Like a virus that takes over control of a computer, the seemingly benign influence of big business has taken over our system of government. Given the level of behind-the-scenes control these mega-corporations have attained, "Fog" says that the only way to regain our democracy is to "reboot" our system of government and revert back to the intended "operating system" of our founding fathers.

"Fog" and U.S. Political Revolution

As you may know, "Fog" had a long and full life. As a reporter he witnessed more in his life than most people do in several lifetimes. Shortly before his passing he had time to reflect on things. What follows paraphrases some of his thoughts, as told to Ron Whittaker.

No matter how lofty and well reasoned their original intentions, countries and companies seem to eventually fall victim to some kind of "organizational dry rot."

Given today's competitive environment, companies burdened by dry rot that don't institute major reform are soon replaced by companies that can do the job, faster, cheaper and (occasionally) better.

With countries it's a different matter.

They are geared to perpetuate themselves by means of their laws and their militia, and in a sense they have no real competition.

But, after a while even democratic societies with built-in checks and balances cannot survive self-serving efforts that judiciously work within their systems to manipulate things to their own benefit.

In the case of the United States this "benefit" is political control and increased profits for the few.

For some time in the United States the disparity between the "haves" and the "have-nots" has been growing.

Why?

The tax codes, tax credits, and the laws have been fashioned to the ever-increasing benefit of the huge corporations (many of which pay no income taxes) while the tax bourdon has shifted more and more to the blue-collar working class.

How has this happened in a democratic society?

It's a reversal of the golden rule, which now reads: He who has the gold makes the rules.

What we now have in the United States is a government that, although democratic in name, is actually run by big money. This money comes from the corporations that contribute the millions of dollars needed to elect their candidates—candidates, who, in order to get elected and reelected must quietly serve the interests of their "sponsors."

In short, with costs now being projected to more than a billion dollars for a major election, politicians must play the game in order to stay in the game.

We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few. But we can't have both. - Louis Brandeis

Attempts at "reform" are blocked by business interests who don't want to lose control.

Any politician who tries to wrestle control away from the corporate interests finds himself hamstrung by fellow lawmakers with an eye on their own futures. Subsequently the candidates are defeated in the next election. Examples abound.

The majority of the voting public seldom gets beyond super-condensed TV news accounts of the issues. This makes it easy for candidates who have the money to hire savvy campaign managers and pay for expertly designed, empty promise TV commercials that end up putting their candidates in office.

An example of form over substance.

It might be a tolerable situation if what's in the best interest of corporations was also in the best interests of the public. But, corporations are primarily interested in short-term profits—often at the expense of the public's welfare, and even their own long-term business interests.

Given big money's opposition to returning democracy to the people, the only real answer might be—which is a real long shot—is for some type of bloodless political revolution.

And, no, switching from Republican to Democrat or vise-versa, won't do it. Despite rhetoric and campaign promises to the contrary, both parties are in the clutches of big business.

This internal revolution would probably take a charismatic leader with the ability to work outside the system, to crash through the barriers of public apathy, and to steamroll needed reform.

Of course, no matter how much public support they have their agenda would probably be thwarted by the Washington establishment which has a great financial investment in maintaining the status quo.

Plus, we must always keep in mind that this "charismatic leader with the ability to work outside the system" can be dangerous.

This kind of thing has been attempted in many countries with unfortunate consequences when the "knight in shinning armor" became corrupt, was corrupted, or just proved to be crazy.

We only need to remember that Adolf Hitler, who had wide support, was seen as the savior of Germany.

This is treacherous territory; but, then again, nothing that's this far-reaching and consequential would come easily.

Do I have any magic answer?

Outside of a calamity of some sort in this country, which would necessitate a total "re-boot" of our democracy, no.

May be you have some ideas.

I hope somebody does.

Thanks to this country's opportunities, I've enjoyed a pretty full life.

It would be nice if all that I've enjoyed would continue to be available to the young people just starting out.

I worry about that.

-Frederick "Fog" Horne

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