politics for the 99%

Published on Dissident Voice, by Gary Brumback, June 2, 2016.

I was prompted to write this article when a twitter contact of mine wondered whether some of my writings about the corpocracy amounted to a conspiracy theory. Having been a behavioral scientist most of my adult life I know a thing or two about what’s theory and what’s not. I don’t know how anyone, scientist or lay person, could mistake the corpocracy for a theory.

I doubt if any readers of articles published in the alternative news media would confuse the two. Nevertheless, I want to tell you what I have learned over the years. A Tacit Conspiracy, Not a Public Wedding: … // …

The “Defense” Industries:

• The “defense” industry, bar none, is the most dangerous as it inflicts on humanity destruction and death on a world-wide scale. The industry pushed for preemptive war with Iraq before Bush Jr.’s first administration and then was heavily represented among the war policy makers in the administration. It spends billions of dollars lobbying Congress. It locates facilities in all or almost all Congressional districts to ensure servitude. It makes sure the most compliant politicians chair and sit on influential committees. It persuades Congress to authorize purchase of obsolete, unreliable, and extravagantly expensive weapons. It constantly engages in contract fraud with impunity. Ad infinitum.
• Lest we forget the companion gun industry, its lobbyists have basically been assured a carte blanche by “our” government to arm Americans to the teeth with almost any form of firearm.

The Health Care Industries: … //
… The Chemical/Agriculture Industries: … //
… Industries at Large: … //
… Privatization: … //
… Conspiracy within a Conspiracy:

• I suppose there are numerous instances where petty conspiracies arise within one part of the government to spoil or thwart another part. I’m not going to bother trying to ferret them out. Politics as usual is rife with internal rivalries as appointed officials vie for influence.
• The conspiracy I have in mind here is within the corporate part of the corpocracy. Probably the most prevalent form of it is the collusion among corporations in fixing prices. Whenever government is lax in stopping the practice it conspires with the price fixers.

In Closing:

• “Our” government is accountable to no one, a scofflaw committing all sorts of legal and illegal wrong doing daily up to and including murdering people with drone strikes. This government, moreover, in good faith as a conspirator, rarely holds corporations accountable for all sorts of wrongdoing, including defrauding and gouging the government. Is it any wonder then that the two parties to the marriage made in Hell raise Hell with 99% of Americans and the rest of the world?

(full text).

(Gary Brumback, PhD is a retired psychologist and Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. He is the author of The Devil’s Marriage: Break Up the Corpocracy or Leave Democracy in the Lurch; and America’s Oldest Professions: Warring and Spying. His most recent book is Corporate Reckoning Ahead. Gary can be reached here. Read other articles by Gary, or visit Gary’s website).

Links:

Opposing Mass Incarceration Is “Trendy,” but Can We Stop the Train of Piecemeal Reform? on truthout, by James Kilgore, June 3, 2016:

Outrage as French govt reveals plan to offer Arabic in primary schools Printer, on Axis of Logic, by Staff Writers/RT, June 3, 2016;

Economic conflicts threaten global trade war, on World Socialist Web Site WSWS.org, by Nick Beams, June 3, 2016;

The US elections and the criminalization of American politics, on World Socialist Web Site WSWS.org, by Patrick Martin, June 3, 2016;

Obama’s Parting Gifts for Asia, a few final lies, on Dissident Voice, by Jason Hirthler, June 1, 2016;

Look Ma, No Wheels, on Dissident Voice, by James McEnteer, June 1, 2016: on September 11, 2001, George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, et al, were either negligent about, or complicit in, the terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans. There is no third alternative. We require a thorough judicial proceeding to determine which it was. Fifteen years later we still need to know …;

Placebo Ballots: Stealing California From Bernie Using an Old GOP Vote-Snatching Trick, on Reader Supported News.org, by Greg Palast with Dennis J Bernstein, June 1, 2016;

Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5 Billion Cash Infusion, on NYT, by MIKE ISAAC and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED, June 1, 2016;

How Helicopter Money Works, on Value Walk, June 1, 2016;

ECB corporate bond buying in focus, on DW, by Nils Zimmermann, June 1, 2016: Starting this month, the European Central Bank (ECB) will be buying up a lot of European corporate bonds. We look at why it has decided to do so and what effect the measure may or may not have short-term;

Redéfinir le travail, l’exemple suisse: la votation du 5 juin, dans SEIZH.info, le 31 mai 2016;

A Look Ahead at the Next Recession, on New York Times, by Eduardo Porter, May 31, 2016;

Gay et Irlandais, un an après, dans rfi.fr, par Frédérique Lebel, le 31 mai 2016;

To help low-income American households, we have to close the work gap, on Brookings.edu, by Isabel V. Sawhill, Nathan Joo and Edward Rodrigue, May 31, 2016;

Income Inequality Is The Biggest Story For The U.S. Economy, on Forbes, Nathaniel Parish Flannery, May 31, 2016;

Y Combinator Wants to Test a Revolutionary Economic Idea, on Fortune, by Kia Kokalitcheva, May 31, 2016;

INDIA: Speeding up delivery only way out for cash-strapped builders, on The Economic Times, by Prabhakar Sinha, May 27, 2016;

Bis neulich: letzte Veröffentlichung März 2016, der letzte Abend – Volker Pispers, 150.57 min, uploaded by Nachden Ken, May 19, 2016.