Hello, old friend! Thank you again for your warm hospitality, and for sharing your thoughts on some issues that divide us and so many others. Sadly, conversations like that are all too rare. I appreciated your honesty and openness, and left the next day with much to think about. However, I feel we missed an opportunity. Every so often we arrived almost by accident at a point of agreement, and it seems to me that despite our differences – or because of them – these are places worth exploring.   

You might not agree that solutions can be found by meeting each other halfway, or that solutions are even possible. But I believe the greatest threat to our nation is not this issue or that, but the growing division between honest, intelligent citizens on every issue, prodded apart by well-funded interests that profit from division rather than unity. Pitting one source of information against another is generally a pointless exercise, but I found it helpful to hear an intelligent explanation of ideas that I usually get in exaggerated or distorted form.

I heard loud and clear your concerns about government corruption and overreach, which reward inefficiency, waste our money, and inhibit motivation. I countered with my concerns about corruption and overreach in the private sector, which I consider much more dangerous. But if solutions exist, they begin with looking together at the many ways these two forces of corruption conspire against the interests of the rest of us.

As you say, capitalism has indeed benefited ordinary people more than any other economic system. But capitalism has changed. Adam Smith envisioned a host of inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses competing to serve their local communities, taking pride in their work and reaping the appropriate rewards. He did not foresee the monolithic multinational corporation of today, which regards both its customers and its workforce as disposable and wields unprecedented power to undermine democracy and squeeze the economies of entire nations dry.

I see corporate dominance of our economy as the root of virtually every domestic evil, from the poisoning of our air and water with industrial waste to the diversion of our national wealth into the black hole of “defense.” Government is admittedly an imperfect instrument to protect us against all that, but what other institution is powerful enough? And what do we do when corporations quietly take control of government agencies through “regulatory capture”?

Many dedicated public servants work in these agencies. But their efforts are overwhelmed by the “revolving door” of industry lobbyists who cycle in and out of government, especially at the top. In the U.S., prosecutors occasionally succeed in busting a public official for accepting bribes from corporations. But outright bribery is long out of fashion. Standard procedure nowadays is to go ahead and violate the rules, then pay the fine if caught. Fines and court settlements are counted part of the cost of doing business, far outweighed by the revenue column in the ledger.

The Corporate Welfare State

The largest corporations operate globally, owned and controlled by the world’s financial elite. By definition, “multinationals” owe loyalty to no particular nation. But they take full advantage of their “corporate personhood” in the U.S., where their extensive political contributions count as “free speech.” Some have recently even submitted court filings claiming that the First Amendment protects their right to lie to the public.

Despite the theory that corporate profits “trickle down” to create jobs and prosperity here at home, in practice much of that revenue disappears into tax havens overseas, while the jobs go to the lowest bidder in the global labor auction. Yet politicians of both parties keep selling the same old soap, and the billionaires who bankroll them get ever richer – and coincidentally, so do many politicians.

The long-term trend of falling wages and rising debt began with the bipartisan deregulation spree of the 1980s and ‘90s. Regulation of the finance industry dates to the Crash of 1929, when Wall Street proved it was incapable of voluntarily reining in corporate greed to safeguard the national interest. The results of deregulation have proven it again.

Many working Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and one serious illness can put a whole family out on the street. Yes, poor choices such as overreliance on credit play a role.  But the finance industry is full of predators who prey on the gullible and collude with politicians to rig the system. Predatory capitalists have profited from one financial “bubble” after another – first by selling us the bubble, then again when the government bails out Wall Street and ignores its victims. In each case thousands of ordinary Americans lost their savings and often their homes.

And yes, some illness is the result of poor lifestyle and diet choices. But polluted water and air and chemical-laden food also contribute, especially in poor neighborhoods, thanks to the cozy relationship between the regulators and the regulated. “Obamacare” has boosted the number of insured Americans, but was actually a compromise crafted in cahoots with insurance companies – which then undercut the compromise by raising premiums and denying claims to pad their profits.

