VOR’s Turn: Andrew N. Liveris Is A Brilliant Communicator. He Also Happens to Be The CEO of Dow Chemical.

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The U.S. at present is not a democracy though it masquerades as one. Fundamentally, it is run by the Rich and Corporate Interests to their own advantage.

If they don’t benefit, it doesn’t happen. Since Congress is bought and paid for by those self same interests, they follow orders. Much the same situation exists at state and county level. Corporatism rules. It has no right to, but it does.

If you doubt me, just look at unemployment. Currently we have 25 million people either unemployed, or underemployed, or who have dropped out of the job market, yet Congress refuses to do virtually anything. Much as Congress doesn’t do hunger and poverty, it doesn’t do unemployment. Yet, do you doubt for a second that if the tens of thousands of corporate lobbyists were agitating for action. and supporting their pressure with campaign donations, that disastrous situation would continue to exist. It would not. Corporatism really does rule.

I’m against that with ever fiber of my being. I’m well aware of the limitations of democracy, especially in a society where many of the potential voters are ignorant of the issues – as is the situation in this country - but still believe that it is a better system of government than the alternatives. I regret deeply that the U.S. has, in fact, if not in name, abandoned it.

For all that, I’m not against corporations as such. I think the notion that a corporation is legally a person is a corruption of the law, and a damming indictment of the integrity of the Supreme Court, and I would like to see corporate power diminished in a significant number of ways, but such qualifications apart, I wish them good fortune.

It is in that context that I draw your attention of Andrew N. Liveris. He is the CEO of Dow Chemical, a corporation with a dubious reputation, but he’s a superb communicator who – based on what I have heard so far – speaks a great deal of sense. He is also an advocate for the revival of manufacturing in the U.S., and the author of MAKE IT IN AMERICA: The Case for Reinventing The Economy.

He argues for “smart manufacturing” and he makes a compelling case. As I keep on arguing, we don’t have to be in this ridiculous economic mess. The solutions are out there, and so are some extraordinarily talented people.

 

VOR’s Turn: The Creativity Bug Lingers.

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If you have read some of my recent posts, you will know that creativity is very much on my mind right now.

I guess it is prompted by a long held view that the notion that money is commensurate with success – as measured by one’s peers and society in general – represents both a corruption of values and defies commonsense.

The former is self explanatory. The latter is illustrated by the fact that numerous people do things for reasons other than financial reward. Creative people are one such group – and here I include the spectrum from writers to belly dancers. Since belly dancers are prettier, the illustration features one of them.

Arguably, most of us hope for fame and fortune, but, in truth, most of us are realistic enough to know perfectly well that the majority of us will achieve neither. Or that success is fleeting.

But we love what we do – when we get a chance to do it - and we gain enormous satisfaction from it.

‘Satisfaction’ is probably selling it short. If you knew how much pleasure I get from writing – if I was a braver writer, I would use the word ‘happiness’ - I’d probably have pickets outside my door wanting a share.

Creative people apart, many of us find numerous other activities incredibly fulfilling. The list is endless. Just as well because this world of ours has a wide spectrum of needs.

And yet somehow we have elevated the accumulation of riches to a special status virtually regardless of how such wealth is accumulated. The concept that we all all have a duty to society, and that the phrase ‘ the common good’ has real meaning, seems to have been stripped out of our culture.

I don’t grudge anyone becoming wealthy, or at least comfortable; but I think the consequences of our three decades long experiment at pampering the rich at the expense of society as a whole speaks for itself. Under almost every heading one might care to name – it has proven to be both corrupting and disastrous.

The truly worrying thing is when people, who are fundamentally quite content with their occupations, bow – and I use the word metaphorically - before wealth. And feel dissatisfied.

Achievement is a fine thing; but the possession of wealth, in itself, deserves no respect. And the manner of its accumulation is relevant.

Since I have raised the subject, I’m now tempted to tell a tale or two about belly-dancers, but … they can wait for another time.

 

 

#21. EAGLE FINDS OUT WARLOCK’S IDENTITY; AND IS BOGGLE-EYED (A Bird’s Eye View Of The Mess We’re In)

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A few days later, EAGLE both felt, and looked, much refreshed; and CUCKOO felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“I may just go for a walk,” he said. “Fresh air and all that. A sort of constitutional.”

EAGLE looked at him sternly. “CUCKOO,” he said. “Don’t you know eagles never forget.”

“I thought that was elephants,” said CUCKOO. “Or are they heffalumps? Good creatures, though it’s never a good idea to offend them. Or sit behind them. Or have water-pistol fights with them. Not enough creatures know that.”

“I need to know everything there is to know about the creatures that are trying to kill me,” said EAGLE. “It’s hard enough learning eagleomics without thinking about about a bunch of psychotic vultures and snakes. It’s distracting me academically. Besides, it’s normally a very good idea to hit them before they hit you. I think Caesar said that, or if he didn’t, he should have. Otherwise it’s normally that Chinese fellow.”

