Many people wonder how Abraham Lincoln, our country's 16th president, could have anything to do with State Question 777, The Right to Harm. After all, he was President of the U.S. from 1861 to April of 1865, so what would he know about SQ 777 in 2016 Oklahoma?
On November 21, 1864, Lincoln penned a letter to Col. William F. Elkins, a close confidante and friend his during the Civil War. What follows is an excerpt from that letter:
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country... corporations (emphasis mine) have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." (The Lincoln Encyclopedia: The Spoken and Written Words of A. Lincoln, Archer H. Shaw (NY, NY: Macmillan, 1950).
I believe Lincoln foresaw the rise of fascism in Italy during the 1930's. Fascism is a political philosophy in which corporations and a dictator share equally in governing a country. Benito Mussolini was the dictator in Italy at that time who "invented" fascism. As a matter of fact, Mussolini said that "fascism" should have been called "corporatism". Mussolini, however, didn't last through World War II, so his style of government didn't last either. Even before Mussolini in Italy, corporate interests began consolidating authority over the government in the U.S. In the late 1920's, corporate farming (called suitcase farmers by Oklahomans) moved into the 4-corners area of Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico, because of "generous government subsidies" - in order to plant and harvest wheat (on the governments dime). What followed was the greatest "corporate made" disaster the world has ever known - The Dust Bowl.
In 1973, an organization was created in the United States which called itself the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC was started by some enterprising corporate entities as a way to gain influence over state legislators from all 50 states. It was billed to members as an organization which matches corporations with state lawmakers, so that as "equal members" they can rewrite state laws which will benefit the bottom line of corporate entities (and even lawmakers). Since 1973, many state bills have been passed by state governments in order to do just that. ALEC was the "Big Club" that George Carlin ranted against in his profanity laced tirade in 2005. Many state laws favoring ALEC have been passed nationwide during the last 40 years. All of these laws and constitutional amendments which favor corporate entities bottom lines have originated at some point in ALEC - such as Oklahoma's State Question 777, which would add a constitutional amendment named, by ALEC, the right to farm. Does anyone else see a red flag here?
The "right to farm", a constitutional amendment, is being presented as a state question for Oklahoma voters to decide. This "bill" was actually presented to state lawmakers in 1996 by ALEC, but was rewritten in 2013 as a state constitutional amendment. It has appeared since then as a state question for states to consider, which is where it is today in Oklahoma.
There are several other state questions which have originated in ALEC, for us to consider next week - including SQ 790 (dubbed "the right to pray" by supporters), and SQ 792, the modernization of Oklahoma alcohol laws, which is really about the right of corporate retailers to consolidate liquor sales.
Please consider these facts when voting next week on all state questions, and even the House and Senate candidates running for election. Always remember, if there is a bill or state constitutional amendment appearing on the ballot, there must be a state lawmaker who put it there (except for ballot initiatives requiring a petition), and should you want to consider the above information when voting, please do.
No comments:
Post a Comment