William K. Wolfrum's picture

    The Price

    To the Magnificent People of The United States of America:

    It is with much humility that I offer you these words. But it is, in my opinion, time for a full recognition that the United States has been utterly and completely conquered by Corporate Interests.

    Wars are often re-fought, however, and the time to reengage is upon us. And as the recent past has shown us, the road to winning a war depends mainly on will and the understanding of the battlefield and enemy.

    A Bloody Coup

    That the greatest military power in the history of the planet was soundly defeated by a foe that didn’t fire a single shot should be evident to all. Yet the Corporate War has been as bloody as any America has faced. Corporations have used the blood, sweat and tears of the American worker to attain a resounding victory.

    The war of an aggressive Corporate Culture against a submissive United States citizenry has raged for decades, with the death blow being the Citizens United ruling that insisted Corporations have the same rights as flesh-and-blood Americans. And that ruling will only increase the bloodshed.

    But Corporations bleed, as well. And the time for Corporate blood to flow is upon us.

    A Capitalist Society

    On Sept. 11, 2001, a group of terrorists attacked the United States. There are many reasons they were able to accomplish this, but perhaps the main reason was that the terrorists used the freedoms of America to their advantage. And while the devastation and death accomplished the terror that was intended, the true victory was the contraction of American freedoms and the increased prominence of Corporate Power over the political system.

    It is with this in mind that the fight must be taken to the Corporate World. For the Corporate World has used the American system of capitalism to make the U.S. political system its own private playground.

    The lessons of the insipid “War on Terror” must be heeded, however. To wage war on capitalism itself is a fool’s errand, and an undesirable one. But we can use capitalism to serve our purposes, as well. An economic War on our Corporate Overlords can result in both victory and the restoration of the State. And such a victory would reverberate around the Globe.

    The Results of Corporatism

    Travel the planet and there will be one answer to what the United States is best known and respected for – the Right to Free Speech.

    However, nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it say that Corporations can’t infringe upon an American’s freedom of expression. And Corporate censorship is a growing plague.

    The assault on Freedom of Speech is just one of the ways Corporations have laid claim to the true American Dream. The destruction of the Middle-Class, endless wars of convenience leaving millions obliterated, the destruction of the environment and the removal of social safety nets, are a few of the other victims in this coup. And to the victor has gone the spoils, while the vanquished have increasingly empty wallets, hearts and lives.

    Corporations have no national loyalty. They have no interest in human lives. They only care of profit and the exploitation of workers. The collateral damage created in their pursuit of a dollar is of no consequence to them.

    Corporatism means death. This is not hyperbole.

    A Corporate Political System

    The engine of the United States government is graft. It has always been so. The flagrancy of this graft has increased on a near-daily basis, with Citizens United making it the law of the land. To think American politicians are not bought and paid for is no longer just naivety, it is forced ignorance.

    The upcoming Mid-Term Elections will see $3 billion spent. The majority from Corporate Coffers. And this money will be paid back, over and over again. Because the donations of Corporations are not for the betterment of any outside themselves. They are an investment for continued and accelerated oppression.

    Action

    We have seen that true change cannot take place from behind a desk. If the Tea Party Movement – such as it is – can generate such widespread notoriety despite an appalling lack of participants, the actions of the thoughtful and wise will be acknowledged, as well. As news coverage now travels in infinite concentric circles, there is a hunger for true action.

    And the time to act is now.

    The Price

    The American public has been disarmed and cowed into inaction and submissiveness. But there remains one last weapon, and it is truly the most devastating – the pocketbook.