“Is that really a good idea?” said CUCKOO. “Do you really want to get to know these things. Vultures are nasty thugs with foul habits; and as for those snakes: Who knows what they get up to down South. And I hear they do such-and-such, and so-and-so, and duel with banjos a lot. Dubious behavior.”

“I couldn’t give a flying canoodle?” said EAGLE. “We’re talking about Warlock. Spill the beans. You said he wasn’t a vulture, but you weren’t very clear after that. Talk; or I’ll put the EIS on you. And they won’t laugh at your jokes.”

The EIS, as the reader will know, is the infamously humorless – but effective - Eagle Investigation Service. They were particularly tough on crows. EAGLE had no idea at all about how they felt about cuckoos. Anyway, he was only bluffing. But he was serious about finding out about Warlock. The creature had put a contract out on him and he took that personally. It was, as CUCKOO liked to say every now and then: “A diabolical liberty.”

“Um,” said CUCKOO. “Isn’t this a little soon to hear such a big secret?”

“You’re the one who mentioned him,” said EAGLE in a relentless tone of voice.

CUCKOO hung upside down from his perch for a full minute. He had the notion that it cleared his mind; all the dross dropped out. Then he swiveled upright. “Let’s get comfortable,” he said.

EAGLE set out the brandy, and they gazed out at a very beautiful evening in companionable silence. A security patrol flew by, and the air commandos saluted by waggling their wings. They did it with some brio. Aviators are like that.

“Warlock,” said CUCKOO, “is a –”  he thought a pause for dramatic effect might be appropriate – “newt.”

The word sounded as if he had been merely clearing his throat. That would never do.

“You spell it: N – E – W – T. Nasty little word really.”

EAGLE’s head went back in absolute amazement, and his eyes widened. Moments passed, and then he burst out laughing. “You mean one of those disgusting tiny poisonous creatures you find wriggling in the swamps?” he said incredulously.

“I couldn’t have described him better myself,” said CUCKOO. “But this particular newt is mostly to be found in Washington DC. – still a swamp, as you know. And he is incredibly greedy and destructive. He also has the ability to morph into various forms, but he prefers that of a human. Well, a sort of human.”

EAGLE became serious. “Go on,” he said.

“Warlock can be killed,” said CUCKOO, “though it is not easy; but he is always reincarnated in some other form because evil never goes away. This time around, the Council of the Good – my people - tried very hard to prevent him re-appearing, but the best we could do was have him re-born as a newt. We thought that might cramp his style, but then he robbed some graves – a leg here, a skull there - threw some dinosaur bones into the pile of spare parts he ended up with; and used his evil powers to stitch together a human form, and became a politician. It was, when you think about it, the obvious occupation; and he was very good at it. More recently, I think he’s too busy making money to keep his political skills sharp. But, not so long ago, at one stage, he was third in line for the presidency of EAGLE-LAND. We stopped him, but it was a close run thing.”

EAGLE was goggle-eyed. He’d imaged Warlock as many things, but not this. This was a nightmare.

“Him,” he gasped. THAT Newt!”

“One and the same,” said CUCKOO. “The one who collects dinosaur bones. He uses them for black magic, and unspeakable sexual rites. And now he’s actually running for the presidency. And he’s not the only candidate from the Dark World. There are two witches in there as well – though fortunately both are nuts. One turns into a mosquito when not in human form, and buzzes around a lot putting her proboscis where it is not wanted. Clever disguise. Lot of mosquitos in Alaska.

“Not sure about the other one, but I hear she runs around muttering: ‘Bubble, bubble, boil and trouble;’ and complains that her cauldron gives her headaches. Personally, I think she drinks too much tea; probably with something in it.”

“THEM!” said EAGLE, his rising voice in pure unadulterated shock. “What’s this country coming to!”

“That’s rather why I’m here,” said CUCKOO. “Your friends are concerned. The state of the nation is –“ he thought for a moment – “deteriorating. Nasty, nasty, word. Pretty nasty condition.”

He topped  up their glasses again. “Drink up. This one’s medicinal.”

“Who or what was Warlock in his previous incarnation?” said EAGLE when he had recovered.

CUCKOO cocked his head to one side, and then closed his eyes. The he opened them. “Just checking the records,” he said. “Hope you’re up for this, EAGLE.”

“Who was he?” said EAGLE.

“Reichsmarschall Herman Goering,” said CUCKOO. “Fat Herman. And you have to admit there’s a certain resemblance. But it means the bugger can fly.

“Goering was a Nazi, a war monger, and a mass murderer, but he was an ace in WW I. Won ‘The Blue Max.’

“Commanded Jagdeschwader 1 after The Red Baron was killed. But then you’re an ace too; and, frankly, you look fitter.”

EAGLE was speechless. “I’m going to look for flying pigs,” he said and went for a leisurely glide.

A few minutes later a flight of pigs flew by. They all wagged their tails in salute as they passed EAGLE.

