Timothy V. Gatto

In the Twenty-first Century there are two distinct economic models. The predominant is Capitalism and the other is Socialism .Communism has fallen by the wayside as a system that is too easily usurped by totalitarianism. Capitalism is a socio-economic system that eventually is run by the rich and takes advantage by the rich at the expense of the working class that is the prime mover of the system. Capital dictates the direction of Capitalism.

Since the Early 1970's the economic model of Capitalism has favored the upper 20% of moneyed capital. The 1% has been the prime engine that dictates the direction that Capitalism seems to be moving. These people are the CEO's and the moneyed interests behind the direction that Capitalism has moved. Some are members of the corporate structure, others are not, being the financial backers that the corporations get their funding from. These are banks, hedge funds and private inventors. All of these entities demand that they have a distinct say in the direction that the corporation takes.

In the last 30 or so years, Private Equity Funds have become larger players in the corporate world by taking control of corporate structures and reorganizing their business model to maximize profits, too often at the expense of the worker and their Unions. In fact, in the last few decades the Unions have lost much of their bargaining power in order to keep companies afloat that have been savaged by the unworkable business models by the very same managements that have turned to private equity firms that impose austerity measures that change the business model of the distressed corporations.

Unions have ceased to be viable alternatives to the draconian downsizing of many corporations in this United States. It is the United States that we will concentrate during this dissertation as this nation is the prime model of what is happening across the globe.

One must understand that many corporations are not totally American in their makeup. There are many foreign nationals that hold huge blocks of stock, both ordinary and preferred stock. These blocks of stock are not only the majority stockholders, built in tandem with American stockholders they often have a controlling block. Americans must come to the realization that many of the corporations that were founded in the United States have become Trans-National corporations that have no loyalty to their country of origin. Since corporations are totally beholden to the stockholders and according to their to their by-laws always have been, profits are the sole determination of what makes up a successful corporation. The maximum profits to the shareholders is the overriding concern of what makes up a viable successful corporation.

The American people have become more and more aware of what corporations are all about. In the recent past we have seen more corporations air ads on how these very same corporations have been putting some of their profits back into the communities that they exploit. Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, BP and many other corporations have made commercials on how they are sowing their profits into the same regions that they are taking viable resources from. BP has a million dollar campaign on how they are transforming the Gulf into a playground where tourists can take vacations and bring their families to play on the pristine beaches and fish in the unspoiled Gulf of Mexico.

The oil industry touts that we have enough energy right here in the United States to be energy independent by 2030 by using natural gas from fracking shale deposits and using clean coal (if there was ever such a thing). All of these proposals seem to discount the dangers of fracking shale with untested explosives that in other parts of the nation have resulted in tap water catching on fire. Clean coal is non-existent as it is the worst CO2 polluters on the planet.

Nuclear power is being touted as a "clean energy" if you discount the terrible ramifications that occurred in Japan and in some parts of the United States not to mention Chernobyl in Russia. Americans see these commercials and continue to fall for the "Big Lie".

Isn't it time we realized that the people that spew this garbage just can't be trusted? How many commercials will we watch before we start to spout this endless drivel? Everyday our manufacturing base is moved out of the country so that these Tran-National Corporations can make larger profits on the backs of slave labor in third world nations? How often do you see garments made in America? Most come from Bangladesh, Indonesia, China and Pakistan. How do you believe this affects the International Garment Union (The IGA, formerly one of the largest US Unions).

How many Unions are they going to decimate by transforming their manufacturing overseas? The Unions themselves share much of the blame by padding the paychecks of the leaders of these Unions and making "sweetheart Deals" with management. There is practically nobody that isn't to blame from the rank and file to the fat cats at the top. We have neglected our Unions, while people in other nation's are being killed for supporting theirs. There is enough blame to go around.

Let's take the UAW. They agreed to take control of their own medical benefits while agreeing to take a two-tier pay system. One for new workers and one for entrenched worker and own stock in the companies they work for. They are no longer true Unions, they are owners of the corporations. All of the benefits they worked for went by the wayside. They are part-owners of GM and Chrysler. Way to go. When there are worker demands in the future, who will they side with?

What happened to collective bargaining? Many corporations have relocated to right to work states. These states allow non-union workers to work in union shops, thereby breaking the backs of the Unions. My own Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC)has come out firmly against unions. Where is her head? What kind of economy will the average worker enjoy? Apparently she doesn't care. As long as the corporations pay her campaign, she's happy. The citizen's of South Carolina be damned.

Let me end this by making a huge claim. This isn't Democracy, it's fascism. You can include all the "Right to Work" states like Texas, Florida and most of the Southern states, The Civil War isn't over yet.

Socialism

It's about time that citizen's have a say in what is going on in this nation of ours. Socialism has a bad rap. Communism has blurred the line between what is and what isn't. Socialists don't want to live under a totalitarian state, nor do they want to live in communes. What Socialists don't want to live under is a nation that is run by the corporate state. We no longer want to kowtow to the rich that make the rules, offshore our industry, and be at the beck and call of private equity capital that take away our benefits and give us a wage that barley covers our most meager expenses. We are tired of seeing cities like St. Louis, Detroit, Newark and others turn into ghost towns with streets of boarded up houses and no industry. Here in the South we are tired of seeing out textile factories become shells and the towns near them turn into slums. There was a time that the South was the textile capitol of the world. No more.

Socialism is a bottom-up approach to economics. What we need is government support to create c0-operatives to revamp these industries, not a government that bails-out the banks so they can buy up banks in distress and sit on the capitol that they receive. The true unemployment of the United State, including people that have stopped looking for work has been estimated as high as 25%. This is the same degree of unemployment as during the great depression. When are we going to face this fact and do something about it?

FDR has massive infrastructure projects to get people working again. We are not demanding that. Small business loans that will help our textile and steel worker produce with small business loans will be a great start. Import firms could be a stop-gap until American industry gets moving again. Steel, Copper and other metals can be made in America, just as they are made overseas.

Offshore drilling is a scam of immense proportions. Recently Greg Palast of the BBC informed The Real News Network that a deep-sea blow-out exactly like the Deepwater Horizon happened two years before the blowout in the Gulf. They tried to stop it with an infusion of nitrogen laced cement, exactly like the Deepwater Horizon, but it blew out, showing the technology was flawed. They told the U.S that it had never been tried before, but Palast proved it had been tried off the coast of Azerbaijan. Attorney General Holder was notified but refused to take action on the 11 people that died on the rig because of negligence. Is this the government you choose to pay your taxes too? One that ignores criminal misconduct?

Soon the price of petroleum will make it prohibitive to ship raw and manufactured goods overseas. When will our government decide to start making goods in America? The Tran-National corporations have less and less stake in America. Trickle-down economics don't work and haven't since the Reagan Era. It's a scam. These people that receive the money sit on it. If it trickles down, it trickles down to political campaigns.

Socialism can work. The rich will try anything to stop it. If it means social turmoil, so be it. We have the numbers, they have the money. Let their money hit the streets while we send our bodies.

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By Timothy V. Gatto, a retired Army Sergeant and former Chairman of The Liberal Party of America. He can be reached at: timgatto@hotmail.com Read Tim's Book "Complicity to Contempt" and his Novel "Kimchee Days or Stoned Cold Warriors From Oliver Arts and Open Press and available on Amazon and all other online bookstores.