Was Orwell right? Is "Big Brother" taking over? Is it possible for the American government to be taken over by corrupt corporations? I answer with a resounding NO! Why do I answer that way? Simple; because the American government isn't in any danger of being taken over by the corporate elite, it already has been.

The truth is simple to see: the American government is no longer "of the people, by the people, for the people" as the Constitution demands, but is controlled by a few large corporations. Yet the American people don't understand this. And why should they? After all, those entrusted with keeping the American public abreast of what the government is doing in their name are owned by the corporations.

The Mainstream Media, which the vast majority of the American public counts on for their news, is owned by just a few multinational corporations. ABC is owned by Disney, NBC is part of GE, CBS is in the Viacom family, and Fox is in the hands of Rupert Murdock's News Corp. Along with AOL/Time Warner, the Tribune Company, Hearst Corporation, Comcast, and Clear Channel, these few companies control 95% of the nation's news. Is it really so difficult to believe that they would slant the news to be in their best interests? It is no secret that the largest corporate lobbying group is for the Mass Media. So it is very simple to understand that when the gatekeepers of a society, who are entrusted with informing the public of what the government is doing, are bought and paid for by the corporations, then the corporations can tell you who to vote for, what to care about, and what to believe.


With the upcoming Presidential elections this is becoming very obvious to those of us who can see what is right in front of us. Let's first look at the "top tier" candidates: Hillary Clinton, the much maligned former first lady and New York State Senator has been given the stamp of approval (as well as a boat-load of cash) by several major defense contractors, News Corp. Disney, and a multitude of off-shore conglomerates. Barack Obama has garnered contributions from Comcast, Wal-Mart, and several other large corporations. Rudy Giuliani has taken money from defense contractors, insurance conglomerates and, through American lawyers of course, the Saudi Oil Ministry. Mitt Romney is, by and large, financing his own campaign, loaning vast sums of money from his own personal fortune to his coffers. Then there is Dr. Ron Paul, the Texas Congressman who has raised the third most money among the Republican field, though he has no corporate sponsors. All of the money Dr. Paul's campaign has raised is from individual citizens, yet the Mainstream Media has virtually ignored him since the beginning, only mentioning his name in order to jeer him, or distort his record.

What does this mean? Well, from the standpoint of an informed onlooker I have my own opinions, but I was curious, so I decided to investigate just who this Ron Paul is. What I found was really surprising. Dr. Paul is a ten term Congressman from Texas who has never voted to raise taxes, never voted for a congressional pay raise, never voted for to increase spending, never taken a paid congressional junket, never taken money from lobbyists, voted against the War, the Patriot Act, and the Military Commissions Act. This has earned him the Congressional nickname of Dr. No. He believes in restoring the Constitution, strong money, small government, and low taxes. Strangely enough, Congressman Paul believes that the wages of the American people should go into their own pockets instead of to the government, and is of the opinion that the amount of government waste can be dealt with by eliminating agencies that the nation can do without, allowing the people to live as the Founding Fathers had intended. And he is the only candidate who has vowed to bring all of our troops home immediately, instead of leaving them in the desert to die for corporate America's oil war.

Well, that's just wrong! Corporate America can't have government working in the best interests of the people! That's just crazy! If the people had low taxes and sound money they would be able to get out of debt. If that were to happen then the economy might just turn around and allow for more competition in the marketplace, taking money out of the pockets of corporate America. The power of corporate lobbyists would plunge into the gutter, forcing the mega-conglomerates to actually follow the law (imagine that). We can't let that happen, otherwise the people of America might finally understand that the Democracy they thought they lived in had been replaced by the Corporate Oligarchy the elite enjoy today. No. We can't let that happen.

Learn more about this author, R.J. Giuffre.