He returned the salute, and then flew back to face CUCKOO, who was perched there grinning.

“Couldn’t resist,” said CUCKOO. 

“Who are you really, CUCKOO?” said EAGLE.

CUCKOO vanished just like that. However, his brandy glass, now unsupported, stayed just where it had been when CUCKOO was holding it. It was empty.

EAGLE ran a talon above it, below it and around it. There were no invisible wires.

He shook his head. “I’m dreaming,” he said; and promptly fell asleep.

#.19 CUCKOO BEGINS TO EXPLAIN, AND EAGLE HEARS ABOUT WARLOCK (A Bird’s Eye View Of The Mess We’re In)

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CUCKOO felt vast relief when he knew EAGLE was safe. In truth, he had seen the whole flight from the time EAGLE had left his eyrie; though how he was ever going to explain that was an interesting question. But it was clear he was going to have to; and probably sooner rather than later.

He had been faced with a dilemma right from the beginning. His task was to prepare EAGLE for a very special mission, yet to do so in such a way, it all seemed a natural progression. But, the more EAGLE was prepared for his vital role, the better equipped he was to notice that CUCKOO wasn’t your average CUCKOO. And there lay the risk and the potential tragedy it all. The simple fact was that that there were some things that one couldn’t explain too quickly.

CUCKOO had learned that over a millennium and a half. There were good reasons why he was slow to confide. Many couldn’t take it unless they were properly prepared; and that took a great deal of time. Years as a minimum; decades for preference. It was scarcely surprising. What was required of them was, after all – though different in detail in every case - fairly extraordinary. The average creature, human, eagle, or otherwise, was really only equipped to deal with what he or she knew. To step beyond that was inconceivable; yet it had to be done. And it would be done. But it was demanding work; and it was stressful. Yet experience helped, and CUCKOO was nothing if not experienced.

When EAGLE returned, the first thing CUCKOO noticed was that he was covered in vulture blood. He laughed when CUCKOO pointed out this fact, and took off for the waterfall where he normally showered. He looked a great deal better when he returned. He cracked open a bottle of wine and perched across from CUCKOO.

He raised his glass. “CUCKOO,” he said. “I believe I owe you my life.”

CUCKOO made a dismissive gesture. “I’m just glad you survived.”

“I had the sense throughout the whole affair that someone – some force – was watching over us,” EAGLE said. “Something prompted me to circle back and see my attackers,” he declared. “Some force ensured that out communications were perfect, which has never been the case in the past. And some friendly soul overrode my orders and assembled my entire Air Commando to come to our rescue. They should have been scattered snake hunting but mysteriously received direct orders to assemble and high-tail it across to me. And conveniently they can’t remember who issued the orders – but they thought it was me. Which it wasn’t.”

“You are a remarkably fine aviator,” said CUCKOO with some feeling. His heart had been in his mouth while he had watched the fight. There were matters he could influence, and things he could not. EAGLE’S victories in the direct fight had been his alone.

“Yes I am,” said EAGLE, “but I know there was more at work today than my ability to get on an opponent’s tail in less than forty seconds. Don’t ask me how I know. I just know. And I know you, CUCKOO, are behind it.”

CUCKOO drank his wine. “Oh dear,” he said eventually.

“Thank you,” said EAGLE, “but if you don’t tell what’s going on, I am liable to get testy. And you never want to mess with a testy eagle.”

CUCKOO grinned. “I might surprise you,” he said. “I am of a certain age (something of an understatement) but I am not helpless.”

EAGLE laughed. “Dragon’s breath, it’s good to be alive. Nothing raises the spirits more than to be nearly killed. And now tell me who is trying to kill me – and why.”

So CUCKOO did.

EAGLE went as pale as an eagle can (which is not very). “So that’s why I’m learning eagleomics,” he said. “Good grief. This thing is huge.”

You don’t know the half of it, thought CUCKOO, or close; but he stayed silent. EAGLE had been through enough, and had learned enough, for one day. He was progressing extraordinarily well.

EAGLE was lost in thought. Up to know, all his combat had been physical. Now he was going to have to battle intellectually and psychologically as well. The cause was worthy, but was he up to it? He longed to be carefree, where winning the physical fight was really all that counted. Instead he was facing up to a vastly more complex world than he had ever had to deal with before. Was he up to the task? He truly did not know. Was he willing to give it his all? He rather thought he was. Eagles were nothing if not purposeful.

He was aware of CUCKOO looking at him intently with great concern, and more than a little compassion. Then a great feeling of peace and contentment swept over him; and soon he slept.

High in the sky, his bodyguards circled, maneuvered and watched. They changed altitude and direction and were as unpredictable as could be. This was for real. There would be another attack; and they would be ready.

Beside him, CUCKOO enjoyed his wine; and thought deep thoughts in a relaxed kind of way until he, too, was asleep.

Nearly three thousand miles away, the WARLOCK replayed the events of the day, and raged. Surely a miserable eagle could not be defying him? Or were there other factors at work?

