Why are so many people in this country so forgiving of corporations

[npk]

Goldman Sachs, AIG, Bank of America, BP, etc.

Yet they demand that independent investigations against groups like ACORN be launched immediately.

WTF is wrong with this picture.

[Warpy]

1. Corporate media

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. Yep. Control the message, and you control the audience.

Our fourth estate has been usurped.

[Festivito]

40. The Milgram Media. (M$M is an authority figure.)

It's hard for us as individuals to pick which fight is important enough to grab our attention from a list of so many fights. So, we let the authority of the media lead us and go back to worrying if we can veg out until the sportscast begins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

:eyes: But, sometimes I'll take time fight with an atheist. :hi:

[aquart]

2. ACORN doesn't have the money for endless ads and PR.

Amazing how easy people are to manipulate. It's a science. It's a profession. Give them a nice slogan to chant and they feel perfectly secure no matter how meaningless the phrase.

[krabigirl]

3. brainwashed by corporate media

[laughingliberal]

5. Reaganism is a disease from which the populace has suffered for 3 decades. eom

[LiberalLoner]

9. Oh, absolutely spot on! Thank you! +1,000! n/t

[havocmom]

6. it's easier than taking action to fight them

It's easier than actually paying attention to what elected officials DO or DON'T DO once in office.

It's easier to let democracy and national sovereignty fail than do the constant work it takes to maintain it. Oh, and don't forget to slap a ribbon magnet on the fender, a flag pin on the lapel and chant USA USA USA while not protecting anything except delusions. Teabagger patriots are the most vocal, but it seems too many citizens just don't want to make the effort.

Sad, isn't it? We had this great system handed to us and, generation after generation, we gave it all away until it is only theater now.

[npk]

10. Yes we sold America for a few cheap bucks

And by cheap, I mean the money will seem minuscule down the road, when the damage to this country is irreversible.

[Andy823]

7. That's simple

Those on the right get their marching orders from the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, Palin and the morons on Fox news. If their "leaders" don't tell them to be upset, well they aren't! They can't think for themselves, so they can only be "upset" when the morons who "think" for them tell them to be upset! Having a following of zombies works well for the right! :evilgrin:

[William Z. Foster]

8. forgiving?

How about promoting, defending, apologizing for? And I am not talking about tea baggers - I am talking about people right here, Democrats, liberals, progressives.

Massive catastrophe in the Gulf, and we have people arguing for privatizing the response, leaving it in the hands of the corporation that caused it.

[npk]

12. Couldn't agree more

Like I said last night, BP got away with lax oversight and regulations, with absolutely no contingency plan for a disaster like the one they caused, and so many people are writing it off as, "Well you know accident happen." There is no outrage that the company that caused this mess is bullying the media, lying to the government and the people, and there is no massive uprising in the streets. So damn aggravating.

[laughingliberal]

16. Yes, Reaganism has infected people in both parties, some on DU. nt

[marions ghost]

11. 1 in 6 US jobs depend on the automotive industry

in some way.

Also many people work for these polluting and exploitative corporations. (Or some company connected to them). Not too many American jobs are free of corporate influence.

There is no corporate responsibility --the Reign of the Bushites saw to that.

But people still fear biting the hand that feeds them.

[Starry Messenger]

13. They benefit.

Directly or indirectly. Lots of people here give full support to corporations and when pressed, there is always a financial connection. It's in their interest to forgive and defend corporations.

[OHdem10]

14. Very simple---Tell me the last time you heard a Democrat stand up

defend Liberalism, Progressivism and Make a Serious Argument
against Conservative Economic Fundamentalism.

In many place all the people hear is the Ideology of the Right.
The Right Republican, Conservative or Libertarian all embrace
Big Business.

If all you ever hear is the well thought thought out arguments
about how business provides jobs.etc then what will you think?
Business must be supported.

[npk]

19. It's not so much the elected Dems

It's that the ordinary populace have reached a point where they no longer want to hold corporations feet to the fire. At least not with the same zest as they are willing to hold the public sector's feet to the fire. It's all these token investigation that we are promised. Like the SEC is going to investigate Goldman Sachs. In the end the people who lied, took bribes, and conned people out of millions, will skate by. But if there is even the slightest hint of impropriety on the part of ACORN, well then somebody at the top is going to have pay.

