A few social/labor uprisings or revolutions notwithstanding, it seems the superfluously rich and powerful have always had the police and military ready to foremost protect their big-money/-power interests, even over the basic needs of the masses, to the very end.
Even in modern (supposed) democracies, the police and military can, and perhaps would, claim — using euphemistic or political terminology, of course — they have/had to bust heads to maintain law and order as a priority during major demonstrations, especially those against economic injustices. Indirectly supported by a complacent, if not compliant, corporate news-media, which is virtually all mainstream news-media, the absurdly unjust inequities/inequalities can persist.
Perhaps there were/are lessons learned from those successful social/labor uprisings, with the clarity of hindsight, by more-contemporary big power/money interests in order to avoid any repeat of such great wealth/power losses (a figurative How to Hinder Progressive Revolutions 101, maybe)?
Morally speaking, we collectively deserve far better than always having either the usual callous establishment conservative or neo/faux liberal government.
Regardless of who’s president or prime minister, we in the Far West live in a virtual corpocracy. And the more they make, all the more they want — nay, need! — to make next quarterly. It’s never enough, yet the corporate news-media, which make up virtually all of Western mainstream news media, will implicitly or explicitly celebrate their successful greed [a.k.a. ‘stock market gains’].
Corporate officers shrug their shoulders and say their job is to protect shareholders’ bottom-line interests. The shareholders in turn also shrug their shoulders while defensively stating they just collect the dividends and that the big bosses are the ones to make the moral and ethical decisions.
It seems there's little or no human(e) or moral accountability when big profit is involved; nor can there be a sufficiently guilty conscience if the malpractice is continued, business as usual. ‘We are a capitalist nation, after all,’ the morally lame self-justification will typically go.
Still, there must be a point at which corporate greed thus practice will end up hurting big business’s own monetary interests. But, maybe the unlimited-profit objective/nature is somehow irresistible. It brings to mind the allegorical fox stung by the instinct-abiding scorpion while ferrying it across the river, leaving both to drown.
With such insatiable greed, already very profitable big businesses will always need to become all the more profitable, even if much human suffering results. It really does seem there's little or no accountability when huge profit is involved; nor can there be a sufficiently guilty conscience if the malpractice is continued, business as usual. ‘We are a capitalist nation, after all,’ again the morally lame self-justification will go.
_____
“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind …”
“It’s not a question of enough, pal. It’s a zero sum game — somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made; it’s simply transferred — from one perception to another. Like magic.”
(the morbidly greedy and corrupt bank-financier character Gordon Gekko, Wall Street, 1987).
Great, Thank You so much!
A few social/labor uprisings or revolutions notwithstanding, it seems the superfluously rich and powerful have always had the police and military ready to foremost protect their big-money/-power interests, even over the basic needs of the masses, to the very end.
Even in modern (supposed) democracies, the police and military can, and perhaps would, claim — using euphemistic or political terminology, of course — they have/had to bust heads to maintain law and order as a priority during major demonstrations, especially those against economic injustices. Indirectly supported by a complacent, if not compliant, corporate news-media, which is virtually all mainstream news-media, the absurdly unjust inequities/inequalities can persist.
Perhaps there were/are lessons learned from those successful social/labor uprisings, with the clarity of hindsight, by more-contemporary big power/money interests in order to avoid any repeat of such great wealth/power losses (a figurative How to Hinder Progressive Revolutions 101, maybe)?
Morally speaking, we collectively deserve far better than always having either the usual callous establishment conservative or neo/faux liberal government.
Regardless of who’s president or prime minister, we in the Far West live in a virtual corpocracy. And the more they make, all the more they want — nay, need! — to make next quarterly. It’s never enough, yet the corporate news-media, which make up virtually all of Western mainstream news media, will implicitly or explicitly celebrate their successful greed [a.k.a. ‘stock market gains’].
Corporate officers shrug their shoulders and say their job is to protect shareholders’ bottom-line interests. The shareholders in turn also shrug their shoulders while defensively stating they just collect the dividends and that the big bosses are the ones to make the moral and ethical decisions.
It seems there's little or no human(e) or moral accountability when big profit is involved; nor can there be a sufficiently guilty conscience if the malpractice is continued, business as usual. ‘We are a capitalist nation, after all,’ the morally lame self-justification will typically go.
Still, there must be a point at which corporate greed thus practice will end up hurting big business’s own monetary interests. But, maybe the unlimited-profit objective/nature is somehow irresistible. It brings to mind the allegorical fox stung by the instinct-abiding scorpion while ferrying it across the river, leaving both to drown.
With such insatiable greed, already very profitable big businesses will always need to become all the more profitable, even if much human suffering results. It really does seem there's little or no accountability when huge profit is involved; nor can there be a sufficiently guilty conscience if the malpractice is continued, business as usual. ‘We are a capitalist nation, after all,’ again the morally lame self-justification will go.
_____
“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind …”
“It’s not a question of enough, pal. It’s a zero sum game — somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn’t lost or made; it’s simply transferred — from one perception to another. Like magic.”
(the morbidly greedy and corrupt bank-financier character Gordon Gekko, Wall Street, 1987).