WE’VE BEEN GIVEN THE TOOLS, BUT SO FAR WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE THEM

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THE PAINFUL MARCH OF IDEAS

Buckminster Fuller, inventor extraordinaire, wrote a great deal about innovation and about how frustratingly long it can take for breakthrough ideas to be accepted.

In his eyes, the major villain was the housing industry, where he said it took at least a generation for even the best idea to win acceptability; but he listed other fields where progress was resisted with near similar success.

Perhaps the best example of the latter was the automobile industry which only now is being dragged kicking and screaming into utilizing fuel efficient technologies; and which has actively fought new thinking – and any notion of doing something which favors the Public Good - for decades. In fact the U.S. automobile industry is a textbook example of the downside of unfettered capitalism. Until legislation, safety and fuel efficiency were largely ignored and hundreds of thousands of Americans died as result; and millions were injured. The carnage continues, of course, but at least it has been lessened.

Bucky died in 1983, so largely missed the extraordinary surge of innovation that has accompanied the introduction of digital technology, but I suspect he would have been delighted. On the other hand, there is no doubt he would have been appalled by the near complete lack of progress within our political system.

A POX ON BOTH PARTIES

Indeed, particularly where the Republican Party is concerned, we seem to have reverted to the late Nineteenth Century when Robbers Barons and Trusts ruled with scant opposition. And when it comes to innovation, it’s hard not to conclude that the Democrats are little better; and they are certainly much worse when it comes to communicating with the electorate. Since communication is fundamental to winning acceptance of ideas, that is a devastating weakness which, so far, the Democrats seem incapable of accepting, let alone remedying.

THE ANSWERS ARE OUT THERE; BUT SO ARE THE ICEBERGS

I hold to the view that although the U.S. is currently faced with a devastating array of problems, and is in active decline, we have never been better placed to solve our problems. The answers are out there.

Why so? How so? Because we now have in our hands the most powerful tools yet known to mankind to leverage our combined societal knowledge, yet our politicians are not even asking the right questions. Instead the Right have mastered the art of pressing the emotional buttons of the electorate, while having no real policies – except to make the Rich richer; and the Left have retreated into pained incoherence. 

Meanwhile, this TITANIC NATION of ours gets ever closer to the icebergs.

THE FORCE MAY BE WITH US, BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT

My sense is that most of us don’t yet adequately appreciate the extraordinary power of what has been created and therefore haven’t yet made the intellectual leap to try and harness this force for good or evil which is at our disposal. But we need to, because it is all too clear that our conventional political structures and policies are no longer up to the task. Simply put, changed circumstances demand different structures and solutions.

My vision is of an interactive system where the digisphere is used to tap into the combined brainpower of society as a whole in order to deal with our various issues and solve our problems. That is likely to mean that government, as currently constituted, will eventually cease to exist only to be replaced by a digisphere based version of Athenian direct democracy.

But we don’t have to wait for such drastic change to take place to utilize the digisphere right now. Instead, we could achieve a great deal by merely framing the issues in question in the right form so that the American people could respond.

The right person to do that is the President.

George W. Bush failed dismally in this regard and, so far, Obama has proved little better. He has an extraordinary resource at his disposal but seems to lack the imagination to make use of it. He doesn’t seem to understand that the main role of the politician of the future will be to ask the right question, and to insure the mechanisms that allow society to provide the answer are in place and accessible.

A NATION OF THE NONPLUSSED

We have the tools – truly astonishing tools of unprecedented power - but we are a Nation of the Nonplussed.

Google, Amazon, Facebook and similar corporations may be exceptions; but, given the current imbalance in favor of corporate power at the expense of the individual, do we really want government by Google? 

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"Tim, it's not that complicated. On the one hand there is 'We, The (Little) People' and on the other hand, there is Us, the Financial Community - the very heart of this Corporate State of ours, the very personification of Big Business. The way American Free Enterprise works is that we let The Little People go bust in the normal way of things while we, the Financial Community get bailed out and otherwise subsidized. Who pays? The Little People, of course. That's what Little People do. That's why they stay little. Now go to it."  And so it came to pass. 

“Corporate Profits Were The Highest On Record Last Quarter”

Catherine Rampell NYT November 23 2010

“The nation’s workers may be struggling, but American companies just had their best quarter ever.

American businesses earned profits of $1.66 trillion at an annual rate in the third quarter, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. That is the highest figure recorded since the government began keeping track over 60 years ago, at least in nominal or non-inflation-adjusted terms.

Corporate profits have been going gangbusters for a while. Since their cyclical low in the fourth quarter of 2008, profits have grown for seven consecutive quarters, at some of the fastest rates in history.

This breakneck pace can be partly attributed to strong productivity growth — which means companies have been able to make more with less — as well as the fact that some of the profits of American companies come from abroad. Economic conditions in the United States may still be sluggish, but many emerging markets like India and China are expanding rapidly.”

