I’m from a Corporation and I’m here to help you

So, let me get this straight… you hate paying taxes and you want to privatize everything?  You want schools, police and fire privatized?  And you want your healthcare to remain private, too?

Okay….Here’s what you’ll get from a government office – and won’t get from a corporation:

Under the Consitution…

• Government provides transparency.  But corporations don’t… and won’t.
• Corporations don’t have to tell you anything about how they’re doing what they’re doing.  They can ignore laws, pay off lawmakers and judges, make unlimited donations, etc.  They can monopolize the marketplace with poor quality, overpriced, unsafe products and services, drive down prices to drive competitors out of business, and they don’t have to be competitive or fair.  They can hire and fire anyone “at will”, discriminate lawlessly, and practice illegal labor habits (like not paying unemployment benefits or lie about working conditions or financial debts/health)

• Government doesn’t operate at a profit.
• Corporations are all about profit.  They put profits before people.  They can – and will – jack up their rates for no reason, charge whatever they want, and bankrupt you while doing it.  Can’t pay?  You’re sick?  Lost your job?  Too bad.  They can sue you for anything they want when you owe them money.

• Governments have to follow laws.
• Corporations hate laws.  Regulations, i.e. laws, protect the consumer and force businesses to operate fairly.  Corporations have “limited liability”.  In other words, if they f*** up something, no one will go to jail.  They simply pay a fine and will still remain in business.

• Governments have to respect privacy (in the old days).
• Corporations don’t have to respect your privacy.  They get to spy on you, but you can’t spy on them.

• Governments create jobs that last a lifetime and are mostly unionized.
• Corporations hate unions.  Unions provide guaranteed protection of benefits, wages, job protection, etc.

I’m not against corporations.  I’m just against replacing governments with corporations.  I don’t believe we should be allowing corporations to write laws that benefit them at our expense – like the kind of legislation that created Medicare Part D.  I don’t believe in allowing oil companies to donate huge amounts of money to lawmakers or to pay for high-priced lobbyists who are only interested in helping corporations gain more power (i.e. by obeying fewer regulations).

We are at the mercy of the corporation — an entity that only once existed for the benefit of stockholders, investors, and people who wanted to gain greater tax benefits.  Now, there is absolutely nothing that is sacred anymore.  Not even our constitution or our government.

Please be wary when you hear anyone talk about getting rid of “big government” by “privatizing” it with big corporations.  It might sound glitzy and secure.  But it has proven to be nothing less than our worst nightmare.