The Corporatization of America: Part 1

Yes, I’ve coined a new word, Corporatization. You read it the title of this missive. What do I mean by this word? What I mean by this is that if you keep your eyes open, you will see that our lives in America are dominated by corporate influence.

This will be a teaser article to just open your eyes to the way your lives are being shaped and molded influences that you either don’t pay attention to or are not aware of. Hopefully, I will be able to add to the specific example highlighted in this installment, by bringing to light other examples in future posts.

I give Ronald Reagan much of the credit for this change in influence. When Ronald Reagan campaigned for office he used this catchy campaign phrase to persuade voters he was their man, “Government isn’t the solution to our nations’ problems, it is the problem.”

Now, that’s an ironic statement coming from the man who hoped to lead that government.

Anyway, voters were persuaded and the Reagan revolution was started. “Big” government was demonized and checks and balances in place for many years were systematically dismantled. Deregulation, good or bad, was a part of the paradigm shift.

Corporate Influence Case #1
Drug Companies Profit Up -- FDA Influence Down
During the ‘90s, the FDA was a strong advocate for the consumer, but as lobbying forces were applied and an administration came into power that was more inclined to please corporate forces than protect the consumer, the FDA has rolled on to it’s back in submission.

From 1998 to 2004, drug companies nearly doubled their spending on lobbying efforts, going from $79 million to $158 million. Now, our representatives may say that all these efforts and money may grant some people access, but it doesn’t equal influence. Now, you can decide for yourself if a individual voter in Peoria has the same clout as a multi-billion dollar drug company contributing generously to a campaign coffer.

Here’s something to mill over. The drug companies used this “influence” to speed up the process by which drugs are approved by the FDA because the faster a drug came to market, the more money a company can make. What about that pesky fact that some drugs really need more testing? Who cares? There's money at stake here, not lives.

Take the case of Redux (a drug to help people lose weight). It was rushed through the approval process and then was pulled from the market because of the fact that it caused heart damage. This is just one in a long line of drugs brought to market without proper and safe review.

Drug companies also were a dominate force behind the bill to provide senior citizens prescription drug benefits. Now, what could be bad with seniors getting help with their purchases of medicine?

Well, along with the benefit, the drug companies also knuckeled the government under to approve the fact that the government could NOT negotiate prices of the drugs. Now, why is that Canadians pay less for the same drugs we get in here in America and why can’t our representatives see that they just sold the consumer up river? Because drug companies used their influence to rig the deal in their favor.

Drug companies also make exaggerated claims about the cost of developing a new drug.

Here’s one ploy: Drug companies claim that the cost of developing a new drug is $800 million. Well, half of this claim is based on the fact that they take the cost of development and state that if they had invested the money instead they would have seen X amount of profit. Then they take this estimated profit and add it to the exaggerated total of development.

That would be sort of like any homeowner claiming that if he he/she had invested all their mortgage payments in the market instead of paying off their house (and instead lived in a card board box), they could be rich!

Drug companies also fail to disclose the fact that that in many cases, their “brand” new drug is really just a slight derivative of an existing drug from which they have already reaped a generous profit.

Marketing is where all the money is being spent. Along with increasing their influence on our legislators, drug companies are also working on us, the consumer and our doctors. Who can watch the evening broadcast news without seeing at least a half dozen adds for these new drugs? Drug sales reps are in a conga-like stream in and out of doctor’s offices offering “educational” trips to Aspen or to the islands to “teach” doctors about the wonders of their new drugs.

This is a just a tease to the amount of influence that corporations are exerting over our culture and lives. It’s time to step back and open our collective eyes.

Corporations are in the business of making a profit. There’s nothing wrong with that. Profit is good. But when profit without the restraints of ethics and considering what is best for the whole of American is standard operating procedure, then you start to see an imbalance. Just take a look at how oil companies are gouging consumers with high gasoline prices while the companies themselves are showing record profits while taking cover under the excuse that OPEC has raised the price of crude. (See my earlier blog post for more on this.)
These profits are well and good for oil companies and their stockholders, but they are clearly having an effect on the economy as a whole, causing a drag on consumer spending as retail prices are affected.

And the drug companies are a part of this drag. U.S. Health care premiums for us, the consumer, have increased 11% since 2001. I can tell you that I know wages haven't seen that sort of increase. This cost increase creates not a only a burden on the consumer, but on companies who provide benefits like health care. Since 2001, there are 5 million fewer jobs that have health care provided benefits. This is largely due to increases in drug costs. Consumers have also seen a 15% increase in the cost of perscriptions since 1995.

All this while drug companies are generating fabulous profits. Again, profit isn't a bad thing, but when it comes at the expense of the whole, you have to start having second thoughts about who the corporation has in mind. It's certainly not you or me.

In closing, what I don’t get from the American voter is that they fail to perceive that government, not “Big” government, is the best line of defense against the negative influence of corporate greed and influence gone astray. While I can’t and won’t support a government that flagrantly wastes tax payers money on pork barrel spending or throws bad money after good in hopeless causes, I think that government has job to protect us from corporate influence that sees on only profit and not the good of the whole.

Stay tuned -- More to come.

Sources:
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/20001220/02/printerfriendly

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=22683