So much for the good news. Now let’s examine its implications.

We seem to have entered a period when it’s almost as if American Big Business has declared war on the Democrats in particular and the American people in general. Do I exaggerate to make a point? Possibly, but what I am saying without hesitation is that Big Business seems to be using its clout – yet again – to turn Obama into a one term president in the hope that his Republican successor will be more business friendly. The methodology is straightforward enough.

• Squeeze the U.S. consumer in every way possible in order to optimize profits.
• Squeeze workers for exactly the same reason in the certain knowledge that in the current employment climate workers have little choice but to accede to employer demands.
• Despite having unprecedented capital available - in excess of $2 Trillion - and profits being at record levels, refuse to invest to any serious extent until Obama is out of the picture.

This is pretty sick behavior, but Big Business may well get away with it because, so far, Obama seems to be incapable of facing up to the fact that the American Business Model is deeply flawed – and communicating that truth to the American people as a whole. Quite why this is, I do not know, but his lack of moral courage on this issue is not to his credit; and if he doesn’t understand what is going on – entirely possible given his lack of a business background – then, once again, he has surrounded himself with the wrong people.

To be critical of the American Business Model does NOT make one “anti-business.” It means your eyes are open; and you care about ALL Americans.

Attempting to destroy the credibility of the messenger is a standard technique and labeling critics of specific business bad behavior as innately “anti business” is pretty much a standard reflex. In reply, I merely ask you to think about what is actually going on and to reflect on the performance of American Big Business (which includes the Financial Community) over the last four decades. If that does not make you appreciate that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark (Shakespeare meant U.S. Big Business, of course) then I’m emigrating to China.

Read on and think this through carefully. Big Business has bought our political system and we no longer have a Free Enterprise economy. There is nothing free about it. We have a country run by, and for, the Rich and Special Interests - and most Americans are getting shafted. 

Most of us don't want to believe it because it is frightening to realize that  our Democracy has been so subverted, that something akin to a coup has taken place, but the evidence is readily available, and incontrovertible: Congress isn't working - it has been bought - and our National Wealth is being siphoned off at rapid speed. Unless enough of us wake up and do something, this country is going to be no country for our children. 

Let me going into a little more detail by exposing you to a Chamber of Commerce briefing.  They didn’t really write the words but they have certainly supported the deeds; (and they should be ashamed of themselves).

HOW TO INCREASE CORPORATE PROFITABILITY IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY U.S.A.: A checklist for action originated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 

1. Buy government at Federal, State and Local level so that the legal system consistently favors business over the rights of the American citizen. 

We call this “Gaming the Constitution” and we’ve become so good at it, the elections are now categorized as entertainment. Heck, we should set the whole thing to music. True, we’d prefer the Republicans to win because they are clueless in practical terms, but we have our hooks into the Democrats too so either way we make out like gangbusters. Remember that the bail-out of Wall Street was started by Bush and completed by Obama. Go figure. DONE

2. As above with the Legal System.

Here we pay particular attention to the Supreme Court because, in the right hands – no pun intended – it makes sure that we can go on buying politicians with as much money as is needed. Most reasonable citizens would call this bribery, but since the Supreme Court classifies corporations as people, we get away with paying off pols under the pretence that our bribes equate to free speech. Yes, we know it defies commonsense and makes a mockery of the Constitution, but it’s good for us; and that’s all that counts. Why so? Because we are the elite. It’s the natural order of things. DONE.

3. Make sure that government gives special breaks to Big Business in the form of tax breaks, subsidies, grants, contracts, privatization and anything else you can think up.

This isn’t that difficult if you remember to pay off the politicians, provide jobs for retired military and the like, and support the Right Wing even if you privately think their policies are idiotic. DONE.

4. Rail against government spending publicly, but privately suck at the public teat as much as you can.

As most large corporations have discovered, it is much easier to make money screwing the government than competing in the marketplace. Campaign contributions and lobbyists are relatively cheap compared to marketing costs. In addition we always manage to place large numbers of our people within every administration. He who pays the piper calls the tune. And the American people do not pay the piper. Big business does; and Big business is US – a small, select, elite, extraordinarily rich group (who pay tax, if we pay any, at a vastly lower rate than the average American). It’s the American Way – and always will be. DONE.

5. Talk a lot about how only private enterprise is willing to take risk and spur innovation but, privately, make sure that risk is underpinned by the government.

This is particularly important if you are a defense contractor. Here, an additional trick is to drag out contracts interminably so that no one can ever be held accountable for anything (because they have moved on) and the ignorant blame the increase in costs on inflation. Appreciate that a big weapons contract can be stretched out for 20 years or more and, with luck, you won’t have to make anything at the end. Look at the Commanche helicopter. And by the way, did you know the Defense Department books cannot be audited – even though it is a legal requirement. It’s systems won’t talk to each other. Somehow, that scarcely seems to be accidental. Money flows in and sort of disappears – into our pockets, by the way. The systems cannot account for it. Is this a great country or what! DONE.

