The Lesser of Two Weevils

[AnnieBW]

Okay, I'm having it out with a Teahadist on FB about which is worse, Government control of people's lives (socialism) or corporate control of people's lives (Fascism). Never mind that one is an economic system and one is a political system. The stoopid is strong in this one. So, what do you folks think is worse, government or Big Business?

For me, it would be Big Business. With Government, you have some chance of getting some oversight, somewhere. Or at least having the truth come out via Wikileaks. But after talking to a guy who was getting screwed over by Blue Cross at the drugstore today, I'm thinking that Big Business is worse. You have no recourse with them, and there's no oversight.

So, DU, which is worse? Government or Big Business?

[Curmudgeoness]

1. I agree with you. Big business has only one objective...

Profit. Above all else. At least government has some accountability at some point. At least we can vote the assholes out (presumably).

[pscot]

2. With goveernment you have some say

With corporations you have none.

[jody]

3. Is that a boll weevil, corn weevil, or other member of the 60,000 Curculionidae family?

Just kidding but if you're ever in Enterprise, Alabama you can't miss the Boll Weevil Monument.

[pinboy3niner]

4. Depends. Besides socialism, there is totalitarianism, for example

But I love your subject line. :)

[ixion]

5. There's a difference?

One is simply a compliment of the other.

[eridani]

6. Tell the teahadists that you can vote governments out of office n/t

[pinboy3niner]

8. For them, that's the LAST resort...

...after "Second Amendment remedies" are exhausted.

[Donnachaidh]

7. Big business has sunk it's teeth into the Government

And is sucking it dry. I'd say big business is the worst, but the corporate cronies who are in office only to serve big business have to go, too.

As to oversight, we don't really have much of that anymore. We need to clean house and re-instate some of the rules and regs that Zombie Reagan and his horde got rid of, in order to have real oversight. What we have now is more of a form of kabuki theatre than anything else. :shrug:

[Chulanowa]

9. Depends on the form of government we're talking about

A totalitarian government can easily worse for its people than independent big business would be. Not always; there are such things as enlightened despots and benevolent dictatorships.

Of course, the Baggers assume that all government is totalitarian, which is projection of the highest sort.

In a representative government such as what we have, the government is only a threat once business has bitten deeply into it. The opposite does not happen, and it could be argued that it cannot happen. Basically then, all the "big problems" of our government stem from business.

Ironically, it's Friedman market theory in reverse; it is business that distorts government, not the other way around.

[pinboy3niner]

11. "Depends" was my answer, too

Totalitarianism is the biggest game-changer--an 'activist' government is not necessarily socialistic, and some things are worse than oligarchy.

The 'baggers see a government headed by a black man as totalitarian, resulting in an expanded 'patriot' movement and a conviction that there is a need to 'take our country back'. A white dem in the Oval Office never would have led to the kind of revolutionary rhetoric we're seeing today, on such a broad scale.

I think you're right about business--serious problems arise when government becomes its captive. It's a great strain on democracy when the unenfranchised have greater power than the voters. The world is out of whack (sorry, I was looking for a lit. ref. and couldn't find the one I thought I foggily remembered).

[upi402]

10. "Teahadists"

LOL!