    To restore America, Corporate Interests that have no care of Humanity must be either destroyed or forced to submit. A War on Corporatism is the only way to save what once was. And it must be a war fought with dedication and enthusiasm. And here is how it should be fought:

    • Do not purchase or use anything from corporations that make any political donations.
    • Do not purchase or use anything from corporations that pollute and disrespect the planet.
    • Do not purchase or use anything from corporations that take advantage of nations that use human rights abuses to run their economy. The words “Made in China” are written by the oppressed, and we are the oppressors.
    • Do not support any candidate of any party that receives donations – either directly or indirectly – from any corporation that has shown a lack of ethics or sense of humanity.
    • Do not invest in any unethical Corporation.
    • Be heard and seen: Protest and picket unethical Corporations that refuse to submit. Use the pen as a sword to detail their crimes against the United States and the World.
    • Work endlessly to remove the shield of secrecy that cloaks so many corrupt, unethical Corporations.
    • Be an educated, discerning consumer.
    • Be relentless.
    • Be ruthless.

    Essentially, it comes to this: The American People must hurt Unethical Corporations as much as legally possible.

    Yes, there will be civilian casualties. Jobs will be lost. And while this is not an attractive proposition, it is the sacrifice demanded of this era.

    And the end result will be the engine that drives the U.S. economy into the future. For each Corporation that is shunned, hundreds of true small businesses will take their places. The spirit of American entrepreneurship has been suppressed, but it remains. And it will save us.

    A Long, Hard Struggle

    The words laid before you are not the words of a naive man. There is an understanding here that in many instances, a complete boycott of Unethical and Un-American Corporations is not currently possible. We have grown far to dependent on Corporations to abandon them completely. Nor should our aim be the elimination of Corporations.

    Nonetheless, from conserving fuel, to buying locally, to forgoing the latest gadget, etc., there are great strides that can be made. Our goals must be to drive Unethical and Un-American Corporations to their knees. And when their bottom line is assaulted with enough force, they will submit.

    Consumerism long ago engulfed the United States of America and became its main cultural offering. But that consumerism is a weapon. And it should be used with abandon.

    It also must be understood that the Corporate Takeover of the United States was not an overnight affair. It has been decades in the making. And it continues today. The War to rest power from our Corporate Overlords will be a long, drawn out struggle. And while victory will not solve all societal ills, it will effectively cut the head off the monster that continues to devour our national psyche.

    In any war, sacrifices must be made. And millions of Americans have the ability and means to join this fight. And for this true silent majority, the ultimate sacrifice will be convenience and time.

    But to save and maintain the State, that is the price that must be paid.

    Virtue against fury shall advance the fight,
    And it the combat soon shall put to flight;
    For the old American, valor is not dead,
    Nor in the Americans’ breasts extinguished.

    –WKW

    Crossposted at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

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    Comments

    This is the best blog I have read in a long time. Certainly the best political post.

    The corporate lobbyists--under cover of our First Amendment right to seek redress from the government--are so very clever. When you add this facility to their facility at advertising the corporate oligarchy is unassailable. There is no way to beat them.

    The left will mirror the corporate tactics by setting up their own organizations and lobby and advertise but it is like a minature model of a mansion instead of a real mansion. The money is not there and the pay back is not there.

    Moveon.org cannot compete with Wall Street for chrissakes.

    Look how the oligarchy handled the propaganda involving death panels.

    Anyone who watches House on a regular basis knows that hospitals set up their own death panels. These panels decide who gets a liver transplant and who does not.

    Insurance companies have their own death panels that function as such every hour of every day in this country. This person gets insurance coverage for a medical procedure and this other person does not.

    But the left may attempt to advertise this fact, but I swear to God I have never even seen the truth of the private death panels ever even discussed on MSM. So we hear lies about governmental death panels and nothing from 'the other side'.

    Yes, we have to take personal responsibility and do our own research and attempt to reward the good and shun the bad.

    But frankly, we are attempting to use squirt guns against those with weapons of mass destruction.


    Thank you, Richard. And great points.


