Jim Jordal is a retired teacher of economics and American history who now lives in rural Chisago County, Minn. He has studied his passion — economic justice — for many years and writes newspaper columns, blogs and study lessons on the subject. He writes the occasional blog for A Minnesota Without Poverty and presents his thoughtful and often challenging ideas right here.  You are invited to give your comments also.

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ENGINES OF CORPORATE WELFARE

By Jim Jordal

The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution states that the people of the United States ordained and established the document to among other things establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Today these foundational values are becoming empty words under the impact of various powerful groups having agendas very unlike what the Founding Fathers envisioned for the people.

It’s becoming more obvious every day that the federal government and to a lesser extent state governments have become engines of corporate welfare. They exist, not to insure peace and justice to all citizens by promoting the general welfare, but to protect the power of large corporations and their wealthy owners by promoting policies favorable mainly to the top I percent.

So what is the effect on this skewed value system upon the poor of the land? It’s simple---the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The vast wealth differential between the very peak of the income pyramid (.01 percent, or about 30,000 persons) and the remaining 99.99 percent widens every year, identifying the U.S. as the most unequal of all developed nations. The long-term effects of this denial of justice appear in virtually every index of social disorganization you could name.

So what can you do? You can continue to advocate for justice and decency whenever possible. You can also fight recent moves to require picture I.D. in order to vote because, no matter what the claims of those proposing such legislation, the real aim is to disenfranchise millions of Americans who might vote for candidates opposing the present corporate dominance of politics. You can also look into web sites like Change.org where you can initiate petitions of your choice and can also sign petitions proposed by others. And you can support some of the many movements aiming to initiate a constitutional amendment removing the fiction that corporations are persons with the same right as persons to contribute without limit to political campaigns.