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nashville_brook

(20,958 posts)
Sun May 3, 2015, 03:21 PM May 2015

What DO you call it when democracy is broken at the behest of business? [View all]


http://thefloridasqueeze.com/2015/05/03/what-do-you-call-it-when-democracy-is-broken-at-the-behest-of-business/


“Democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 29, 1938 (Letter to Congress on the problem of Curbing Monopolies)

We sometimes forget that private monied interests have been campaigning for “small government” since long before Grover Norquist dreamt of drowning government in the bathtub. In this letter to Congress on curbing monopolies, Roosevelt warns that government must be strong enough to make corporations play by the rules or else we’ll be playing by their rules. Implicit is the idea that our interests don’t necessarily align.

The very next words that he wrote were, “that, in its essence, is Fascism—ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.” Does the word “fascism” shock you the way it does me? I read this and thought “Didn’t FDR know that the first person to mention Nazis loses the argument?” But of course he hadn’t heard that (Godwin’s Law was coined in 1990), and he was dealing with real Nazis, so we have to cut him slack here.

When Roosevelt wrote this, I believe he chose his words carefully. In 1933 he’d encountered a group of right-wing bankers who tried to convince him to turn over his power to them in a corporatist government backed by the military. By the time he wrote this letter he’d already dealt with on attempt by big business to topple democracy in order to muscle its way into power. He called these Wall Street bankers “economic royalists” and warned: “give them their way and they will take the course of every aristocracy of the past – power for themselves, enslavement for the public.”

Wall Street bankers grabbing power for themselves is a very familiar tune. As a matter of fact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is an overt attempt to achieve many of the end results of a corporate government that Roosevelt warned about.

The TPP asks us to deputize private interests to run public policy as a profit center. This is antithetical to democracy as FDR points out later in his letter: “We believe in a way of living in which political democracy and free private enterprise for profit should serve and protect each other—to ensure a maximum of human liberty not for a few but for all.” As a successful capitalist Roosevelt knew that you can’t have a healthy business environment without fair rules of the road.

We know through leaks that the TPP seeks to tilt those rules toward the largest, most lawyered-up global businesses. Members of the Senate who’ve seen the actual TPP document are so alarmed they’re asking for it to be declassified. Currently they’re only allowed to read it with a minder present (no notes, no photos), and aren’t allowed to discuss it with the public. A staffer can read it only if their Senator is there with them by their side. That’s why Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown challenged President Obama to release the text of the negotiation to the public.

Regardless of the secrecy, we know that the most shocking features of the TPP gives corporate lawyers the ability to preempt “non-tariff barriers” to trade that could impact “expected future profits.”

Let’s be clear — non-tariff barriers are government policies that make it possible to have safe food, good jobs and a clean environment. Basically, this is what Republicans call “big government.” Under TPP, 500 the lawyers for the 1% were empowered to identify government policies on health, environment, labor and safety, that could impact business’ future profit with the intent of preempting any barrier to profit. These are the details they won’t let us see. On this subject, the usually understated Sierra Club says “these provisions elevate corporations to the level of nation states and allow them to sue governments over nearly any law or policy which reduces their future profits.”



(more at link)

