Economic Fairness Is Necessary
This is a tough one. Corporations do rule the world as David Korten reminds us. What can we do when faced with the biggest of all the giants, the one that believes it deserves to rule? Corporations control politics, media, natural resources, employment and fiscal policy. They create desire through advertising which keeps the consumption-production machine running at top speed. We are entrained to consume more and therefore to produce more. This is the definition of progress, GNP, GDP, and it is killing the Earth and enslaving humanity.
How to break the trance? Gross National Happiness (GNH) has arrived at the right time. The meaning of life is not found in owning the latest gadget. It is found in caring relationships, awareness, learning, creativity, good health and contemplation of nature. The song is right: the best things in life are free (or should be available to everyone.)
How then do we redress this tyrannical imbalance of the social order? We must start, as usual, with ourselves, you and me. We can practice voluntary simplicity as a model for others. We can get our priorities straight. We can rebalance our own lives with care of others at the top. We can bring our saving, spending and borrowing under control.
At the policy level we must require corporations to pay a living wage with adequate benefits. Workers should enjoy a share of profits. Customers must be protected from products that are harmful. CEOs should not make more than 50 times a regular salary (currently the average is 204 times more, some are as high as 1,800%!) Corporations must be held to the highest standards of environmental protection. Corporations should not be allowed to have a monopoly on life essentials such as water and food which must be available to all.
We must get corporate dollars out of politics. Democracy is not for sale but is a sacred trust of, by and for the people. Investments must be made safe and fair. Fiscal policy must protect people from being taken advantage of by lenders. Monetary policy must place controls on interest and dividends. Appropriate levels of taxation of corporations must be practiced (some currently pay none.)
We must remember what an economy is for. Its bottom line is not money but the wellbeing of people and nature. Profit is secondary. Astronomical profit for a few is an aberration. Millionaires and billionaires should be taxed at appropriate levels (under Eisenhower it was 91%.) We are all in this together. There is only one Earth and one human race. The social contract is more sacred than any constitution. We depend on each other and must care for each other. It is possible to create fairness, and it is a necessary and central feature of a compassionate civilization.