Over the past couple months we have heard about the policies of great American presidents, Lincoln, Kennedy and FDR, but the one I feel needs to be reintroduced is the president who spoke softly and carried a very big stick. He was a Rough Rider and a touch crime fighter. I remember hearing a story of Teddy Roosevelt in history class. He worked to rid New York City of corruption, so in order to get him out of the city they promoted him to Governor, but his battle with corruption continued onto the State of New York, so in order to get him out of the state they encouraged him to run for president. Bottom line, Teddy Roosevelt was causing too much havoc with corporate corruption, so they got rid of him and hoped he would find something else to do. I’m not sure this story is true, but it is a great characterization for our 26th President of the United States.
It was Teddy Roosevelt that instituted the Food and Drug Administration after the outcry from Upton Sinclair’s book, “In the Jungle” that exposed the conditions of the nation’s meat industry. Yes, surprise, surprise the food industry was selling sausages containing feces, rats, mice and even human body parts to the American people. It was Teddy Roosevelt who put a stop this practice and he placed regulations on the food industry. The food industry cried and I hate to write a pun, but foul. They were upset they would lose profit if the industry had to be regulated. But it was Teddy Roosevelt and the government’s job to serve and protect the American people, and in this case their job was to protect the food supply.
During the Bush administration restrictions and regulations of the food industry was relaxed and food inspection was privatized. (see one relevant article) This rang like songs of beautiful sirens to corporate America. Privatization and free market is the answer to everything and thus our food industry starting monitoring itself to save money…and of course they were to pass the extra savings off to consumers (right). In that time, the United States has had a record number of E.coli and salmonella outbreaks, from spinach, cat food, baby food, beef and most notably peanuts where corporate/privatized inspectors gave the peanut manufacturers an “A-“. Good job, peanut manufacturers.
I truly have no problem with the corporate world or capitalism. However, like a child needs adult supervision, so do our CEOs. They one thing I must say is the number one priority of a corporation is to make a profit and sometimes that profit is at the expense of the American public. And my challenge to American is do we what to be a nation governed by the corporate world, when their sole interest is making profit off consumers? I honestly can’t see that as very smart, because Americans will always be exploited. We see that today with the food industry, the credit industry and tomorrow I’ll tell you about the health insurance industry. Without a government to serve and protect, we can count ourselves pretty much screwed.
We are very fortunate to live in a country where we can elect our public officials, but it is our responsibility to make sure they do what we elected them to do and not take heed and even money from lobbyists to promote their agendas. And that takes me back to my favorite George Bernard Shaw quote,
“Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.”
It was Teddy Roosevelt that instituted the Food and Drug Administration after the outcry from Upton Sinclair’s book, “In the Jungle” that exposed the conditions of the nation’s meat industry. Yes, surprise, surprise the food industry was selling sausages containing feces, rats, mice and even human body parts to the American people. It was Teddy Roosevelt who put a stop this practice and he placed regulations on the food industry. The food industry cried and I hate to write a pun, but foul. They were upset they would lose profit if the industry had to be regulated. But it was Teddy Roosevelt and the government’s job to serve and protect the American people, and in this case their job was to protect the food supply.
During the Bush administration restrictions and regulations of the food industry was relaxed and food inspection was privatized. (see one relevant article) This rang like songs of beautiful sirens to corporate America. Privatization and free market is the answer to everything and thus our food industry starting monitoring itself to save money…and of course they were to pass the extra savings off to consumers (right). In that time, the United States has had a record number of E.coli and salmonella outbreaks, from spinach, cat food, baby food, beef and most notably peanuts where corporate/privatized inspectors gave the peanut manufacturers an “A-“. Good job, peanut manufacturers.
I truly have no problem with the corporate world or capitalism. However, like a child needs adult supervision, so do our CEOs. They one thing I must say is the number one priority of a corporation is to make a profit and sometimes that profit is at the expense of the American public. And my challenge to American is do we what to be a nation governed by the corporate world, when their sole interest is making profit off consumers? I honestly can’t see that as very smart, because Americans will always be exploited. We see that today with the food industry, the credit industry and tomorrow I’ll tell you about the health insurance industry. Without a government to serve and protect, we can count ourselves pretty much screwed.
We are very fortunate to live in a country where we can elect our public officials, but it is our responsibility to make sure they do what we elected them to do and not take heed and even money from lobbyists to promote their agendas. And that takes me back to my favorite George Bernard Shaw quote,
“Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.”
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