POWER and INFLUENCE

I often criticize Big Government. Others are critical of Big Corporations. Today, I wish to unpack those criticisms and to elaborate on Cronyism as the root of both threats.

Governments have POWER.

Corporations “lease” that POWER from governments because they only have influence in society, not genuine power. Lobbying is the process process of negotiating the terms and of the “lease”.

POWER comes from the legislation that elected politicians have passed in houses of “democracy” like Ontario’s Legislative Assembly and Canada’s Parliament. POWER is realized through government agencies that employ ‘public servants’ who create and apply regulations to enforce all legislation (laws). We all know where the money comes from to pay for those enforcement operations. The sources of that money are guaranteed by tax and public debt laws and regulations.

Corporations have INFLUENCE.

All businesses convince customers to voluntarily buy their products and services. Market research, advertising and pricing strategies combine to INFLUENCE human purchasing behaviours. When coercion tactics are evident, they are only effective when backed by the POWER of government.

For example, the increase in Big Pharma revenues from the sale of Covid products supplied by Pfizer and Moderna, as well as needle and mask manufacturers, could never have been achieved if government mandates were not enacted and enforced.

Note that INFLUENCE can arise from within government institutions too. I classify these sources, and their political lobbying activity, as Crony-Statism. I will address this topic at another time.

Cronyism is the interplay between Big Government and Big Corporations

Crony-Capitalist “partners” both benefit. Government get more POWER by passing of enforcing “emergency” legislation. Corporations make more INFLUENCE to make more money. Everyone is happy except those who are obligated to pay. We refer to this type of “public-private partnership” today as Crony Capitalism. An earlier, less sophisticated version of these unholy relationship was called Italian ‘facism’ in the 1930s under Benito Mussolini.

Cronyism is a “lease” on POWER

Cronyism can only survive if the voting public agrees to allow it. It exists as a feature of modern electoral democracy, also a form of Cronyism. An Oligopoly of Political Power, a cabal, ensures that only its members will ever engage in law-making within our houses of democracy. Ranked by the scope of their POWER, the cabal members are the Liberal parties, Conservative parties, New Democrat parties and Bloc Quebecois. Over many decades, they have all participated in passing legislation to guarantee their POWER to define and shape our democratic processes and institutions.

The irony.

I have often asked voters my three “Goldilocks” questions.

• Do you think that our governments are too big, too small or are just about the right size?

• Do you think that our taxes are too high, too low or are just about the right level?

• Do you think that the scope of government authority (i.e. regulations and enforcement) is too broad, not broad enough, of just about right?

Although my “Goldilocks” questions are not a formal survey, most people say that we have more government than we need. Few, however, have an opinion about where to make public sector reductions.

Those who are critical of Big Corporations say our #1 priority must be to maintain legislative “protections” against the perceived threat of capitalism which ensures the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer”. When terms like the Military Industrial Complex, Pharmeutical Industrial Complex, the Investment Banking Complex, Medical Industrial Complex and Climate Change Governmental Complex are mentioned, they fail to recognise these as massive examples of Cronyism. They also don’t realize that they enabled it by their past voting choices (assuming they voted for one of the Oligopoly of Political Power).

CRONYISM will triumph.

Cronyism will get stronger in the years ahead. The enormous productivity gains afforded by AI and the ubiquitous Digital Economy will enable power and corporate elites to increase their societal penetrations for their self-serving purposes.

The book ‘Psychology of Totalitarianism’ by Dr. Mattias Desmet explains why the voting masses will readily succumb to the coming changes.  The majority have been brainwashed by constant and repetitive messaging (aka propaganda, ‘mass formation psychosis’) which has convinced them that our public leaders are making Canada “safe and effective” for all foreseeable generations.

Informed Consent

After the aggressive promotion of Covid jabs for every citizen, I wonder how many people are now skeptic of Public Health messaging and the advice provided by physicians. The “safe and effective” mantra that we heard incessantly was proven untrue. Citizens were not entrusted with the facts but instead were told to “trust the science” without evidence.

Freedom of Informed Choice is what I advocate for everyone as their conditional right, but government-sponsored censorship became the norm in recent years to discourage questioning of public policy. I personally seek alternative sources for facts and trustworthy opinion. Here is an example.