Just thinking about the situation in that big country to the south of us. In a land echoing with loud claims of the power of "Free Enterprise" more and more of the biggest corporations have effectively become socialized. General Motors - due to the constant bailouts needed to keep them afloat. is now 60% owned by the government. The biggest banks in the US have been slurping at the government trough so long its hard to tell if they are privately owned or not, but they can certainly count on the government to help them out with truckloads of cash whenever their greed lands them in difficult circumstances.
It looks the same from the other side too. Government agencies are funded and run by the very people they are supposed to be regulating. Take the FDA for example. The greater part of its budget is supplied by Pharmaceutical companies, an unlikely situation. Its laughable to think the EPA provides any control over pharmaceutical corporations when 94% of their wages come directly from them - over 4 billion dollars annually.
Free Enterprise is a great idea and - allowed to function - is an efficient provider of goods and jobs. Unfortunately what we have in the West is not "Free Enterprise," its a form of Oligarchy or Corporate Rule. At best it can be described as a system of corporate welfare that is aimed at reducing humans to peonage and maximizing profitability at any cost. We see the same process at work in Canada where inequality is running rampant. Social programs are being stripped away while government handouts to corporations are constantly on the increase.
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