Jeff Bezos and Joe Manchin are examples of how America fails citizens
Last Tuesday, Jeff Bezos reached the edge of space in a phallic rocket.
But even stranger than the shape of the rocket was the statement he made after during his Post-Flight Press Conference.
“I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this,” Bezos said.
Basically, he admitted to exploiting his employees with wages that do not match the profit they bring to the company. This confession confirmed what we already knew about worker exploitation by big corporations, but it also affirms how our current government fails to protect its own citizens in favor of corporations.
Under the pandemic, many people lost their jobs, health insurance, family members, or their own lives. Despite this, the government argued whether citizens needed aid at all. Some even argued for the smallest possible aid packages.
On the other hand, the all-ready wealthy corporations and religious institutions received large amounts of COVID-aid, yet the American people were expected to survive on a couple measly paychecks scattered throughout the longer-than-a-year pandemic.
If we have learned anything during this pandemic, it should have been that most Americans can be stripped of their livelihoods through no fault of their own. This is why the government must support basic social programs.
Yes, that means so-called “government handouts.”
The wealthiest one percent and corporations, who continue to influence our politics and exploit workers, are glad to receive these, yet many non-wealthy citizens have been conditioned to dislike the term.
The reality is that these “handouts” are owed to us by the government.
What are Citizens Owed?
Citizens, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, are expected to uphold constitutional values, obey the law, serve on a jury when summoned, and register with selective service. Furthermore, we are encouraged to vote and maintain community involvement. Thanks to Edward Snowden, we now know that the government even spies on us. Ultimately, we submit our power as individuals to the greater state, yet we pay taxes to the government even when they fail to listen to the concerns of non-elites.
Most of the “rights” Americans are granted by citizenship are intangible. The government does not have to invest extra money in protecting freedom of speech, religion and more. Even the freedom to “pursue ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’” as stated by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is intangible. These “rights” are intangible because they require little if any investment to protect. It would be more costly for the U.S. to criminalize these rights, and they do try in some cases. We are being scammed to accept the bare minimum as citizens.
Few citizens today ever had any say in state boundaries, our constitution, and our governmental structure. The creation of these were often limited to those among the elitist class in the past which consisted solely of land-owning white men especially early in American history. These were created with consideration from neither the poor, the working class, the non-white, nor women. As a matter fact, the right to vote was even withheld from many of these groups during various points in American history.
Currently, over 86 percent of those living in America are native-born citizens, and many others are the children of immigrants who had no choice but to submit to the American government.
Over a quarter of American citizens live below 200 percent of the poverty level. Despite this, many Americans work for low wages and face financial insecurity. They also have few choices in the job opportunities or resources available to them, yet they are expected to submit to the same American values that they had no choice in defining or changing.
During his inauguration, John F. Kennedy stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
Yet, by being citizens and obeying laws, including unjust laws, we are doing more than our fair share for the country. Furthermore, citizens cannot simply pour out energy from an empty cup. If the government expects us to submit to the law and be productive members of society, they must first invest in all of us. Not only the rich.
Government Divestment
Before discussing how the government ought to invest in us, we must address how they divest from us.
The poor and homeless across America remain criminalized by anti-homeless laws.
For example, St. Louis City’s former mayor, Lyda Krewson, punished the homeless relentlessly for their poverty, yet the government did not provide basic healthful housing to all for free. She fretted more over making the city appear more “presentable” than protecting citizens from homelessness. For Krewson, this meant destroying encampments and personal property of the people she deemed unworthy of having housing.
This is even more unsettling because it costs more to criminalize homelessness than it to provide supportive housing. Andrew Fraieli discusses this in an article on The Homeless Voice, a Florida-based newspaper that aims to helps the poor and the homeless
“It costs taxpayers $31,065 a year to criminalize a single person suffering from homelessness — through enforcement of unconstitutional anti-panhandling laws, hostile architecture, police raids of homeless encampments, and just general harassment. The cost of providing them supportive housing — $10,051 per year,” Fraieli wrote.
Similarly, the government focuses too heavily on criminalizing non-violent drug offenses. Drug prohibitions should not even exist.
As the American Civil Liberties Union wrote, “The allocation of vast sums of money to law enforcement diminishes the funds available for drug education, preventive social programs and treatment.”
