Good For Business

In order to justify the corporate malfeasance of the last eight years, you’ve heard something a lot – both from Republican politicians and supporters of them. That is “What’s good for business is good for America!” In other words, let business do whatever it wants, and everything will be fine.

This is balderdash.

Let me explain.

First off, if what’s good for business is good for America, then why do we no longer allow child labor? Why do we no longer allow sweatshops? These things were GREAT for business, but sucked for America. Research the history of the Singer factory fire if you don’t believe me.

Once upon a time, if you worked in a factory and your poorly-maintained machine blew up in your face, blinding you, guess what you got? FIRED! You obviously can’t do your job blind, so they would just replace you with another expendable drone. No pension. Social security wasn’t invented until the thirties, so you were just screwed. Time to make your wife and kids go to work in a sweatshop so that your family wouldn’t starve.

Then there were workhouses and debtor’s prisons, where you had to work for corporations FOR FREE if you had an outstanding debt. These were wonderful for business, but lousy for everyone else.

A republican Senator recently commented that there is no indication in history that increased regulations improve working conditions or prevent the kind of financial meltdown that we’re having right now.

More balderdash.

We have regulations preventing businesses from unsafe working conditions. OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an example. And, until about six years ago, credit card companies and banks faced regulation that prevented them from loaning to unqualified people, which is what led to our current financial crisis.

You may also hear the panic-mongers scream that if we regulate businesses and force them to adhere to stricter environmental regulations they won’t be able to survive. I guess that I have a more optimistic view of the resilience of American businesses than that.

When slavery was outlawed, people said that was the end of American industry. Same thing when child labor was outlawed, when the unions were formed, when corporations had to start paying into social security, and when environmental regulations were placed on them in the seventies. And yet, somehow, they survived all of this.

Another piece of sheer nonsense is that if we take away their tax loopholes and make them pay their fair share of taxes that it will somehow hurt the American economy. We’ve been giving these gifts to corporations for the last twenty-five years or so, and watched sadly as jobs fled America.

Don’t listen to them, people. Corporations need regulation, and they need to pay taxes. And they will continue to thrive.

Peace.

Randal