The American dream consists of the opportunity to become something of substance, based on one’s merit, drive, determination, persistence, and desire. It is hard to picture anything that fits the epitome of the American dream, more than those that are able to through their strong efforts and good planning, become self-sufficient and successful, without having had to cheat or to deceive their fellow citizens or government. In other words, they have played by the rules, fair and square, and have accomplished meaningful things, which have been of benefit both for them, as well as for others.
Yet, hard-working individuals as well as many of its smaller enterprises, within America, seem to be treated as the “red-headed stepchild”; with no one of real power bothering to champion their cause. Rather, the preference for the government, at the highest levels, is clearly one in which the tax benefits, the zoning laws, wages, union activity, access to credit, and overall favoritism is specifically directed to the biggest and most profitable corporations, above all. Clearly, that isn’t fair, but the reality is that firstly, many of those that work in government, are conflicted, at best; and some are outright corrupt. That type of construct, thereby, is very beneficial for big corporations and ripe for exploitation, for these mega-corporations often have a lot of money, or if not, good access to such; along with their propensity to make grandiose promises about increased employment positions if they get this or that from the government. Secondly, we find far too often, that when it comes to governmental employees, at some of the highest levels, that truly the “fox is guarding the henhouse;” for large corporations, know that there isn’t much that could conceivably be more effective, then having one of theirs, leave private enterprise, only to put on their governmental rules and regulations hat, or procurement hat, which pretty much “games” the system for their benefit.
So too, politicians have a limited amount of time available to deal with their constituents, so that it therefore makes logical sense that those politicians have a much stronger desire to deal with the biggest of the biggest players because the quid pro quo, that invariably occurs, in these types of negotiations, is often going to work out a lot better for those governmental representatives as well as those corporations; as opposed to ignoring the biggest and most powerful players around and instead prioritizing “mom and pop” enterprises. Additionally, it’s a lot easier for the government and its representatives to have a limited number of focal points that need to be addressed, rather than all sorts of small enterprises, each having their own particular agenda, that needs attending to. Therefore, for the government, it not only believes that bigger is better; but they also make sure that their policies reflect that belief, in all relevant aspects with those big businesses.
So then, in short, it’s not a fair fight. The big guy has every single advantage in their favor; from the laws set to satisfy their needs, as well as procurement contracts so written in a manner that these contracts can only be won by a particular favored big business, to tax write-offs, including both income as well as property tax abatement, to all sorts of leverage and influence upon governmental officials and legislature, so that clearly then, big business and government, go hand-in-glove. This then is the primary reason why the wealth of the nation gets ever more unequal, because the general public has a government, that plays favorites, thereby advantaging the elites at the expense of that general public.