http://thefloridasqueeze.com/2015/05/03/what-do-you-call-it-when-democracy-is-broken-at-the-behest-of-business/
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I know what FDR called it - Fascism leveymg May 2015 #1
+1 to infinity n/t gelsdorf May 2015 #2
That term was certainly my candidate. Jackpine Radical May 2015 #18
That is exactly correct. eom JEB May 2015 #25
why is our response to fascism so muted? nashville_brook May 2015 #73
Because I live out in the country Jackpine Radical May 2015 #76
hee hee :) nashville_brook May 2015 #83
i hope more people are starting to understand what's really going on. nashville_brook May 2015 #44
Excellent OP. Thanks, esp. for including quotes and FDR who well knew the ruthlessness of appalachiablue May 2015 #78
I call it a corporate fascist coup. ananda May 2015 #3
you know winetourdriver May 2015 #7
know your BFEE volstork May 2015 #15
+1 calling Octafish! nashville_brook May 2015 #67
And centrists are helping them. cui bono May 2015 #4
yes they are. not all intentionally -- many are just ill-informed, or don't grasp the entirety of the problem. nashville_brook May 2015 #16
Yes, but the ones in power implementing moderate Republican policies know. cui bono May 2015 #22
Helping corporate fascism has become what "centrist" means. n/t DirkGently May 2015 #79
Good post. PatrickforO May 2015 #5
there's so much urgency in these messages. we have to wake up. nashville_brook May 2015 #13
So true about the short-term focus of modern capitalism. hifiguy May 2015 #24
Thanks! I did not know it was Lenin who said that about the rope. PatrickforO May 2015 #39
Fascism for a thousand, Alex! Octafish May 2015 #6
i think it's important, for myself, to cop to the fact that I actually "supported" globalism nashville_brook May 2015 #11
Globalism is only a means for the greedy assholes to take maximum advantage of us. Enthusiast May 2015 #57
you'd think the "black helicopter" people would be up in arms about this nashville_brook May 2015 #66
I guess their only source of information is Alex Jones. Enthusiast May 2015 #81
apparently! nashville_brook May 2015 #85
Vote for Bernie Sanders. I don't see any other way of fixing it. Autumn May 2015 #8
Voting for Bernie appears to be the only possible solution. Enthusiast May 2015 #59
this is why we've seen such an explosion of Bernie support here nashville_brook May 2015 #70
Interesting. kentuck May 2015 #9
Jefferson understood the problem, moondust May 2015 #10
indeed. i feel like Eisenhower gave the last great warning, when it was too late... nashville_brook May 2015 #12
Lately I've wondered moondust May 2015 #17
halliburton, brown bros, KBR...they all learned how profitable unending war can be nashville_brook May 2015 #74
One of my favorite Jefferson quotations! hifiguy May 2015 #23
I LIKE that. DirkGently May 2015 #49
+1! They just didn't have a name for it then. It existed nonetheless. Enthusiast May 2015 #58
Thank you.. good article mountain grammy May 2015 #14
it's scary what flies under the radar in state and local politics! nashville_brook May 2015 #65
corporate coup d'etat? heaven05 May 2015 #19
1963. Jackpine Radical May 2015 #26
Well if you had to put a date on it I would say 1963. zeemike May 2015 #34
i totally agree. there's been an accrual of power that's been exercised in shocking ways. nashville_brook May 2015 #42
To answer the question: it's called a plutocracy. Exilednight May 2015 #20
or kleptocracy. i try to avoid those words b/c as academic language they tend to hide nashville_brook May 2015 #28
Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini called it fascism hifiguy May 2015 #21
you know what's funny about that Mussolini quote... nashville_brook May 2015 #30
It's attributed to Mussolini but it was actually written by Gentile hifiguy May 2015 #35
OH! in the manifesto! that makes total sense! nashville_brook May 2015 #37
Well that bears repeating a few million times. DirkGently May 2015 #52
fascism . orpupilofnature57 May 2015 #27
Finally After Many Decades, Since Bretton Woods in 1947... mckara May 2015 #29
The US of ADD. nashville_brook May 2015 #32
+1 mckara May 2015 #36
The Cost of Doing Business Demeter May 2015 #31
i HEAR ya! you know who put me on to this is Alan Grayson. nashville_brook May 2015 #33
That video is FANTASTIC. Simple, but true. DirkGently May 2015 #51
+1 an entire shit load. Enthusiast May 2015 #60
It is kleptocracy. kairos12 May 2015 #38
Ooh! Ooh! I know this one! "Here." n/t Bossy Monkey May 2015 #40
Business as usual - TBF May 2015 #41
Evil is truly banal. it IS business as usual for many people...i bet most of which don't have a clue nashville_brook May 2015 #43
This message was self-deleted by its author TRoN33 May 2015 #45
Holy shit. "TPP gives corporate lawyers the ability to preempt “non-tariff barriers” to trade" GoneFishin May 2015 #46
and the weirdest thing is that Alan Grayson has been sounding this alarm since at least 2013 nashville_brook May 2015 #48
From your link : "Canada has ... been sued for ... taxing windfall profits by oil companies." GoneFishin May 2015 #54
that is the fear, at least -- and it seems to be the case. we need to see the whole document. nashville_brook May 2015 #71
+++ Fascism creeps in on little loafered Banker feet DirkGently May 2015 #47
here's a piece by Ezra Klein in VOX that I believe makes the case for getting real about fascism nashville_brook May 2015 #50
Call it the Robin Hood reversal sadoldgirl May 2015 #53
i believe that we already have that with private prisons nashville_brook May 2015 #68
That's another reason the right calls Obama a nazi and fascist. Because it is actually true that GoneFishin May 2015 #55
but, it's an argument we don't use... nashville_brook May 2015 #64
You are correct. There are many who call themselves Dems who are sympathetic to rightwing economic GoneFishin May 2015 #69
it's much more efficient to achieve their ends thru secret trade agreement nashville_brook May 2015 #72
Plutocracy would be the right term. bobjacksonk2832 May 2015 #56
K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations! Enthusiast May 2015 #61
"The 1920's and early 30's." FDR and Truman knew it. The ITO was to keep it from returning. pampango May 2015 #62
it's completely unsustainable, what we have now. nashville_brook May 2015 #75
What we do need is a trade agreement(s) or organization, like the ITO, that would be focused on pampango May 2015 #80
loves me some FDR NuttyFluffers May 2015 #63
Business as usual for most politicians. nt Erich Bloodaxe BSN May 2015 #77
+1 nashville_brook May 2015 #82
Plutocracy. It is what those three asshole charlitans wanted in your picture and they got it. Rex May 2015 #84
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