Overwhelming democracy while battling for competitive edge

Updated on Friday, February 13, 2009 at 21:35 by mavenandmeddler

“The flow of corporate money into Washington has accelerated over the last several decades because of supply and demand. … It has been like an arms race.” Robert B. Reich, from “Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life”

Many years ago, I was visiting the Mexican city of Oaxaca, and while on a tour out to the pyramids there, encountered the usual gauntlet of poor children. It was like being mobbed, and all I could see was blur of faces and grasping hands, all looking for a Peso, or better yet a Dollar. What would the harm be in giving these dozen or so kids a few bucks? This is the very definition of ‘slippery slope’, because the obvious question is “where will it end?” If I had given out the money, a dozen more would have appeared instantly.

This sort of mob driven giveaway is unsustainable. And so it is with corporate lobbyists.

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Should be on your nightstand: "Supercapitalism - The Transformation of Business, Deocracy, and Everyday Life" by Robert B. Reich

“Reich documents in lurid detail the explosive growth of corporate lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions since the 1970s … Supercapitalism is a grand debunking of the conventional wisdom in the style of John Kenneth Galbraith.” - The New York Times

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