    Provocative, well written and terrific post, William.  Modeled, I have learned, on Machiavelli's The Prince, which I might have known if I'd gotten myself to read it by now.  :<)

    The strategy your piece recommends has the enormous advantage of leaving the reader knowing of specific things s/he can do that will have an immediate impact, however small in each individual case.  That is empowering, always important for a successful strategy, and the more so because so many now feel as though they can have no impact whatsoever through "normal politics".  I've got Thom Hartmann's Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People"--and How You Can Fight Back, revised, post-Citizens United edition, nearing my on deck circle of reading material (perhaps I should read The Prince first)--in particular I want to know what strategies and actions he is recommending for correcting the overwhelming tilt to the playing field we have at this point.  He's been all over this issue since long before CU.


    I am glad to see that someone in this world is as outraged at the Citizen's United legislation as I have been. When I heard about this back in July I attempted to bring this to the attention of some of my fellow co-workers, friends, family and so on, and people thought that I was being a conspiracy theorist. If this type of legislation would have been tried in a time before television, 15 second ads, the internet, and pop culture I feel there would be blood flowing in the streets. Remember a time at the turn of the 20th C when our government was actively prosecuting corporations for monopolies via the Sherman Anti-Trust Act? It was widely known then that corporations were only about the bottom line, PROFIT. Controlling the industry in which they operated with an iron fist via monopolies is the SAME THING as controlling politics via campaign spending. Corporations , in order to spend money on candidates in elections, want the American public to think that they are just one of us, that just because they have more money than us to donate to candidates doesn't mean that their voice is any bigger than any individuals. EXCEPT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS. Let's go over a few FACTS about Corporations:

    1. Corporations are NOT AMERICAN. The development of international business and trade negates this notion. I would like to see where the corporate offices are for all corporations that donated to our elections. I would venture to bet taht 75% of them are in the Cayman Islands. Last time I checked these islands are a haven for corporate wealth.

    2. Money Talks. If someone doesn't believe me, then look at all of the reality television programs like Fear factor and such. If you cannot connect these two dots, you might as  well stop reading now.

    3. All business is International. How would the American public feel if a "Japanese" corporation donated money toward an American election. Peaved to say the least. But since all business is international, this is precisely the type of thing that is happening, allbeit the Am. public is a very ignorant one.

    4. Corporations are not Nationalized. They have more interests all over the globe than just those that are in America. What's to say one corporation that is donating money towards one cause in America isn't doing the exact opposite in a third world country (kind of like railing against Alcoholism in a MADD meeting and then going out and buying an entire bar drinks.) Corporations do not have just National interests, they also have international ones as well.

    And most importantly....

     

    5. CORPORATIONS ARE NOT CONCERNED WITH WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU, ONLY ABOUT WHAT IS GOOD FOR THEIR BOTTOM LINE PROFIT. And donating with no limit to political elections is exactly that...best for their bottom line.

    If we need evidence for this, look at how much more they have spent this year on campaigns in a MID TERM election. $3 billion dollars!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who like visual displays, thats a 3 with 9 Zeros behind it. 3,000,000,000 dollars spent to buy political officials to get them to keep things the way it is. If Corprations are willing to spend that much money on keeping the status quo, then one only needs ask themselves...How much do you think they stood to lose if they are wiling to spend that much to keep the status quo chugging down the tracks to a Plutonomy?

    Any living, breathing organism will do what it must to survive...Are Corporations Alive?...kinda scary to think about it.


    It takes a Congress with the balls to stand up and confront the Corporate State.  We'll have to wait for a 60 seat Democrat majority, minus independents, blue dogs and Liberman for that to happen.


    Wolf, thanks for the outrage. We're going to need a lot more of it. It's going to be a very long road back.

    "Facism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.

    --Benito Mussolini.


    Bravo! Great!!  Unfortunately, you offer a very tough solution. One, that would take enormous sacrifice from the public. I'm not sure that enough people would have the strength and determination to stick to your plan, even if they totally agree with it in principle.  We need to find a way to either short cut the process itself, or sweeten the incentive for people.  Perhaps you should mention that doing your plan would allow them all the Ben & Jerrys ice cream they can eat ...