How are the most vulnerable in our society expected to uphold the expectations applied to them as American citizens when the government would rather invest in their punishment instead of investing in their wellbeing which is less costly?
Corporate Exploitation
Even when Americans are not outright being punished, the government fails to protect citizens from exploitation especially by big business.
Currently, the profit produced by workers does not equal pay. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “[t]he income, wages, and wealth generated over the last four decades have failed to ‘trickle down’ to the vast majority largely because policy choices made on behalf of those with the most income, wealth, and power have exacerbated inequality.”
Wealthy individuals, corporations, and large religious institutions get tax breaks, tax incentives, and large government handouts. Furthermore, they have more influence on politicians across the political spectrum than do everyday citizens.
For example, Joe Manchin has continued to ignore the needs of his very own West Virginia voters that elected him to the U.S. Senate. He fought against various progressive bills that received overwhelming support from his state including Medicare for All and the For the People Act. This is not surprising given the influence of his donors on himself and other politicians within the Republican and Democratic parties.
During a leaked call, Manchin expressed a willingness to reform the filibuster, which publicly he stood against. The billionaire donors on the call opposed this reform. Clearly, Manchin ran to represent a few select donors, not his constituents. But he is barely unique.
It is no wonder why the average American citizen distrusts the government.
Very few of these politicians are “tough” on crimes committed by corporations and the wealthy which upend our democracy. Even what is considered a crime
Crimes against the earth, also known as ecocide, are one such example as they put all lives at risk. Air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, and climate change can all be minimized by concerted efforts from multiple industries; however, financial conflicts of interest can lead some organizations to opt out, or even deny that these problems exist. The dishonesty of particular organizations regarding the facts of these crimes further illustrates the malintent of corporations who disregard for human life in favor of profit.
One example is Exxon Mobile. The company was exposed for opposing action on climate change solely for the sake of protecting its investments. Thanks to corporations like Exxon, climate change has become extremely politicized as they continue to back anti-climate lobbyists. The American people deserve to live in communities that are beautiful and safe for our families, children and communities, but corporations would rather see Americans die just to protect financial interests.
What now?
The growing influence of corporations in government has made it clear that many of our representatives, Democrat or Republican or Independent, are more loyal to the corporations bribing them, than they are to the Americans who voted for them.
We must demand more. We are already owed by the government for submitting under its laws, but of this government, we also deserve compensation for submitting to the American government.
So, what do we do?
Legislation that promotes universal health care, tuition-free college or even a universal basic income are all potential ways that the United States government can show its gratitude and commitment to the American people. Furthermore, drug legalization and universal housing would allow the government to spend less money on criminalizing the most vulnerable to instead invest in their potential.
Many of these policies are already popular or growing in popularity. However, popularity alone should not be the only measure of policy implementation. Righting systemic wrongs and preventing them from continuing should be an ultimate goal of our country. After all, we need systems in place that protect, not punish, the most vulnerable.
Who should pay for all this?
The corporations and the wealthy can help. As long as they continue to blur the line between business and government, they should either be required to pay a hefty federal wealth tax or pay higher taxes (i.e., with no subsidies, rebates, etc.). On the other hand, federal taxes for those who are not wealthy should either be abolished or reformed to emulate tax systems in other countries such as New Zealand. If the wealthy want to control our politics and exploit the American public or take joyrides to the edge of the Earth with employee money, they can afford to pay for these programs that benefit us.
Furthermore, the government already can afford many of these programs without taxes. In an interview with C-Span, U.S. Representative John Yarmuth responds to the concerns regarding the affordability of President Biden’s infrastructure plan while refuting common misconceptions regarding the federal budget.
“We can afford it [the infrastructure plan] because we determine how much money is in the system at the federal level,” Yarmuth says.
Essentially, the government has the financial capabilities that could ensure Americans universal housing, universal health care, tuition-free college, and other popular programs because they control the economic system and can add more money to the system. As Yarmuth points out, the only real limitation is inflation. The rest is up to the government to provide the funding that can make these programs possible.
This means they could easily quell the inequalities of our economic system, but often choose to favor the wealthy instead of average Americans who are threatened by corporate exploitation, climate change, and needless criminalization.
We are already owed, as citizens, these basic tangible rights in exchange for our submission to American sovereignty. Now, the government must choose to invest more in us and less in literal dicks in the sky.
