Big Business: The Mini-Series

Over the next week or so I am going to write several pieces covering different aspects of big business. First, I will cover the businesses that currently have the biggest stake in our day to day lives. The obvious targets here will be oil, defense contractors, and pharmaceuticals. I will assemble the argument as to how these massive corporations are destroying American life. I will follow that up with an article covering America's biggest enemy: white-collar crime. Many Americans have been decieved these last few years that Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein are our biggest threats. Sadly, this is untrue. The biggest threat to Americans' pursuit of happiness is Enron, not Nasrallah. The FBI estimates that $300 billion is lost annually to white collar crime. The National Health Service of England costs roughly $175 billion in budget costs annually. I'm not saying that we could just transport this money into health care with some magic bill from the President. But if we could crack down on half of that, it would definitely be a start. The last piece to the series will summarize the first four pieces, analyze the current administration's attempts to deal with big business, and even be so bold to offer a few possible corrections to the system. If you are a blind supporter of the current administration, you will not be happy with what I have to say. However, I challenge those people to read what I have to say, and respond with comments, emails, phone calls, etc. I want to be wrong on everything I have to say here. I want somebody to leave a comment and prove to me that this administration really does care more about bettering the quality of human life, and not just about dollar signs. I used to believe that it was cliche to pan Bush and Co. about this topic. I used to actually believe that the people in power really were doing what they believed would most improve the quality of life. I now have my doubts. I know this won't be the most interesting topic to a lot of people, and I know it will come off as a long-winded diatribe by an unqualified person. Stick with this, though. We are on the eve of a massive midterm election. The wheels of change can start turning in November. I'm not saying that everyone who reads this should vote Democrat or Republican, but make a vote that you believe will actually improve our situation. And know why you are making that vote. (I know, I know, I'm really preaching here, but this is something I really believe in. Besides I'm sure a lot of you are happy it isn't another football article)