I’m an unabashed liberal (with just a few conservative dapples for character). I think you should vote for a bunch of Democrats later today, the most liberal ones you can find. I say that just in case my endorsement was the missing factor in anyone’s choice of political stance this election cycle. Beyond that, I have few delusions that even the best and most detailed case for the Democratic agenda made on a blog named for an imaginary gerbil torture game is going to change any minds. But for whatever it’s worth, I want to offer one small piece of advocacy for the political philosophy I think is the right one.
Government regulation of corporations is not a bad thing. We can acknowledge the value of an industry and its right to be profitable without accepting its pursuit of ever increasing profits at all costs. It is not anti-capitalist to recognize that corporations as fictive citizens are basically sociopaths, with little to no capacity to behave morally without powerful extrinsic incentives that the free market often fails to provide. There is nothing wrong with the government wielding its power to create those incentives. Remember, the government is just us. It is both our right and our responsibility to use our collective power to create a fair and just society. Please consider supporting candidates who recognize that the corporate good is not always the public good, and their duty is to the latter.
