Last week,
in an apparent moment of heightened consciousness, Margaret
Wente of the Globe and Mail
scolded corporations for their poor behaviour. This is the same
Margaret Wente who frequently rails
about unions and the need for their demise. She hasn’t yet made the
connection that unions are the last line of defense against greedy
corporations and their politician supporters.
Recently, I
called for a separation of our government from the interests of
corporate Canada. This treacherous relationship blazes the path
towards austerity, oppression and income disparity. Let’s face it,
corporations exist for one reason and one reason only: to make money
for their shareholders.
Wages cost
money. Design and innovation cost money. Research and improved
technology to increase worker productivity cost money. These are
long-term investments which the current business culture has
rejected. Why? Because they limit immediate
profits.
About a
decade ago some corporate spin doctor came up with the notion that
“government should be run like a business.”
Really? Like
GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical giant that held back the
possible damaging side effects of its diabetes drug? Like Facebook,
whose stock prices tanked immediately after their overvalued
offering to public markets? Like Barclay’s Bank, recently fined for
inter-bank interest rate rigging? Like the infamous Enron, RIM, or
Lehman brothers? Or maybe we should look to listeria-plagued Maple
Leaf Foods, whose CEO was appointed by the Premier to the province’s
new “jobs and prosperity council”?
And what is
the right wing’s response? Destroy unions, scale back wages, kill
pension funds and invest even more off shore.
Greed, plain
and simple, is now destroying the fabric of our province and nation.
Capitalism and democracy have proven to be uncomfortable bedfellows,
because many of today’s politicians either come from the business
sector or are so beholding to corporate Canada that they dare not
utter the truth about corporate malfeasance.
When was the
last time a politician had a vision to build up rather than tear
down; to build consensus rather than crisis and to lead rather than
follow? It’s been a while and we are paying for it.
Look around.
Our infrastructure is falling apart at the seams. Programs to help
the needy are disappearing faster than the polar ice caps. There is
no investment in the future, only cuts to the 99 per cent who
struggle to make ends meet.
And somehow
corporate Canada just rolls on. Owning the communications media is a
helpful tool if you intend to brainwash the populace and make them
believe that they should blame themselves for their current
struggles. After all, we have to do more with less, cut back, be
competitive, work hard, play by the rules and all the other jingoism
the Tim Hortons crowd has bought into.
Here’s the
truth. Corporate Canada is giving us “the business”.
The 2008
financial crash was the biggest manufactured crisis ever. It was a
Ponzi scheme that benefited corporations and banks at a cost to
current and future generations of Canadians. The result is clear.
We’re paying through our tax dollars while we suffering cuts to
important public services. We’re paying for it through an
infrastructure crippled by a lack of maintenance while we face
pension and job cuts.
Enough is
enough! It is time to stand up and expose the beast.
Corporations
have no business in government. It’s time corporations are run like
a union with principles of democracy, transparency and a commitment
to the value of human dignity.
