Ahhh, America—the land of the free, where the government is bad, but corporations are just good old-fashioned capitalism at work. That’s the fairy tale we’ve all been sold, anyway. You see, for decades, Americans have been conditioned—no, let’s be honest, brainwashed—to believe that “big government” is the root of all evil, while massive, monopolistic corporations swallowing the economy whole are just “the free market” doing its thing.
And who exactly is pushing this narrative? Why, the corporations themselves, of course! With their endless cash reserves, corporate behemoths have done an exquisite job of making government look like an inept, bloated monster while they quietly vacuum up wealth, power, and, most importantly, influence. They own the media that tells you what to think. They track your every move online, mining your data to manipulate your behavior. And thanks to the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United ruling, they can spend limitless amounts of money to sway elections, ensuring that their interests—not yours—are the ones that actually matter.
And what do we, the people, do? Well, we’ve been expertly trained to chant, “Government bad!” while ignoring the fact that the real threat to our freedom isn’t a public library or a national healthcare program—it’s the corporations that own our politicians, rig our economy, and dictate the limits of our so-called “choices.”
Here’s the dirty little secret: Government is the only institution powerful enough to rein in corporate overreach. It’s the only entity with the legal authority, resources, and sheer scale to stand up to the monopolies and oligarchs who are busy turning democracy into a high-priced auction. But when voters have been conditioned to see government itself as the enemy, they inadvertently hand the reins over to the very forces that see them as nothing more than dollar signs.
So, next time you hear someone railing against “big government” while conveniently ignoring “big business,” ask yourself: Who benefits from that belief? Because I guarantee you, it’s not the everyday American. It’s the billionaire in the boardroom, laughing all the way to the bank while you argue about how “the market will regulate itself.” Spoiler alert: It won’t. And unless we snap out of it and start demanding a government that works for us instead of corporate interests, we might as well start referring to America by its new name: The United States of Amazon.