[donco6]

15. The connections with their favourite politicians are too strong.

They cannot disassociate one from the other. That's why you see so many BP apologists on here. They're the same ones who believe Obama can do no wrong.

[Donnachaidh]

18. political teeny boppers -- Tiger Beat mentality

yeah, posting headshots of your favorite politician shows us you live in a state of reality all your own....

[laughingliberal]

24. +1 nt

[Donnachaidh]

17. because they've bought into the *we can be wealthy too* brainwashing

And they are natural sycophants.

[truedelphi]

20. The Right Wing is willing to collect money from each other and parlay these fortunes

Into an attack that will offer them a political gain.

While the left wing monied crowd doesn't go ahead and do that in any meaningful way. I mean,we have "MoveOn" but gawd only knows what their true agenda is -- they won't get anywhere near the causes that they should until it is too late in the game. (MoveOn was totally reluctant to hear or do anything about the Stolen Election and the hackable voting machinery back in 2004.)

[Individualist]

21. It's the "I've got mine, screw everybody else" contingent that supports them.

[EFerrari]

22. They own the media and train us from the cradle?

[Phlem]

23. I firmly believe

this is inadvertently (or maybe on purpose) the way if thinking that's ingrained at youth. If your a loving and caring mother and father, your offspring will more than likely emulate the parent's values. Since Conservatism or the Republican party was established a while back, there have been generations of the population that have been brainwashed into this type thinking. After all mom and dad were awesome and never wrong.

I live with lot's of R's and that's the only thing I can think of that creates the wall of ignorance with these people when facts are presented.

-p

[roamer65]

25. Because of the stupid American mythology...

that this is a "land of opportunity" and anyone can get rich just by hard work. It is true bullshit...but great "prolefeed" to sway the masses.

The undeserved sympathy for the wealthy in this country is sickening.

[amborin]

36. Gramsci spoke about this...Horatio Alger myth....

[roamer65]

38. I am always reminded of Mario Puzo's quote at the beginning of "The Godfather" series.

"Behind every great fortune, there is a crime".

[amborin]

39. ha, great quote

[xchrom]

26. The status quo has worked very, very hard since the seventies

To build an effective system of getting people to mistrust
anything designated Left, Liberal, etc.

Second they've designed a system where they can get
people to believe corporate America is Big Daddy.
Will solve the nations problems, provide goo gobs of money
for everyone.

Lastly American are lazy.

[rainy]

27. Because the outrage is hidden. The corporate media doesn't allow the outraged

any air time so we see no leadership on this.

[frebrd]

28. They've been under the collective corporate thumb for so long.......

that they've developed Stockholm Syndrome.

[scarletwoman]

44. I just want to acknowledge that you posted "Stockholm Syndrome" first. I hadn't read through

the thread before I made my post #43 below.

We entirely agree, of course! :)

sw

[ljm2002]

29. 30, 40, 50 years of brainwashing...

...by a complicit media that has reached a crescendo in the last 15, 20 years: private corporations are always bastions of efficiency, not like the bad ol' gubmint; it's YOUR money and YOU know best what to do with it (this meme is raised when the real issue is raising taxes on the rich, i.e. when they say it's YOUR money they really mean it's MY money but by clever wording they get people to identify with the concerns of the rich); "we're all investors now" (never mind that most of us are invested through pension funds or IRAs and may have little to no control over how those investments are made); "but if you're against the corporations then you're against all those fine folks whose livelihoods depend on working for the corporations" (similar to "if you're against the war then you're against the troops" and equally specious); etc.

[Trillo]

30. Our K-12 educational system was designed during the second phase of the industrial era

to provide compliant factory workers who do what they're told. No punishment other than literal death is too great at this young age.

[donco6]

35. If anything, my teachers are the ones out there rescuing them from the abyss.

They maybe be getting that indoctrination, but it isn't from me. I see it in them by about 4th grade.

