At 01:27 PM 6/5/98 -0400, Cordell, Arthur: DPP wrote:
>
> ----------
>From: Sid Shniad
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Democracy and Megacorporations Don't Mix -- Robert Reich
>Date: Thursday, June 04, 1998 5:05PM
>
>The Los Angeles Times Wednesday, May 13, 1998
>
>Democracy and Megacorporations May Be Mutually Exclusive
>
>A century ago, the trustbusters battled big business as an
>economic problem. Today, the real danger is political.
>
> By Robert B. Reich
>
>The era of big government may be over, as the president says, but the
>era
>of corporate giantism seems only to have just begun.
snip
I respect Reich's views
Predictions are always shaky at best.
The corporations are aware of "equal power" structures -- e.g. they use
them in the organization of Visa with the major financial institutions as
partners more-or-less equal in power
See Dee Hock's work on chaordic (chaos/order) organizations at
http://www.cascadepolicy.org/dee_hock
http://www.funderstanding.com/mailing1.htm
Our government/ bureaucratic structures are still organized as hierarchies,
accountable to no-one, and therefore available to the highest bidder -- in
whatever currency is desired on the particular occasion
Until our governments realise that they will be more powerful when they are
accountable to the people by a SYSTEM such as that proposed by Canadians
for Direct Democracy:
"to improve the democratic process in Canada through a SYSTEM of
citizen-initiated binding referendums whereby voters can directly amend,
introduce and remove policies and laws"
(from http://www.npsnet.com/cdd/)
business will dominate government (I predict)
>The greatest threat to democracy is the deepening cynicism among so many
>people who are convinced that the political game is rigged in favor of
>the big guys. The problem is, they're often right. The trend toward corporate
>giantism may mean they're right even more of the time.
>Robert B. Reich, the former secretary of Labor, is professor of economic
>and social policy at Brandeis University
One of the biggest problems is simplistic statements like the above, that
offer no path to a solution.
There are several (but less than an infinite number) paths that show promise:
Direct Democracy;
Money system reform (LETS and extensions of community $ systems -- see
www.gmlets/u-net.com/go/);
A child-rearing and educational system that truly nurtures children;
Personal and societal transformation -- (see Ken Wilber's
www.shambhala.com/wilber);
etc
Colin Stark
