Workers and Consumers Are the Last of Their Concerns
Surprise, the Oligarchs Come First, Second, and Last
President Trump’s senior economic adviser said the quiet part out loud: the U.S. economy is fundamentally healthy for the richest, the owners, the oligarchs. The Iran War shouldn’t threaten them; indeed, it may enrich them. But the war will hurt consumers and workers—and that is the last and least of the Trump administration’s concerns.
Check out this short segment at Jimmy Dore:
As a commenter at YouTube noted, “consumer” has replaced “citizen” in American discourse, something I wrote about in 2010 after the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.
Here’s what I wrote in 2010:
Corporations Are Citizens—What Are We?
This week’s Supreme Court ruling that corporations are protected by “free speech” rights and can contribute enormous sums of money to influence elections is a de jure endorsement of the de facto dominance of corporations over our lives. Indeed, corporations are the new citizens of this country, and ordinary Americans, who used to be known as “citizens,” now fall into three categories: consumers, warriors and prisoners.
Think about it. Perhaps you’ve noticed, as a friend of mine has, that the term “citizen” has largely disappeared from our public and political discourse. And what term has taken its place? Consumer. That’s our new role: not to exercise our rights as citizens (perish the thought, that’s for corporations to do!), but to exercise our credit cards as consumers. Here one might recall President George W. Bush’s inspiring words to Americans after 9-11 to “go shopping” and to visit Disney.
Think again of our regulatory agencies like the FDA or SEC. They no longer take action to protect us as “citizens.” Rather, they act to safeguard the confidence of “consumers.” And apparently the only news that’s worthy of note is that which affects us as consumers.
As one-dimensional “consumers,” we’ve been reduced to obedient eunuchs in thrall to the economy. Our sole purpose is to keep buying and spending. Corporations, meanwhile, are the citizen-activists in our politics, with the voting and speech rights to match their status.
At the same time we’ve reduced citizens to consumers, we’ve reduced citizen-soldiers to “warriors” or “warfighters.” The citizen-soldier of World War II did his duty in the military, but his main goal was to come home, regain his civilian job, and enjoy the freedoms and rights of American citizenship. Today, our military encourages a “warrior” mentality: a narrow-minded professionalism that emphasizes warfighting skills over citizenship and civic duty.
And if that’s not disturbing enough, think of our military’s ever-increasing reliance on private military contractors or mercenaries.
The final category of American is all-too-obvious: prisoner. No country in the modern industrialized world incarcerates more of its citizens than the United States. More than 7.3 million Americans currently languish somewhere in our prison system. Our only hope, apparently, for a decline in prison population is the sheer expense to states of caring and feeding all these “offenders.”
There you have it. Corporations are our new citizens. And you? If you’re lucky, you get to make a choice: consumer, warrior or prisoner. Which will it be?
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Here we are, sixteen years later, with an even stronger “warrior ethos,” with ICE building detention camps, and with Americans reduced even more so to powerless (and increasingly penniless) consumers. Oh well—at least the oligarchs are thriving.
The guys on Due Dissidence were talking yesterday about the increasing lack of connection between the people and the supposed 'government of the people' (paraphrased - the discussion was about more popular support for Gaza and Iran than Israel ).
Bill, reading your article screams a word they didn't use- but would agree with - contempt, outright contempt for all of us. We are nothing to those in charge but consumers who must go without for the glory of the empire and the lifestyles of the Epstein class.
As Russell, one of the hosts, noted - you can't continue on like this before you get to civil war. He noted he wasn't talking about armies marching as in 1861 - but increasing conflicts between local communities and states, and the Federal government that could spill out into violence at times as the Feds try to impose their will.
It is a logical conclusion. Minneapolis may be an example of what's coming everywhere.
Well done, Bill! Yet most Americans will tell you that they are freer than the Chinese or Russians. Many of your prisons are privately owned-corporatized-even your welfare system after Bill Clinton became privatized profiting off welfare-off people who are the most disadvantaged is a crime that is unspeakable...if you don't have money in America, you are basically imprisoned...Now if you look at foundations-charities-the story is just as sick...All Western nations are guilty in this story Canada’s super-rich are using foundations to funnel huge public sums to elite universities and Israel Over half of the money hoarded in Canada’s private foundations should have been paid as taxes. Instead, it’s being funneled to wealthy institutions and organizations complicit in Israel’s military occupation Cancelling Billionaires Before They Cancel Us: The Urgent Case for a Wealth Tax by Linda McQuaig & Neil Brooks just released book.