[DailyGrind51]

31. America reveres its "corporate aristocracy" the way Europeans did their nobility.

[jotsy]

32. You want the whole list or just the top ten?

The virtues of honor and fairness are viewed as vulnerability and vice is valued.

Decades of collective effort to condition a citizenry are bearing the fruit of a Pavlovian public.

We are starry eyed by status to the extent that we overlook the lack of substance in those who strut it.

We'd rather deny our own short comings than admit being had.

As spectators it's easy to criticize, but as participants and having a proverbial dog in the fight, we shy from the risk for a lack of trust in gain.

Let me know if you require the other half.

I would love to say more with specific regard to the matter concerning ACORN, but find myself reluctant to throw a Molotov cocktail into a discussion environment created by another.

k and r

[Carter Hayes]

33. The American public in general is so stupid

They would rather eat at fast food than a real restaurant, would rather buy cheap shit at Wal-Mart than buy quality goods at independent mom-and-pop stores, would rather drink cheap watered down swill like Dud Light than drink a real ale from a microbrewery, would rather drive gashogs than go green etc. It's all about money, or saving as much money., Greed. That's what corporations have done and continue to do. They've either completely indoctrinated the masses or the sheeple are just simpletons that are too stubborn, set in their ways are refuse to learn. Change is very scary to them.

[William Z. Foster]

45. here you mean?

As Democrats, I don't think we should ever be blaming the common people, nor calling them "the sheeple."

If you are saying that people are stupid for supporting privatization, for calling for a limited and reduced role for the government, for apologizing for and defending corporations and Wall Street, for siding with the bosses, owners, landlords, and investors you had better start right here, where no discussion is free from the relentless promotion of libertarian pro-corporate doctrine.

Discussions with everyday working people are much less pro-corporate then the discussions here are.

Working people drive cars, eat at cheap restaurants, shop at WalMart, and drink cheap beer because it is all they can afford.

While we all might not have the sophisticated tastes (or arrogant self-centered hubris) to be indulging in micro-brews and gourmet food, we do, however, provide these services - washing the windows, mowing the lawns, scrubbing the toilets, paving the streets, repairing the sewers, laying brick, wiring the buildings, waiting table, stocking the shelves, fixing the plumbing, swinging a hammer, driving truck, delivering the mail, growing the food, fixing the cars, changing the diapers, teaching the children, digging the ditches, pruning the trees, collecting the garbage, driving the cabs, cooking the food, washing the dishes, mopping the floors, cleaning the offices, stocking the warehouse, working the counter, ringing up sales, maintaining the airplanes, working the assembly line, grooming the golf courses, washing the cars, and so forth.

What is it that the intellectuals - many of them self-described Democrats, liberals, and progressives - contribute to society again? Oh, that's right - libertarian talking points and expressions of contempt for the working people.

[kenny blankenship]

34. You can get mad at big corporations - but you know the govt will make you simmer down

So why even bother, right?

The govt has their back, always. A real protest against one of these corporate malefactors such as the UAW strike of 1936 in Flint Michigan or any typical European street demonstration, would be met with level volleys of live ammo from National Guard troops ordered to fire on the crowd by the US government -that would be true of any administration since Nixon, including this one. Therefore you don't see real protests. They have nothing to fear from us and they know it. Protests in the modern political context of the U.S. are little more than demonstrations of impotence. If you try to "work within the system" they will blunt your investigation of the X corporation by a million different procedural traps. No point in getting worked up about this approach, either. In the end you will get a bipartisan commission empaneled to study Corporation X that will probably spend most of its time deciding whether YOU owe Corporation X an apology for your baseless accusations, and exactly how much you should apologize.

ACORN on the other hand is a group representing the powerless and the poor. The corporate owned government would be only too happy to squash it forever. The corporate owned media will repeat any propaganda against it, regardless of its truth or falsehood. ACORN has no powerful friends to present its defense. It is easy for the conservative movement to stir a "popular outrage" against it. Once the ball is rolling, any former friends in public office turn their backs and pretend they don't know ACORN, never knew ACORN, and don't lift a finger to help.

