I believe there was more to say in our class discussion of the ties between capitalism and democracy. In class we seemed to concede as a group that there was no problem with our democratic system being held in the balance by corporations and brands. We also agreed that we were hopelessly entangled in this system. We are surrounded by brands and brands are introduced to our children and become recognizable as early as 18 months. We also agreed that it is by virtue of our democracy that citizens have the right to allow capitalism to lead our decision-making on products we buy and television programs we watch. After class I began to realize that this could in fact be very dangerous. As a society if we let corporate power outweigh our rights as citizens of a democracy, we are simply becoming pawns to corporate decisions and our politics become the policies of corporate endorsed lobbies. Many of which do not have our health or safety in mind and are purely in the game for profit.
Nick Naylor portrays a corporate lobbyist for the big tobacco companies in the movie "Thank You for Smoking" and is an example of the way corporations can influence decisions in our nation. For example in this movie the tobacco lobbies are paid millions of dollars to in some cases bribe politicians to pass policy that is beneficial to their industry. Furthermore, I do not necessarily see it as a good thing that our children can recognize brands like Mcdonalds that serves beef raised in feed houses and does not care about the health of its patrons. When corporate power goes unchecked and it outweighs the voices of individuals, I believe that we are no longer a nation by the people for the people, but rather we are a nation by the corporation for the corporation.
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