Let's pick up where we left off last week and I will reiterate my position that
when politics becomes a professional wrestling match presented by corporations
that profit no matter who wins, then being a democrat or a republican makes
very little difference. When our choice for president is a selection between
the Goldman Sachs republican or the Goldman Sachs democrat, then electing one
or the other will alter the course of history very little. Last week I
suggested that one possible response to the political status quo would be to
register as an independent voter. While this is only a symbolic gesture if
few people do it, if 10 million people withdraw their membership from a
political party, there will undoubtedly be consequences.
In the three month period ending in January of this year, approximately 5.6
million people pulled their money out of big banks and transferred it into
small banks and credit unions. The big banks noticed. Some dropped a few of
their more outrageous fees. Bank stocks suffered. Several smaller banks
regained a healthy footing. The point is, the cumulative effect of 5.6 million
quiet, non-dramatic personal gestures was significant. In a nation where we
often feel that our political and financial futures are beyond our control, we
are not without resources.
What else can we do to reclaim some of the power that we have given away? You
hold a very effective tool in your hands right now. Your local community
newspaper is not owned by a large corporation. It employs local people and
contributes to the local economy. Through it, you can reconnect to your local
community, become more aware of local businesses and participate in local
events. The more we participate at the local level, the stronger our community
becomes and the healthier our local economy.
Washington is not offering any viable solutions to our problems. It will
continue to act to ensure the survival of the status quo, and the status quo
will continue to drain the productivity of our wage slavery in order to support
the cost of maintaining a financial and military empire and the increasingly
bloated bureaucracy necessary to sustain it. When we unconsciously follow
the well-worn routine of work all day; shop at Walmart; eat at McDonalds and
then go home and watch Entertainment Tonite –we do our part to sustain the
status quo. Vote for a democrat or a republican and we help sustain the status
quo. Spend our hard earned money with corporations instead of local businesses,
and we help sustain the status quo.
Think about how our area has changed in the last 15 years, for good or for ill.
In some ways we have more choices in our local economy than we did, but a
number of those choices now represent large corporations and a declining number
represent locally or regionally owned companies. Surrounded by Home Depots and
Lowes, how many of our local hardware stores will still be here 15 years from
now? When I hear people say, “I wish we had a (name your chain)
restaurant,” I wonder how many of our local eateries will survive. When I
save a few dollars at Walmart rather than buying locally, is it worth the
unintended consequence of destroying local business by attrition?
No, corporations are not evil. Like people, they simply make choices to
maximize their returns and promote their own interests. The partnership between
Washington and big business promotes the self-interest of both, but it excludes
most of us from meaningful participation. The power of our vote is greatly
diluted by the limited menu of choices we currently have. The power of our
voice is diluted by the cacophony of opinions increasingly herded by the power
of corporate spending unleashed on the political process. The power of our
spending money, however, remains strong. Let us vote with our wallets,
and with our own self-interest in mind, let us cast that vote locally as often
as possible.
