WSNers,
Once again, I find myself taking exception to your (well, only relatively)
rosy view of the world:
Andy to WSN: "In case you guys miss it while you are busy musing about
long waves and the functional imperatives in the evolution of
world-systems, there is a global corporatist transformation going on right
now, with real people behind it, and they are crushing liberty and
democracy."
I'm still waiting for an example of a free and democratic society. The
U.S. is pretty good as things go - I'd rather be here than in Singapore,
that's for sure - but I would hardly call getting to choose between two
elite-anointed candidates (plus the occasional eccentric millionaire)
for each office every few years hardly strikes me as democracy. Of
course, I'm a Greek; I grew up on Thucydides, not Hamilton. So far as
liberty goes, I think it's great that I can go west and buy an assault
rifle any time I want, but I'm not even entitled to due process in traffic
court.
So, I'm sorry to observe to this list one more time: corporations may do
all sorts of evil things around the world (who knows - a few may even do
good things here and there), but they can't be taking away the liberty and
democracy that we've never had.
Salvatore
PS - I don't own any corporate stock, either directly or through a pension
plan. But I'll admit: I'd like to.
Salvatore J. Babones
Sociology Department
Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D. expected Spring '98