Democracy Incorporated
What is democracy? Webster’s Dictionary defines democracy as a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting. Now look at the definition of business — the activity of making, buying, or selling goods or providing services in exchange for money. The two definitions are not exactly synonymous, although in today’s society the two institutions creep ever closer as time goes on. Some evidence of modern business encroaching on the “sacred” institution of democracy is more visible than others, but undoubtedly the evidence is there for those who care to look.
One of the most subtle locales for corporate infiltration into the government is found in the form of political action committees and other contributors to political campaigns. A political action committee, or PAC, is a collective group individuals who support a certain platform — such as environmental or gun control policies. These groups in exchange for assisting financially in a politician’s campaign, ask that the politician in turn works on their platform’s behalf. This leads to certain platforms gaining more publicity, both in the public and political forum, simply due to the fact that the PAC members have more money to donate to politicians. The same scenario occurs when wealthy individuals contribute to campaign funds. Both instances stem from the mindset of “Here let me give you my money, and in return you’re going to create and pass legislation that benefits me once you’re in office.” When one looks at this occurrence objectively it is plain to see that is nothing more than high scale bribery. This democratic bribery results in a bias towards political issues where the importance of the issue is not of consequence but rather the about of money behind it.
Another location of evidenced corporate invasion of the government is in a much more public sphere, the very candidates that are running for office. It is now not enough for CEOs and business moguls to bribe politicians to vote their way, they are taking their desired legislation into their own hands and running for office. In the United States the republican front runner for the 2016 presidential elections is none other than Donald Trump, business tycoon. Originally famous for his large corporations and successful television show The Apprentice, in which a group of individuals are all vying for a chance to prove that they have the most business savvy. The fact the Trump is running is fairly shocking, but even more shocking is that he is actually the front runner for the Republican Party. This is very telling of American populace as well, showing that they believe that since someone has the savvy to run a company, they must then also be able to run a country. People of today’s society are clearly more comfortable with having their country run as a corporation than a nation.
When governments are founded, almost always the interests of business are separated from the state functions, however as time goes on the two are becoming more intertwined. It seems to be only a matter of time before democracy becomes Democracy Incorporated, and who is to say that is a business that will thrive in today’s society?
