Money pit

As long as the banks make billions at the expense
of the public interest we are not a democracy,
we are corporate plutocracy.

Now JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America have all posted multi-billion dollar profits... following The Sachs example of public plundering.

Thankfully some people are taking offense... like Paul krugman, Fortune Magazine, CNN,

From Salon
"Goldman's resurgence should send shivers down the backs of every hardworking American who has lost a large chunk of retirement savings in this economic debacle, as well as the millions who have lost their jobs. Why? Because Goldman's high-risk business model hasn't changed one bit from what it was before the implosion of Wall Street. Goldman is still wagering its capital and fueling giant bets with lots of borrowed money. While its rivals have pared back risks, Goldman has increased them. And its renewed success at this old game will only encourage other big banks to go back into it."

"Goldman is skillful at playing the market. Now that most of its major competitors are out of the action or still under the strict control of the Treasury and the Fed, it has the market mostly to itself. Expect the others to jump back into high-risk deals as soon as they can. But Goldman is also skillful at playing politics -- something its rivals aren't nearly as good at. Recall that last fall, at a closed meeting between Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson (formerly Goldman's CEO), Tim Geithner (then at the New York Fed), and a handful of others to decide on the fate of giant insurer AIG, Goldman's chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, was at the table. The decision to bail out AIG resulted in a $13 billion giveaway to Goldman because Goldman was an AIG counterparty. Indeed, Goldman executives and alumni have played crucial roles in guiding the Wall Street bailout from the start.
So the fact that Goldman has reverted to its old ways in the market suggests it has every reason to believe it can revert to its old ways in politics, should its market strategies backfire once again -- leaving the rest of us once again to pick up the pieces."

Indeed! Unemployment contiunes to rise... and the official numbers don't include those who have given up looking for work... which is a significant number... so it's worse still.

I stay so angry about this... it consumes so much energy... but we MUST stay informed, we must try to find out the real story, be skeptical, encourage others to get involve- write their representatives in the hope they will stand up and DO THEIR JOB and take action on behalf of the people they supposedly represent, and perhaps most importantly try to vote with your wallet— dont' support corrupt corporations!

With all the fuss recently and bank and corporate abuses of the public interest I wondered, which exactly were the worst corporations in the world?

It didn't take long to find numerous lists...

both Alternet and Multinational Monitor conduct yearly lists.

8 that could easily be among the worst of the worst (in no order):

1. Monstanto
2. Haliburton
3. Goldman Sachs
4. De Beers
5. Bechtel
6. Cargill
7. Chevron
8. Dupont / Dow Chemical

The list of corporate impuntiy is seemingly endless.... as reported by Narcosphere and somethingawful.

The font of this evil? Many think it is corporate personhood.
(an alternate view by Jesse Walker at Reason magazine)

If you haven't seen it already, see the documentary The Corporation, it details the whole ugly story.

A much as I would like to see corporations as person revoked, or at least with more regulation to prevent the global abuses of workers, consumers and environments for profit, but I don't see it happening... the courts side with business, and that is unlikely to change. Congress, even the president seems unwilling to take real action.

The sad arc of this is likely that their greed will continue unabated, and eventually barring some miraculous unforeseen event or change, they will eventually critically undermine civilization by reducing it to a new fuedalism. Nothing short of that will get enough people to get off their sorry asses and take action- but by then it will be too late...

As long as we are ruled by the corporate plutocracy of banks and multi-nationals the middle class will shrink and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will slowly devolve into little more than wage slavedom, debt management, and (at best) perpetual medication for all but a privileged few.

Adbusters corporate flag

Okay, I'm getting off my soap box now.