Morning in America, Maybe

Someone accused me recently of being against corporations. The truth is that, when President Bush talked about an "ownership society" we had already become a society more owned than owning - - owned by corporate interests that control our daily lives more than most people realize. A financial juggernaut has finally caught up with us; it isn't really so much about being against corporations as it is a sense that we the people, through our government, need to exert more control over forces that have come to dominate the financial culture.

It isn't only outrage over the bonuses for executives at companies who have received bailout funds that is gripping the American people. It is an uneasy feeling that something fundamental is wrong with the way things work in our society. When a majority shared in a robust economy, and salaries were substantial enough to support a family, provide health care and a decent education, a well-positioned middle class enjoyed the trappings of what felt like the American dream. But as the economy came to be managed by speculating money handlers and entrepreneurs who made fortunes while salaries for ordinary folks lagged, and jobs left for cheap labor venues in other lands, that dream lost much of its luster, and a stunned population wondered what had hit them.

What had hit them was a corporatized world that held sway over people and economies alike. The Waltons, owners of Walmart, are some of the wealthiest people in the country, but they crush attempts by employees to unionize, apparently fearful that profits will dip below gigantic to just huge. And John Perkins, in Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, provided an insider's look at how to create clout around the world without having to fire a shot. By encouraging smaller economies to accept loans they could never repay the U.S. has been able to use that indebtedness to install not only corporate strongholds but to promote political agendas as well.

And that war we supposedly won in Iraq hasn't fostered a strong central government, capable of developing an economy to truly serve its people. In the North, Kurds ignore Baghdad's attempts to establish an oil ministry to oversee the country's resources. Instead they have been signing separate deals with foreign investors. Maybe the war wasn't really about oil, but it didn't take long for those special interests to appear and take hold, and somehow oil revenues didn't end up reimbursing us for our trouble. Far from it, as the ties that bind us to the corporate defense-industry mill illustrate so vividly.

Back in the sixties, at General Dynamics, when Frank Pace presided over the biggest corporate loss of its day, and the company was forced to suspend its dividend, Pace was replaced - - not fired exactly, ‘kicked upstairs' and provided with office space, no doubt because of some contractual obligation. Sound familiar? These days the AIG problem stems from pre-bailout contracts. And perhaps the oddest thing about the way the issue is playing out is the emphasis on the Dodd-Geithner interplay when the original bailout package was forged during the Bush administration, bonuses and all - - an indication that some contracts (executive) carry more weight than others (labor).

A more subtle form of corporate dominance occurs in the sports arena - - more subtle because it affects fewer people. For example, season hockey tickets in the old Madison Square Garden provided a great view of the action. Season tickets in the "new garden", however, were behind one of the goals, ensuring that I never saw a goal scored again - - too far from one end and obstructed by fans in lower rows at my end. The reason?  Corporations purchased tickets for every event - - the circus, horse shows, dog shows, basketball and hockey games, you name it, so they got all the best seats.

Similarly in the "new Yankee stadium" four family members, past season ticket holders, received tickets for the coming year that were not only not together but were for day games during the week when none of them are able to attend. Perhaps you can guess what entities are getting the choice locations.

One doesn't have to be against corporations to understand that some people get a lot of perks even when they perform badly; some receive favors for being a worker bee or a client. Others outside the entrenched power pyramid pursue an American dream, that needn't promise a rose garden or a golden parachute, just a decent job, a sense of security, some respect and a few creature comforts -- in other words, a fair shake.