Because science, medicine and politics are three threads woven into the same cloth of public policy, we have to work to fix all three simultaneously. The corruption of political systems by global corporatists has filtered down to our science, medicine and healthcare systems and must be exposed. Furthermore, the perversion of science and medicine by corporate interests is expanding its reach; it is pernicious and intractable. Regulatory capture by corporate interests runs rampant throughout our politics, governmental agencies and institutes. The corporatists have infiltrated all three branches of government, and it is up to us, the people, to take control back. Corporate-public partnerships that have become so trendy have another name, it is fascism- the political science term for the fusion of the interests of corporations and the state. Basically, the tension between the interest of the republic and its citizens (which Jefferson felt should be primary), and the financial interests of business and corporations (Hamilton’s ideal) has swung far too far to the interests of corporations and their billionaire owners at the expense of the general population.
The nation and its governing arms (including the intrenched bureaucracy often referred to as the “deep state”) now primarily serves the interests of multinational corporations and managers, instead of the other way around. The term that best describes this system of government is called inverted totalitarianism. This term was first coined in 2003 by the political theorist and writer Dr. Sheldon Wolin. Inverted totalitarianism is what the government of the United States has devolved into, as he had warned might happen many years ago in the book “Democracy Incorporated”. The United States has been co-opted into a managed democracy. This democracy was placed into the hands of oligarchs by bureaucratic imperatives and managerial principles and practices, which have created a creeping form of totalitarianism. Now we can clearly see the liberties and freedom of this democracy being eroded rapidly just a Wolin predicted. The ending result is this new form of totalitarianism, that (unlike classical totalitarianism) does not have an authoritarian leader, but instead is run by a non-transparent group of managers and elites who run the country from within. What President Trump might call the “deep state.” Or what Steve Bannon originally called the “Uniparty”. In effect, our democracy has been turned upside down – hence “inverted totalitarianism”.
The infiltration of this version of fascism has gone so far that even routine aspects of the political sphere are determined by corporate interests. This was cemented in the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, a decision that reversed century-old campaign finance restriction laws. This ruling has enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.
As a nation, we are once again confronted by a historic conflict that goes back to Jefferson and Hamilton and founding of this country. Simply stated this is the old issue of whether capitalism is a tool of democracy or is democracy a tool of capitalism. Will democracy control capitalism or will capitalism control democracy? Two of our founding fathers, Jefferson and Hamilton, represent the two sides of this coin in this tension, and awareness of this dynamic conflict was built into our constitution. In theory, the power of the people, through democratic representation have the power to elect leaders and pass laws, but when corporate financial interests become too powerful they are able to overthrow this relationship and capture political control by exerting financial power and influence over the political process.
In the 21st century, a new threat to democracy and the people’s rule has emerged. That is the party of Davos, the alliance of transnational corporations (TNC) and their representatives as the leaders and managers of global governance. This has yielded an emerging system of inverted totalitarianism on a global scale. Transnational corporate rule is not limited by national rules and regulations, and its tentacles are everywhere. At the national level, we see its effects on the judicial, legislative and executive branches. The money and power from the transnational organizations has bought off entities like the World Health Organization. The nominal head and coordinating body of this globalized effort to control the world through capitalism is the World Economic Forum, whose primary belief is that national boundaries are less important than the global connectivity through corporatism.
Here we are today. In many ways, the hidden head of this unelected corporatist government structure is now the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the heads of corporations meet to decide the governing decisions of the world (including medicine) and politicians and other influencers travel as supplicants akin to courtiers approaching an Emperor or a Pope.
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