Since time immemorial, politics has always been intertwined with business. The two entities seem to be inseparable by any means. This may allude to the fact that most business entities usually try to gain favor from the political class, with the aim of establishing a good rapport with them. In the books, “The Struggle for Democracy," and “Democracy for the Few," the authors try to bring the correlation that exists between business entities and the political class. Indeed, most corporations have been able to have a significant sway in politics due to their actions of funding the campaign trails of the politicians. Many large companies usually spend billions of dollars in financing political outfits during the electioneering period, with an aim that when their preferred candidate gets into office, they shall gain political as well as business favors that will ultimately lead to the thriving of their enterprises. The United States of America, for instance, is among the nations in the world where business moguls have a significant foothold in matters politics simply by the critical role that they play in determining the political landscape of the country. This paper examines keenly the role that has been played by business magnates in shaping the political climate of the United States as well as some of the people who have been in the forefront to ensure that they use their resources to the maximum to make sure that their preferred candidates get into office.
One of the key people that have managed to have a way with a vast majority of the political class are the Koch brothers. Indeed, the secret activities of the influential individuals who control a huge chunk of the economy have seen them mingle with the high and mighty in the political class. The reason, it is because of their funding to the political outfits. The Koch brothers are by far, one of the groups that have unlimited resources that they have not failed to use to have what they desire. They have made big fortunes in the sectors of manufacturing and oil refining since the days of their father. They have been rumored to be the ones behind the funding of political outfits such as Freedom Works, the Tea Party and Americans for Prosperity. The Koch brothers are known to attend events where they usually donate significant sums of money, mostly amounts that run into millions of dollars, much to the amusement of those in attendance. The Koch brothers have emerged to be one of the greatest philanthropists in the United States. For instance, the gave out $100 million in 2008 to modernize Lincoln’s Centre’s New York State Theatre Building that presently bears their name. They have also given substantial amounts to the American Museum of Natural History and pledged as much as $10 million dollars for its refurbishment. They have been labeled as one of the trustees of the museum, which perhaps explains why they have become so attached to it.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The Koch family has been known to ruffle the feathers of some of the people in authority, especially during the Obama Administration. They were known to have a secretly funded operation against the Obama Administration, perhaps due to their conflicting ideologies. David Koch, together with his brother Charles Koch, are known to be the sole beneficiaries of the Koch Industries that generates an estimated hundred billion dollars in annual revenue. Since they took charge after the demise of their father in 1967, the Koch industries have grown in leaps and bounds to achieve more than average success. The Koch Industries have their headquarters in Wichita, Kansas. Some of their subsidiaries are Dixie Cups, Georgia-Pacific Lumber, Brawny Paper Towels, Lycra, and Stainmaster Carpet among many other entities. The Koch Industries has been regarded as one of the most profitable industries in the United States and has consistently been labeled as the second largest business entity in the U.S., after Cargill. The only people whose fortunes surpass those of the Koch Brothers are those of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.
Due to their broad industrial outreach, the Koch Industries has been named to be the greatest air polluters in America. This has made the two brothers to launch various campaigns all aimed at opposing those allied to climate change ideologies. Indeed, they have given large amounts of funds to organizations that fight climate change; more than the resources provided by Exon Mobil. Their foothold in the American political arena has seen them utilize their resources to counteract some of the major policies that were launched by the administration of Barack Obama. Some of the policies that they opposed vehemently include the health care programs that were initiated byPresident Obama, also not forgetting the Economic Stimulus Program. A term has even been coined to explain their ideologies, “Kochtopus." However, David Koch has gone ahead to deny claims that their family is behind the funding of political groups. Some of them are the Tea Party and Americans for Prosperity. He has been quoted severally by the New York Times saying that the media continually exaggerated the influence that his family has over the American Politics.
To prove that he was not among the people who fund the Tea Party, he showed a wide berth for one of the Summits that was organized by the Tea Party. The event was regarded as one of the training sessions of activists belonging to the Tea Party. Additionally, the administration of the former United States president indicated its disdain for the political outfit because it regarded it to be sponsoring activities that were not in congruence with those that the government wanted. Indeed, the federal administration considered it as one of the organizations that had its operations parallel with those of that were espoused by the government. However, the Koch Industries has vehemently denied its association with any of the activities related to the Tea Party and has said that they have never, at any one point, provided funding for outfits such as the Tea Party or Americans for Prosperity. The Kochs have benefitted greatly by keeping their activities as discreet as possible. A majority of the public does not know how exactly they go about their operations. However, with the passage of time, the brothers may find it difficult to hide their activities from the rest of the American public due to the widespread popularity of the Tea Party and its affiliates. The banning of direct spending by corporates on political campaigns have forced many organizations to hide behind small groups so as to hide their real intentions and their activities. One of such groups that a majority of corporations that fund political campaigns use to mask their business is the Americans for Prosperity (Mayer, 2010) .