Today, private equity firms are investing in hospitals, consolidating medical services in the name of “efficiency,” leaving many rural people without access to health care, whether insured or not. Private equity is also cornering the housing market – buying up rental homes, jacking up rents and skimping on maintenance, putting even more people out on the street. Now the industry is behind on its payments to investors once again, so President Trump proposes to allow these firms to buy into the 401K market. Once again the retirement funds of senior citizens become the stakes in a game only wealthy gamblers can win.

We agreed that some limited role for government is needed, but didn’t stop to discuss exactly what. I would say one key need is to curb this kind of legalized thievery – if we can somehow keep the regulators honest. Mandatory prison terms might help.

The Culture Gap vs. the Wealth Gap

The major flaw I see in capitalism is that it values nothing that does not turn a profit. That leaves out much that is critical to our national interest, including family bonds, childhood nutrition, ecological integrity, and freedom itself. I agree that despite the sincere efforts of many public servants, plugging these gaps with government bureaucracy is clumsy and wasteful. But some intangibles are just too important to entrust to private charity, struggling families, or neighborhood volunteers.

When problems arise, capitalism will only offer a solution if somebody profits. But what about problems caused by capitalism? Problems like pollution and predatory lending are far more profitable than any solution. This is where honest government should step in, but is too easily co-opted when it does.

Americans across the spectrum are rightfully alarmed about our current predicament. Some blame the government, some the corporations. Few seem aware of how both work together to keep certain problems profitable. Liberals condemn the lucrative relationship between Republican politicians and wealthy donors on their issues; conservatives do the same with Democratic politicians on theirs. Few seem to notice that both parties vote in lockstep to approve tax breaks for wealthy multinationals, massive bailouts for investors who dodge paying taxes, “corporate welfare” that dwarfs the food stamp program, and much more.

The escalating “culture wars” spring from honest differences of opinion. But rather than engaging in civil conversations like ours, people buy guns, trade insults and issue threats. It’s no accident that we ignore the greed and corruption at the top and blame each other. Splitting people into opposing factions is a strategy of control dating back to Julius Caesar. Since the 1970s, conservative strategists have used it to bolster their dwindling popularity as voter demographics changed. Regrettably, liberals took the bait. Fox News and CNN squared off to deliver more and more divergent views of what used to be simply “the news.”

Social media companies saw this not as a political crisis but as a marketing opportunity, and programmed their algorithms accordingly. Facebook came under attack for “censoring the right” when its fact-checking systems flagged a disproportionate number of conservative posts. In the age of “fake news,” the truth or falsehood of these posts was irrelevant. So was the fact that many of them were repeating Russian propaganda, deliberately calculated to confuse and divide America. Facing a loss of revenue, naturally Facebook caved.

Split into competing silos of information, the American people seem oblivious to the ways we are manipulated into seeing fellow citizens as the enemy, while the global corporations grow steadily wealthier. The “culture wars” have been carefully curated to deflect attention from the wealth gap to the culture gap. The result is a nation weakened by infighting; a shrinking middle class and surging poverty; an eroding balance of powers; a loss of stature and influence on the world stage.

Some conservatives see democracy itself as the enemy and are working methodically to dismantle it. Even after winning both the popular and electoral vote in 2024, their goal is apparently to replace majority rule with minority rule by the rich. Of course, that will entrench the current partnership of public and private corruption even more deeply. Mussolini himself defined “fascism” as a merger of government and business into one system.

I sincerely doubt you support that faction! Our conversation gives me hope that the United States of America may yet reclaim its lost unity. Let’s keep it going.

respectfully, Steve

Note: These are my personal opinions and do not represent any organization I’m involved in. If my words resonate for you, please share widely. You can subscribe (or unsubscribe) at StephenWing.com. Read previous installments of “Wingtips” here.