History of Political Philosophies - 2016

   I think it's timely that I share my opinion on political philosophies, since it's the day after - the day after the November 8 elections. My opinion will be based on the standard definitions of political philosophies as applied to some misunderstandings of Tuesday's elections. Bear in mind,that these definitive philosophies are only one definition and anyone reading this blog may have an altogether different view. First of all, my definition of terms, according to Wikipedia, Webster, Brittanica, et al:

Conservatism - A political and social philosophy which promotes retaining traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization such as our public education system and our family farms.

Corporatism - A political and social philosophy which promotes a partnership between corporations and government in ruling a country. Sometimes called corporate fascism by conservative groups.

Neo-liberalism - A political and social philosophy which promotes government spending on corporations, as opposed to people. Sometimes called corporate welfare by traditional conservatives.

   These political philosophies played out on November 8 in an interesting and dynamic way. Many voters who considered themselves conservative, found out they were actually corporatists, as they voted for corporate interests on the State Questions. For example, many who voted YES on SQ 792 are in favor of corporate interests sharing authority with our government. SQ 792, which had over $ one million paid to the YES campaign by corporate entities, passed by an overwhelming majority. The only benefits of SQ 792 (the bill which allows corporations to sell liquor, as well as everything else in life) is to advance share-holder and company profits. The bill allows corporations access to liquor markets, which will ultimately destroy small business owners. Many traditional conservatives tried to point this fact out to their fellow voters, but it fell on deaf ears. Many voters actually self-identify as conservative, but are in reality, corporatists.

   Another example of corporatism disguised as conservatism was displayed by SQ 777. The bill actually was written by corporatists for corporations. Corporations working shoulder to shoulder with state lawmakers wrote the bill in 1996 at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The corporate factory farms involved were Seaboard, Smithfield, Tyson, et al - while the state legislators involved shall remain anonymous. Anyone who should want to know names, however, can see them in a publication called ALEC Exposed. George Carlin ranted about corporatism in his 2005 routine, The American Dream, and Abraham Lincoln expressed his fear of corporatism in a letter to one of his civil war generals.