6. Moan about corporate tax a lot but, unless you are an idiot, don’t actually pay much of it.

Think of the Google example. If one of the largest companies in the world can pay only 2 percent tax, you can shoot for the same. DONE.

7. Blame government for everything – and those socialistic Europeans for everything else.  

We have done a fantastic job dumping on the government. We probably couldn’t have done it in the immediate post war period, or during the Eisenhower years, but the Vietnam War left many people unhappy with government, and we exploited that feeling to hammer away at government ever since. 

The Nazis weren’t wrong. If you repeat a lie often enough, you can get an awful lot of people to believe you. Sure, we know that government is necessary and that some governments can be very good indeed (and some corporations very bad), but the truth has nothing to do with it. Instead, we want to be able to blame some outfit while we get on with the business of making money – and the government is a perfect patsy in that regard. As for the Europeans, they are another perfect foil – especially as most Americans haven’t a clue what Socialism is except that it’s BAD. Of course, the truth is that American corporations operate with great success – and very profitably - in virtual all European states but we are not going to tell the American voter that. We like things the way they are, and it’s really useful having a bogeyman. DONE.

8. Support Small Business publicly while undermining it privately.

Here’s the thing. Although we talk about how wonderful a free market economy is, we don’t really want anything of the sort. Genuine competition is far too risky and has a disconcerting habit of depressing profit margins and working in favor of the consumer. And it’s very hard work. 

So what we really want – and have – is a situation whereby a mere handful of corporations has a lock on each market sector and create what is, in effect, a monopoly. Now the great thing about a monopoly is that it doesn’t have to worry about competition, can keep profit margins high, has more than enough resources to make the people who run it filthy rich, and has enough clout to keep the politicians in line and to strangle any potential competitors at birth. All of that adds up to THE AMERICAN BUSINESS MODEL. Pick virtually any market sector in the U.S. and you’ll find it that despite the profusion of brands, it will be controlled by only a few corporations. De facto monopoly is here.

So where does Small Business come in? Well, we tolerate that for a number of reasons. (1) Many of these so called small businesses are really employees whom we don’t have to pay benefits too because we classify them as contractors. (2) The sector is a convenient dumping ground for people we fire. (3) We want to keep the plebs still believing in the American Dream because it distracts them from what is really going on. (4) Some of them provide services we find useful but don’t want to get involved in. (5) Backing small business is a real vote getter. 

All of that said, we don’t really want a vibrant small business sector because people might soon discover that local is better in many ways and put more than a few of us out of business. Imagine if local restaurants replaced Fast Food – the mind boggles. So our policy is to praise them, but work them to death and keep them underfinanced. Our financial friends do a great job in that regard. They don’t quite strangle them, but they keep them gasping for air.  Our whole approach works like a charm. DONE.

9. Break the Unions.

American workers don’t enjoy anything like the benefits of workers in Europe and we want it to stay that way. Good grief, what would happen to this country if workers started getting decent vacations. And remember that the unions have been behind just every social advance made by the American worker. In fact you can make a strong case that without the unions there wouldn’t be an American Middle Class. The unions are a downright menace. NEARLY DONE.

10. Buy up the Media so that it becomes an instrument of distraction and corporate manipulation – packaged as entertainment - rather than information.

Realize that it is extremely important that Americans do not realize how much better workers are treated in most of the rest of the Developed World. Trade on the fact that many Americans are either badly educated or narrowly educated; and KEEP THEM IGNORANT!  And broke. DONE (apart from the pesky Internet).

11. Oppose any and all regulations, regardless of their merit.

This attitude defies all reason except than it may keep direct operating costs down in the short term (and other costs are the taxpayers problem). Its effect is to allow business to pollute at will, Big Coal to devastate the environment and have its miners killed unnecessarily, the financial sector to pass bad paper and  gamble etc. – to name but a few examples. True, that will put you and your family at risk too – but you can avoid most of that if you pay yourself an obscene amount of money and live a separate lifestyle. You know, God invented gated communities, corporate jets and stock options for a reason. Why not? After all, he too is a CEO in a way and it is no accident that the cross is a Plus Sign. DONE.

12. Undermine any and all worker rights.

In addition, make sure that workers have as little time off work as possible because they must not have either the time or the energy to think. Thinking is bad. Process is good. Information is bad. Ignorance is good. It’s a mantra. Use it to help yourself meditate on just how rich all of this is going to make you. DONE.

13.  Eliminate any notions about such socialist concepts as ‘The Public Good,’ ‘The National Interest,’ ‘the Welfare of the Community’ etc.

Realize that U.S. interests and business interests are NOT  one and the same. Perhaps they were half a century ago, but now what’s good for corporate interests is frequently downright damaging to America. Tough. That’s just the way it is these days. DONE.