    Seriously, ... I think the first thing we need to work on is reversing the corporate personhood precedents, so we can strip corporations of that 'right' once and for all ... And perhaps, if we bide our time, the tea-partiers coming disillusionment with their candidates (Oh yes, it's coming), can be re-directed to the fight against corporate personhood.

     

     


    Really, really well done,Wolfrum. Enlightening and uplifting--so why do I feel so depressed? Could be because in too many circles this is just crazy talk. Give up something? Stop buying? Shun the corporations? Go back to a simpler life? I thought it would take something really drastic to finally get through to us that sacrifices must be made, that we have met the enemy and the enemy has "corporate" written all over them, that our only hope (besides the measures you outline) is MORE government intervention, not less. I thought what is happening to us today is about as drastic as it could get, and we would see it as an emergency worthy of some real attention. Boy, was I wrong. But, Bill, I thank you for trying once again. I will pass your piece around and try and get it the attention it deserves. Wish I didn't feel so depressed about this. . .


    Yes, the concept of shared sacrifice, in fact sacrifice of any sort as a subject  of public discussion, seems to have disappeared.  When was the last time a President asked that?  Who else can ask that?  We used to be asked to share sacrifice during wartime but we don't do that any more.  The thing that maybe depresses me more than anything is when Peggy Noonan wrote maybe 3 years ago, late Bush Admin, that the elites, and I'm sure she has occasion to speak with a goodly number of them, appear to have given up on the country.

    Come again? Our elites have more, in material terms, in privileges, in the power that goes with fearful politicians falling all over themselves to give them whatever they want, than elites anywhere in the world, it would seem.  The very top 1 or 2% are just about the only part of the income distribution that has done better in material terms over the past three decades, and they have done *much* better. 

    So what exactly is it that they want?  Do they feel unloved and unappreciated?  Boo hoo.  How self-absorbed can you get?  Privilege as entailing greater responsibility, including the responsibility to accept a greater tax burden than people with far less?  Accepting the need for greater regulation of some of the enterprises they run?  Standing up publicly to tell those who have been undermining the government for 30 years in pursuit of a self-aggrandizing agenda that they're wrong and way out of line, that we need a strong, well-functioning government to have a strong, well-functioning society?  Ha!  What outmoded notions! 

    There are a few I admire for stepping up.  Buffett and Gates Sr. come to mind.  Not nearly enough.


    I think the last time a president even hinted at the concept of self-sacrifice was when Jimmy Carter asked us to go easy on the gas consumption, and look where that got him.  Bush told people to go shopping after 9/11 and, aside from a few jokes made about it, nobody was outraged by the suggestion. 

    Even now, after the country has nearly been destroyed by corporate shenanigans and the most blatant greed since the 1920s, their assets are being protected by ordinary citizens who think the very idea of asking them to pay their fair share in taxes is some sort of evil plot.

    I think Peggy knows that the rich elite have given up on this country because there's barely a country left to waste time marauding anymore.  They're finding their riches overseas and are probably a little astonished that they can get away with it and still call their corporations American. They can take advantage of whatever's left here without having to give anything back. 

    Buffett and the Gateses are good examples of responsible behavior, but even their strong voices aren't powerful enough.   The RWNJs and the Tea Party shout loudest and longest and that's the way it's going to be now that they see how easy it was to sway the country to vote their way.


    I wrote about corporatism recently on my website. 

    It all started to go down hill when Corporations became protected under the Bill of Rights and the 14th amendment as “Natural Born Citizens” this gives them the right the petition the government and all other rights of an individual citizen.

    It was not always like this, i go into much more detail in my article here: http://www.upfordebate.us/story.php?title=corporate-america-the-real-ene...

    I take an early look at the history of corporations in America and give a few different examples from the modern era. I thought you might want to take a look at this. Thanks for the good read.


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