Foreign Policy

There's no doubt about it, America has taken a turn for the worst. Since the end of the cold war when America was left as the single super power we have taken every step possible, politically and militarily, to insure that we remain king of the hill. Those of our citizens that recognize the sounds of Americas nails screeching as we slide down speak out, and are drowned out by a machine that pumps out propaganda and advertisements at a rate only Hitler would have been proud of, while our citizens, by in large, passively wait for the next commercial. We allow our private government to manufacture consent through our news and entertainment to the extent that the average American worker, who works ten hours a day, believes that the average CEO makes ten million a year because they work hard. Then we turn our heads to the fact that they invest billions of dollars a year to influence politics including advancement of globalization and manipulation of the taxation system and then employ millions of sweat shop workers abroad. We allow our public government to tell us that the current rate of pollution is necessary for our economy so that we remain a dominant economic power, while our environmentalist tell us we are approaching a point at which we will have caused irreversible damage to our environment. A point at which hydrocarbons will cause a chain reaction in our ozone that will cause greenhouse gasses to continuously trap heat and literately cook our planet. So how about this war; is that just as necessary? Must we really exert our military control in Iraq killing thousands of people to insure our national interest of being a dominant economic power?

Though September 11th was a tragedy and a terrible waist of human life, it could be described as what it was intended for. A slap in the face meant to wake up the American people. Yet still most Americans are oblivious as to why the attack happened, most mistakenly relate it to the war in Iraq. In effect the president has used 9-11 to produce a proper crisis so that the American people would approve of a war that had nothing to do with 9-11 but everything to do with promoting the economy through military intervention in foreign politics. So the question should be is why are we not outraged at our own foreign policies. After all, this is the real reason behind the attacks of 9-11. It's the real reason behind our involvement in Iraq. Yet there's no news station daring enough to put America's foreign policy on trial. The truth is that just 50 global corporate giants control what films, TV shows, magazines and music gets produced, as they own the production facilities as well as the cable and satellite systems . It is not in the interest of these few global media giants to report real journalism or spark controversy but rather only to fill time between commercials with entertaining jargon. The average American watches nearly five hours of television a day and is bombarded with distraction to real everyday problems. We have become a consumer nation dedicated to fulfilling our lives with tangible goods and services neglecting the importance of politics and its ability to shape our lives.

Political power has become heavily weighted in the hands of the wealthy that do understand its effects. It is estimated in order to run for a seat in the senate you would need at least two million dollars to be taken seriously. That said 90% of incumbents win their election when rerunning for their seat. "Influence peddling" is one of the country's great growth industries. Spending on federal lobbying has increased from $1.6 billion in 2000 to $2.1 billion in 2005. Money shapes politics in the favor of those who have it. It is possible however for constituents to organize grassroots politics to make a change however most Americans are effectively distracted failing to recognize the importance of politics in their lives. In the meantime private power enables corporations to make decisions that influence the economy and our common welfare and give them unique political leverage. Giant conglomerate corporation exert huge amounts of money to influence politics in their favor, shaping the rules of the game so that they often come out the winner. Furthermore corporations have no consciousness, morals or ethics. The proposition of war for profit is entreating to them and they will use their political leverage however they see financially fit.

Government is the one true perpetrator of oppression that is free from oppression itself. While our civil liberties promise us equality the drafting of a military heavily oppresses men. Men relative to women overwhelmingly are required to kill or be killed in the name of patriotism, honor, and bravery, but the effects extend to all males. The expectation that to be a man is to kill or be killed is universal. The standard practice of raising boys as if to be soldiers is completely dehumanizing and military training of men strips them of personal identity. The extortion of men as soldiers for any cause and especially for the intent of economic advancement is at best undemocratic. American patriots that protest we should support our troops must concede that the best way to do this is not to put them in harms way for a selfish cause in the first place.

Capitalism is commonly defined as a system in which production is privately controlled and carried on for sale or profit rather than directly for consumption and use. Therefore corporation compete against each other for profit and accumulation of assets and have profound effects on our lives when they choose what, when and where to produce. Cycles in the economy of boom and bust are largely made by these decisions. Though capitalism has been found to be extremely efficient in producing goods in services that resemble the desires of the public there are side effects. First of all advertisement that pervades our homes and spends billions of dollars annually skews the actual desires of the public. Secondly capitalism when left to its own creates a huge wealth gap. The richest 1% of Americans own more than the bottom 95% combined. This figure is due largely in part of the wealthy class' ability to exert political influence to affect the nations taxing policy in their favor.

In 1986 the Supreme Court made the decision that under the Constitution, a private corporation was a "natural person," Entitled to all the rights