14. Focus only on short term profitabilityy.

Remember, although Wall Street loves the results of research, it doesn’t like us investing in it. So let the government pay for most of it and let us practical business people who live in the real world focus on the next quarter. And while you are at, close down your lab and lay off a few thousand U.S. researchers. If ever you need research, you can get the job done in China or India and those guys come a whole lot cheaper. And meanwhile watch your share price shoot up. Wall Street loves cost cutting. DONE.

15.  Transfer as much risk as possible to your workforce.

Make them pay more for healthcare and fund their own pensions – and oppose unemployment pay. Remember that an insecure workforce is a docile workforce. DONE.

16.  Export as many American jobs as possible.

This not only cuts costs but it keeps the rest of the workforce terrified and amenable – and renders unions impotent. Better yet, it boosts the pay of the Chinese (or whoever) and creates whole new markets for your corporation. And, by the way, you are going to need new markets with a vengeance because the American Middle Class is being destroyed by debt, the housing crisis, healthcare, education costs and low pay. But, that’s not your concern. You’ve got to think global these days – and always put yourself (and your buddies) first. DONE.

17.  Export manufacturing expertise and all kinds of other technology.

Well, we’re not really crazy about doing this because it means in effect that we are creating are own competition to the great detriment of America. On the other hand, why should we care about the American Middle Class – and, frankly we don’t. Our loyalty is solely to the bottom line. In fact it has to be because that is what U.S. law mandates. Now, it’s true that we have also exported all kinds of stuff that some might regard as a threat to American National Security but we really had very little choice. The Chinese insisted on it. DONE.

18.  Appreciate that ‘The American Job is your prime bargaining chip’ and should be exploited in every possible way.

So spread the illusion that only big business creates jobs, ensure that government at all levels pays heavily for the privilege of having you set up a plant – and keep jobs as scarce as is practical. Remember: Unemployment is good and keeps your costs down.  Full employment is bad because then you’ll have to pay decent wages. DONE.

19.  Bitterly oppose unemployment pay and similar benefits

This includes food stamps and anything else that makes up the social safety net. You want the loss of a job to be a terrible thing because that will keep your workforce cowed and in line. And you certainly don’t want the unemployed able to pick and chose. So far you are doing pretty well in that less than half those out of work actually manage to collect anything thanks to technicalities (thank god for lobbyists) but you can do better. PARTIALLY DONE.

20. Understand that you can make much more money in the financial sector than by actually making anything.

Of course we had to get rid of all kinds of regulations first, and we regularly need to be bailed out by the American taxpayer (don’t worry – the American public forgets quickly) but since we own the politicians and have a lock on the economy, that is not a problem. We call this Financialization and the great thing about it is that no one really understands it. 

However, it allows us to sell worthless paper for trillions, slap fees onto just about every commercial transaction, gamble with other people’s money, pay ourselves obscene amounts of money, operate in near complete secrecy – and hold the entire economy to ransom. 

Mind you, a byproduct is that the real U.S. economy is being destroyed at a rapid rate and tens of millions of lives are being ruined – but, hey, it should last long enough to see you and I ok; and then we can give the whole place back to the Indians. And, by the way, all of this is RISK FREE because the public always pays if things go wrong.  Look at the so called Great Recession. We caused it – and if financial businesses were normal corporations, we’d have all have gone bust. Instead, between the TARP and the Fed, we’ve been drowned in nearly free money and we’re back in action raking it in all over again. DONE.

21.  If you still do manufacture in the U.S., avail of monopoly pricing – and cut costs.

Big Pharma is the best example around of monopoly pricing so if you study how they operate, you won’t go far wrong. But you can also get a lot of mileage out of debasing the product. It’s not that hard to do and the Food Industry excels at it. What you do is take some processed product and replace one ingredient with a similar but cheaper one. Use High Fructose Corn syrup instead of sugar for example. Or add fillers such as soy powder or whatever. Now there might be health disadvantages and so on but the chances are the average consumer won’t notice and the savings can be enormous. And health issues are scarcely your problem. If people chose to eat such stuff, it’s a free country after all. DONE.

22.  Create and impose a matrix of social control that effectively distracts, entertains and constrains the U.S. population

As you will already know, this merely an updated version of the Ancient Roman way of keeping their population in line. Whereas the Roman elite provided bread and circuses to distract and entertain the masses – backed up by foreign wars and the ever present threat of physical force, we operate a more sophisticated system; albeit, for exactly the same purpose.

Our modern system is made up of: (1) Inadequate primary and secondary education. (2) Costly tertiary education that forces most into debt. (3) A bureaucratic employment system that is credential oriented to excess, and unforgiving of any deviation from the accepted norm (4) A system of government and corporate databases that virtually eliminates the concept of privacy for the individual (5) A car dependent society that forces most to buy a vehicle. (6) Unremitting pressure to consume. (7) A controlled media oriented towards entertainment, and sorely lacking in the kind of information citizens need. (8) An economic system that is carefully designed to ensure that one is indebted for life. (9) Minimal worker rights. (10) Major penalties if one loses one’s job. (11) The elimination of company pensions. (12 ) A healthcare system that is both inadequate in quality, and which costs roughly twice that of other developed countries. And by the way, ridiculously costly healthcare has TWO benefits. It's vastly profitable for people like us, and it takes money out of the economy which might be spent on social benefits which we certainly don't want. It does make us less competitive internationally, and help destroy the U.S. manufacturing base, but that's a problem for the Little People, not for us.