[Duer 157099]

37. I can give you 401(k) reasons

But really there is only one: greed

[Catherina]

41. Pro-poor groups like ACORN don't put any money in their pockets

In fact, in their view, groups like ACORN are trying to take money out of their pockets to help lazy, shiftless bums who don't contribute to society (their words, not mine).

Why have a war against poverty when you can have WAR ON THE POOR?

It's a terrible picture indeed.

[Juche]

42. We've been told standing up to corporations = losing our jobs and economic growth

[scarletwoman]

43. Stockholm Syndrome. We've been held hostage so long, we think we belong to them. nt

[Kievan Rus]

46. Brainwashed from a young age

[moondust]

47. White power institutions?

Willfully empowered by many to be a counterbalance/superior to the "ZOG" and its civil rights, equal opportunity, democratic ways, etc.?

:shrug:

[charlesg]

48. Their paycheck probably says "... , INC." on it

[RainDog]

49. "the divine right of capital"

some Americans are toadies who choose to be subjects of oppression.

http://www.ecobooks.com/books/divineright.htm

it's no coincidence, to me, that those who believe in a fundie/hater god, inerrant texts, and think that might makes right also gladly accept their places as peons and defend bad policy regarding oversight.

the author's premise (in my words): America overthrew George III by realizing the divine right of kings was a bunch of horseshit but they remain slaves of an oligarchy that tells them preferential treatment for the wealthy is necessary for the continuation of healthy society.

bullshit.

[HughBeaumont]

50. Just one arrest has the potential to ruin a person's life.

Corporations, which have greater tabs on EVERYONE more than ever, know this. An arrest even for civil disobedience, sad as it is to say, will close a lot of doors for a person as far as being employable goes. Trust me, they WILL find out later if not sooner. There's no privacy anymore.

Revolution against corporations will never happen because people plain and simple fear getting arrested. They wouldn't put their lives on the line because there's far too much for them to lose. There'd never be a "CHAAARRGE" because you'd have a whole lot of people going "errrr . . . you first."

The police will protect the wealthy and beat and arrest us. Same goes for the military. They regard THEM as "the good guys" and THEM as the "victims", NOT us. As the old lyric goes - "Babe, all I know is what I see". And I sure as shit don't see any right-wing protestors with knees on their backs, being maced, having limbs broken, being beaten with sticks and clubs, etc. It's always US.

Get fired? Where are you going to work? What are you going to do for money? The "Dole" might as well BE a damned pineapple for all it's worth. What about health care? Like Mike Moore said, "This ain't Sweden you live in". You need that job for a LOT of things in life. Lose it and you're screwn.

Even if there were thousands upon thousands at the foot of riot police, they'd stop us because livelihood is not worth throwing away. Putting things in the "Life Sucks" file and moving on while we get the shit end of the stick on a continuous basis is the 21st Century American way of life. It's easy.

Also, the whole "when life gives you lemons" bullshit IS the second largest crock of bulldroppings next to the Libertarian/Republican poison of choice known as "Horatio Alger". It's merely another stupid cliché designed to absolve crappy political and corporate “leadership” from blame when the “boom . . .bubble . . . CRASH” economies they preside over and the businesses/corporations they run take Hindenburg joyrides.

And it's apparently effective too, because more than a few dozen million people have been convinced to buy into the notion that, no matter how hard they work, how many resumes they distribute or how effectively they think their networking skills are, it's somehow THEIR fault that they got laid off or aren't as far ahead in life as they are.

What's more the culprit is horrible (often bordering on or straight crossing the path into illegal) corporate leadership, governmental aid and abettance and just plain ol' bad LUCK. Not all of us can run a business and it's absolutely silly to think such a crapshoot is possible for the 9 out of 10 people that would fail at doing this. We're not fortune tellers. These "green careers" we're supposed to be training for are already taking root in third-world serfdoms, thanks to little investment in anything that can directly help us and more emphasis on blowing up entire ethnic groups because they don't "wershup JAYsus!".

If people cannot stand up for themselves and see how badly they're getting sodomized by the authoritarian entities they work for, then really, is this mass of land even worth saving?