Indeed, the correlation between the American Corporate entities and the political system cannot be overlooked or underestimated. The Corporate system in America has a significant influence in the political arena that continuously affects the society, both socially and politically. Most of the wealthy people in the community draw their income from things such as mineral royalties, rents, bonds, stocks and other types of property revenues. These people are usually referred to as the owning class members of the society because they own most of the primary income generating ventures that litter the community. On the other hand, members of the society who live off wages and salaries tend to depend on those who own the major corporations since it from their entities that they draw their salaries. Most people who work for others tend to live average lives, not being able to afford the luxuries that are aways enjoyed by business owners. Most employees get trapped in leading ordinary lives due to the meager salaries that they get from their employers. Indeed, the wages of workers represent only a portion of the wealth that they have created for those who they work for. Those who work for other people spend an average of 6 hours working for their bosses but only 2 hours working for themselves.
Many experts have brushed off corporations as being in existence for the benefit of the employees. They have assured the public time and time again that most companies first objective is for them to amass wealth in significant proportions but only remit a small fraction of what they get to their employees. The workers end up being given a raw deal in that they spend copious amounts of time working for the large organizations yet they are paid only a small fraction of their labor. The economic experts have rubbished claims that the corporations are producers, saying that they produce nothing in particular. Greed indeed drives many businesses in their pursuit of maximum profits. The main reason for the existence of the companies is to make as much profit as possible and not to provide public services as may be alluded by some people. A company which does not grow while their competitors are on the expansion trial will surely perish and be run out of business in the shortest time possible. By the principles enshrined by capitalism, corporations must expand so that they survive and prevent them for extinction. This can perhaps explain why the biggest business enterprises make policies that will enable them to enter into newer markets so that they can make the most profits. So even the largest companies do not stop their desire to grow and consolidate and expand because by not doing so they will be pushed out of business by their competitors.
Dr. Parenti advances several theories and ideologies in his book, “Democracy for the Few." He tries to bring into light some of the relationships that exist between the corporations and the political system. Welfare for the rich is just viewing how corporates influence major policy decisions and how the rich people try as much as possible to amass wealth to great properties for themselves at the expense of others. In his concept of welfare for the wealthy, Dr. Parenti argues that even the rich people in the society still benefit from some of the things that are provided by the government. Such benefits include those relating to real property, yacht ownership, mortgages that are payable to big homes, the estate tax among others. Some experts say that there is no reason for the government to continue giving massive amounts of money in the form of subsidies to large corporations. They regard it as a wasteful activity that robs the government of the much-needed revenue that other sectors of the society can benefit from (Parenti, 2011) .
Another term that he explained was federal bailouts. Indeed, the government comes in handy to most large corporations whenever they are faced with financial crises. This prevents them from closing shop and going out of business entirely. This is very helpful since it prevents the loss of jobs to many people who depend on the organizations for their well-being. Some rich people are also assisted in times of crises, especially when it comes to avoiding tax or paying little tax. This comes into light since most corporations that make huge profits provide the correct information regarding the revenue that they have earned. Many of them usually tend to provide false information so that they do not pay the right amount of taxes. From the above revelations, it can be deduced that large organizations play a significant role in the political field, as can be evidenced by their massive donations to political parties during the election period. Greenberg and Page agree that the “big” people in the society have a significant foothold in the decision making of politicians since they can control politicians using their money. The two of them do not see the influence of business entities on politicians reducing any time soon. Though corporate interests have cut across all regimes in the United States of America, some sitting heads of state have managed to have control of the exploit of corporates in government. One of such administrations was the one led byGeorge Bush. He was able to limit the influence that the corporations had on the political system. Indeed, though corporates and the government need each other, there should be some degree of control that prohibits them from crossing their limits.
References
Mayer, J. (2010). Covert Operations. The New Yorker , 147-183.
Parenti, M. (2011). Democracy for the Few. Wadsworth Cengage Learning , 237-276.