I could add in other elements, such as a legal system that imprisons more citizens per capita than any other nation in the world – and which thus removes large numbers of people who might be tempted to vote against our interests – but I think this will give you the general idea. And, needless to say, we have wars too, and they are super-good for business. Good grief, the Iraq and Afghani wars alone are well on their way to costing $3 trillion – and all of that is borrowed money. Think of the profit from that little lot.

The important thing to focus on is how all of this works to our advantage. In its totality, it virtually eliminates opposition because the penalties of stepping out of line are so severe. And as a byproduct, it makes a small number of us extremely rich. Why not? Not only do we own this country, but we run it too.

  

Socialism for the Rich, and Social Control at a profit, is truly the American Way. DONE.

"IT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME THAT AN INDIVIDUAL COULDN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE."

Image via Wikipedia

This is the first blog on my TITANIC NATION website. The full title of the book says what it’s all about so it may be helpful to explain how it came to be written.

I have long been fascinated with how and why some economies work, yet some do not. I was influenced initially by my grandmother, the remarkable Vida Lentaigne, who came from a wealthy background – her father was a highly successful textile industrialist – but was greatly concerned at the poverty around her. Then I became interested in my own right because the Ireland I grew up in was an economic disaster. I wondered why this should be so, and when I studied Economics, History and English (at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland) I devoted particular attention to Economics. Ireland was in a parlous state in the Sixties and I wanted to know why and what could be done about it.  

It never occurred to me that an individual couldn’t make a difference. I had seen my grandmother work for the public interest with great success, and saw no reason why I couldn’t do the same thing in my own way. I still don’t. “We The People” is us.

My great grandfather was both a capitalist and a Liberal and saw nothing incongruous in being both. He believed a free enterprise system should drive the economy, but that it was no more than good business to have a contented workforce who could afford to buy the goods he produced. He was therefore a believer in reasonable working conditions, adequate pay, and vacations for his workers – all rights that we now take for granted in developed nations (except in the U.S.). He would be totally amazed to discover that in the U.S., the world ‘Liberal’ is regularly used as a pejorative term, roughly akin to ‘Communist’ because it meant, and it still means, nothing of the sort. Certainly he regarded it is no more than Commonsense Capitalism.

At Trinity, I studied multiple economic systems and focused on trying to find out what worked best. Over four decades later, that still remains my focus.

Many people aren’t interested in how economies work (but can be veritable geniuses in other areas). I lack talent and interest in sports or soap operas, but follow economies with the passion of a sports enthusiast. And that kind of intense focus tends to mean that one learns a great deal over time. Indeed, throw in my Masters from Trinity, and arguably I became an expert.  

In the Eighties I become heavily involved in trying to change Ireland’s high tax, high tariff, statist economic system into a low tax, free trade, business friendly economy. In fact I even set up a company so I could study the current approach firsthand. I also lobbied and made speeches though, oddly enough I didn’t write so much in those days. Nothing seemed to change at first. Vested interests were entrenched and strong. But then the views of our rather small group of reformers began to develop traction, and suddenly Ireland took off like an economic rocket. True, it is in trouble right now, but that is because of excess and greed. The core economy remains in vastly better shape.

That Irish experience was further proof to me that, however unlikely it might seem, an individual could make a difference. Though clearly one needed help, I developed a real sense that a relatively small but committed group can have a vast impact – even against the most powerful and entrenched vested interests.

America has been good to me, so in 2001 I emigrated here with my children. As normal I continued my economy watching although this time I had switched my primary focus from Europe to the U.S.  Gradually, as I observed and read, I formed the view that there is something really wrong here and that such structural flaws could be traced back to the early Seventies. In brief, it seemed to me that much of what we were being taught was a myth, that “We The People” were certainly no longer in control, that the Middle Class was losing ground, that this truly Great Nation had become a Corporate State run by the Rich and Corporate Special Interests – and the Nation as a whole was in decline.

I had forecast the 2008/9 Great Recession in 2004 (although not scale of the corruption in the Financial Sector) and started TITANIC NATION in 2007. It has been much re-written and updated. Events soon proved my concerns well justified, but I still don’t believe the majority of Americans fully understand the scale of the problems that we face, nor appreciate the true causes; and we are woefully short of solutions.

TITANIC NATION addresses both issues, and is my way of fighting for a country and a people that I feel great affection for; and as a way of saying “Thank you.” But, its primary objective is to stimulate We The People into heading into a new direction. 

American decline is not pre-ordained.

Victor O’Reilly MA

Seattle, WA 20010