Zeitgeist: Addendum - The Corporatocracy (Snippet) (Repository)

Obviously our Presidents of the United States are not emperors. An emperor is someone who is not elected, doesn't serve under the term and doesn't report to anyone, essentially. So you can't classify our presidents that way. But we do have what I consider to be the equivalent of the emperor and it's what I call the corporatocracy. The corporatocracy is this group of individuals who run our biggest corporations. And they really act as the emperor of this empire. They control our media, either through direct ownership or advertising. They control most of our politicians because they finance their campaigns, either through the corporations or through personal contributions that come out of the the corporations. They're not elected, then don't serve a limited term, they don't report to anybody, and at the very top of the corporatocracy, you really can't tell whether the person is working for a private corporation or the government because they're always moving back and forth. So, you know, you've got a guy who one moment is the president of a big construction company like Halliburton, and the next moment he's Vice President of the United States or the President who was in the oil business. And this is true, whether you get Democrats or Republicans in the office. You have this moving back and forth through a revolving door. And in a way, our government is invisible a lot of the time, and his policies are carried out by our corporations on one level or another. And then again, the policies of the government are basically forged by the corporatocracy, and then presented to the government and they become government policy. So, there's an incredibly cozy relationship. This isn't a conspiracy theory type of thing. These people don't have to get together and plot to do things. They all basically work under one primary assumption, and that is that they must maximize profits regardless of the social and environmental costs. -This process of manipulation by the corporatocracy through the use of debt, bribery and political overthrow is called Globalization Just as the Federal Reserve keeps the American public in a position of indentured servitude though perpetual debt, inflation and interest, the World Bank and IMF serve this role on a global scale. The basic scam is simple. Put a country in debt either by its own indiscretion, or through corrupting the leader of that country, then impose "conditionalities" or "structural adjustment policies" often consisting of the following: Currency devaluation-- When the value of a currency drops, so does everything valued in it. This makes indigenous resources available to predator countries at a fraction of their worth. Large funding cuts for social programs-- These usually include education and healthcare, compromising the well-being and integrity of the society, leaving the public vulnerable to exploitation. Privatization of state-owned enterprises-- This means that socially important systems can be purchased and regulated by foreign corporations for profit. For example, in 1999, the World Bank insisted that the Bolivian government sell the public water-system of its third-largest city to a subsidiary of the US corporation "Bechtel." As soon as this occurred, water bills for the already impoverished local residents, skyrocketed. It wasn't until after a full-blown revolt by the people that the Bechtel contract was nullified. Then there is trade liberalization or the opening up of the economy through removing any restrictions on foreign trade. This allows for a number of abusive economic manifestations, such as transnational corporations bringing in their own mass-produced products, undercutting the indigenous production and ruining local economies. An example is Jamaica; which, after accepting loans and conditionalities from the World Bank, lost its largest cash crop markets due to competition with Western imports. Today, countless farmers are out of work for they're unable to compete with the large corporations. Another variation is the creation of numerous seemingly unnoticed, unregulated, inhuman sweatshop-factories which take advantage of the imposed economic hardship. Additionally, due to production-deregulation, environmental destruction is perpetual, as a country's resources are often exploited by the indifferent corporations while outputting large amounts of deliberate pollution. -The largest environmental lawsuit in the history of the world today is being brought on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadorian and Amazonian people against Texaco, which is now owned by Chevron; so it's against Chevron, but for activities conducted by Texaco. They're estimated to be more than 18 times what the Exxon Valdez dumped into the Coast of Alaska. In the case of Ecuador it wasn't an accident. The oil companies did it intentionally. Tthey knew they were doing it to save money rather than arranging for proper disposal. -Furthermore, a cursory glance at the performance record of the World Bank reveals that the institution, which publicly claims to help poor countries develop and alleviate poverty has done nothing but increase poverty and the wealth-gap while corporate profits soar. In 1960, the income-gap between the fifth of the world's people and the richest countries versus the fifth in the poorest countries was thirty to one. By 1998, it was seventy-four to one. While global GNP rose 40% between 1970 and 1985 those in poverty actually increased by 17%. While from 1985 to 2000, those living on less than one dollar a day increased by 18%. Even the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress admitted that there is a mere 40% success rate of all World Bank projects. In the late 1960's, the World Bank intervened in Ecuador with large loans. During the next 30 years, poverty grew from 50% to 70%. Under or unemployment grew from 15% to 70%. Public debt increased from 240 million to 16 billion, while the share of resources allocated to the poor went from 20% to 6%. In fact, by the year 2000, 50% of Ecuador's national budget had to be allocated for paying its debts. It is important to understand: The World Bank is, in fact, a U.S. bank, supporting U. S. interests. For the United States holds veto-power over decisions, as it is the largest provider of capital. And where did it get this money? You guessed it. It made it out of thin air through the fractional reserve banking system. Of the world's top 100 economies, as based on annual GDP, 51 are corporations and 47 of that 51 are U.S.-based. Walmart, General Motors and Exxon are more economically powerful than Saudi Arabia, Poland, Norway, South Africa, Finland, Indonesia and many others. And, as protective trade-barriers are broken down, currencies tossed together and manipulated in floating markets and State economies overturned in favor of open competition in global capitalism, the empire expands.