I recently completed the chapters in history on the progressive era and the problems facing the United States after the Great Depression. I for the life of me, cannot understand the monumental problems we have now and how they are so closely related to the same problems our nation faced during the progressive era and why none of these same solutions can be applied in our current situation.
I don't think that big government is going to fix much, even though it is supposed to be the one check we have in the system that is supposed to protect us from huge corporations who will stop at nothing to make a profit. This doesn't matter if their decisions destroy lives, the environment or the economy itself. Republicans believe that the government has no right to interfere with business and commerce which in an ideal world would work, it just so happens that greed tends to come between business's and how they make their decisions. Unfortunately ethics has no variable when it comes to the equations formulated by huge corporations that calculate how much profit can be made. Humanity tends to take a back seat under these circumstances.
Crusading journalists outed the meat packing industry and forced the government to impose measures on what we consume for food. All that has flown right out the window, as huge corporate conglomerates now control the worlds food supply and force processed junk down our throats that pollute our bodies with food like material that is usually a combination of salt and high fructose corn syrup.
Republicans and the neo-conservative nation that we live in ostracize progressives and believe that we are insane for wanting to live in a world free from corporations controlling every aspect of our lives. Granting free will to corporations to build monopolies in every industry, bypassing Anti-Trust laws and hiring hoards of lobbyists to descend on Washington to make sure that they can preserve their own special interests. Our nation would have died if it weren't for the progressives in the 1930's that pushed for reform, reform that pulled our nation out of the worst financial disaster the world had ever seen.
I fully accept the fact that I could be completely wrong, that I may not understand things and yes, maybe I am an idiot. What concerns me are the people that are never willing to accept the fact that maybe, they too are an idiot. We're all in one big boat, whether we all agree or disagree, we will all sink or swim together.
I don't think that big government is going to fix much, even though it is supposed to be the one check we have in the system that is supposed to protect us from huge corporations who will stop at nothing to make a profit. This doesn't matter if their decisions destroy lives, the environment or the economy itself. Republicans believe that the government has no right to interfere with business and commerce which in an ideal world would work, it just so happens that greed tends to come between business's and how they make their decisions. Unfortunately ethics has no variable when it comes to the equations formulated by huge corporations that calculate how much profit can be made. Humanity tends to take a back seat under these circumstances.
Crusading journalists outed the meat packing industry and forced the government to impose measures on what we consume for food. All that has flown right out the window, as huge corporate conglomerates now control the worlds food supply and force processed junk down our throats that pollute our bodies with food like material that is usually a combination of salt and high fructose corn syrup.
Republicans and the neo-conservative nation that we live in ostracize progressives and believe that we are insane for wanting to live in a world free from corporations controlling every aspect of our lives. Granting free will to corporations to build monopolies in every industry, bypassing Anti-Trust laws and hiring hoards of lobbyists to descend on Washington to make sure that they can preserve their own special interests. Our nation would have died if it weren't for the progressives in the 1930's that pushed for reform, reform that pulled our nation out of the worst financial disaster the world had ever seen.
I fully accept the fact that I could be completely wrong, that I may not understand things and yes, maybe I am an idiot. What concerns me are the people that are never willing to accept the fact that maybe, they too are an idiot. We're all in one big boat, whether we all agree or disagree, we will all sink or swim together.
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