Re: WSN digest 397

Thu, 4 Jun 1998 12:32:57 -0700 (PDT)
Charles J. Reid (cjreid@netcom.com)

Howdy, Folks!

I wanted to comment on rkm's recent posting that included this statement:

"The actual primary operative dynamic is the overthrow of the nation-state
system by the centralized elite capitalist system."

Let's all take a vacation and think about nothing except the color of the
deep blue sky. When we come back to think about these things, it is clear
that the nation-state foundation of the global system has passed to a
system of Corporate Feudalism.

In the system of contemporary Corporate Feudalism, the feudal princes
control markets and some geography. Loyalty to nation-states by corporate
power holders has shifted from nation-states to corporations -- talk to
any executive after a few drinks! (Fortune 1000 companies have their own
flags and songs, etc.) If a corporation's interests conflicts with that of
a nation-state, it will not hesitate to act to promote its interests to
the detriment of the nation-states. (Didn't oil companies blackmail
Denmark about accounting procedures and fiscal policy in the late 70s, to
take one example?) A mark of a major corporation's power it that is mostly
succeeds. Corporate decision-making models (which are not egalitarian, and
not democratic) are transmuting the mindsets of its employees, especially
in industries where labor unions are weak. Note that the 75 largest
centrally planned economies of the world are corporations. (Cuba is the
76th largest.) Corporations have their own security operations. They use
selective criminality if they believe they can get away with it. And
nation-state legal systems have few laws of accountability that sanction
"owners" and decision-makers (i.e., some people can make nefarious
decisions with impunity -- e.g., Guatamala, 1954). Finally, control of the
media prevents public discussion of these things.

Anyone doubt any of this?

And how long will it be, before freedom of the internet ends? (I mean,
you need people who believe in such freedom to maintain it. So, will we
every reach a state where personal survival -- a paycheck from a feudal
prince -- takes precedence over the maintenance of such a belief?)

-- CJR

cjreid@netcom.com
"Salus populi suprema est lex" (Cicero)
The welfare of the people is the highest law.
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"In the Country of the Blind the One-eyed man is King ...
just until sundown." (Anonymous)
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