chilling effect on government
transparency . The government often prosecutes the whistleblower rather than
the crime that the whistleblower reveals. The Obama campaign in 2008 promised
to protect whistle blowers, but instead he has been waging a relentless war
against them. Bradley Manning was declared
guilty by Obama BEFORE he was even charged with any crime, yet the shooting
of the journalists by the US helicopter crew and their callous
statements during the shooting was ignored. When William Binney blew the whistle on the
NSA's huge surveillance program, the FBI
raided his home in an effort to quiet and intimidate him. Corporations as
well as government also often retaliate
against whistle blowers. In a corporate
state, how would the citizens know about the activities of the corporations if
there is no protection for whistleblowers?
Corporate Spying on Americans
The
information
William Binney made public dramatized the huge scale of the (at that time )
illegal surveillance that was being done on Americans. It also included the
fact that AT&T as well as other communication companies were deeply
involved in this illegal spying on US citizens. Later, as lawsuits
against the corporations started to look like they would be successful, the Obama
administration claimed state secrets to kill the lawsuits. Since the telecommunications industry is
another VERY large "contributor" to political loyalists, Congress showed its
gratitude by passing legislation
to grant the telecommunication companies retroactive immunity. (This concept
retroactive immunity comes up again.) The questions that should come to mind are: "if no crime was committed, why were the
corporations granted retroactive immunity, or if crimes were committed, why
were these corporations granted retroactive immunity?" Think of the implications of this in a corporate state, with the
increasing use of smaller and smaller drones in an environment that allows corporations
to legally spy on you. Then also consider this concept of governments granting
retroactive immunity for criminal actions in order to please their major
corporate donors. How will the transnational corporations use these "tools" to maximize their profits or
to silence opposition?
Summary
What we see is a confluence of forces that has the
potential to solidify a shift towards corporate fascism and encase it in
international law. Governments will merely be the tools of the corporations to
provide a degree of separation from the inevitable police state that will accompany
this corporate global governance. Sovereign governments even with all their
failings still have at least some concern for the general welfare of their
citizens. Corporations by their very nature have only one purpose and that is
to generate profits. If an individual whose sole purpose was to blindly enhance
profits, without any regard to the standards of what is wrong and what is right
in society, would likely be considered a sociopath by mental health experts.
If the TPP were to be enshrined into international
law, these same sociopath corporations would now lord over sovereign
governments, indifferent to criminal law, and beyond the control of
nation-states. They would have the ability to utilize the militaries of some
states to wage war on other "less complaint" states.
Doug Casey of Casey Research recently wrote :
"It's
most unfortunate, but the US and its allies will turn into authoritarian police
states. Even more than they are today. Much more, actually. They'll all be
perfectly fascist -- private ownership of both consumer goods and the means of
production topped by state control of both. Fascism operates free of underlying
principles or philosophy; it's totally the whim of the people in control, and
they'll prove ever more ruthless. "
There
are those who would say that it is unpatriotic to be against corporations, however
should corporations be in the business of governing? An open public debate on the future role of
corporations is needed.
It is vital that the details of this TPP agreement
become widely known and circulated. Once it sees the light of day, it will be defeated
because people will oppose it. Sorry, corporations really are NOT people, they
are merely state created entities.
What Can You Do?
Get
money out of politics
Until we get money out of politics, corporate
control of our government will continue and
because of the Citizens United ruling, will most likely increase.
Attempts at a corporate coups such as this TPP agreement will continue and will
keep resurfacing in various re-invented forms until one day one will be
successful. We have already seen this pattern with the repeated attempts to
impose limits the Internet.
There are organizations that are working towards eliminating the corrupting influence of money. Find out more about them and support their efforts. Some of them include.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
14
12
6
