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Who do we try to rescue today?
Canada under corporate rule
Finn, Ed Publisher: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Ottawa, Canada
Year Published: 2000
Pages: 182pp ISBN: 0-88627-217-3
Library of Congress Number: HD2809.F55 2000 Dewey: 322'.3'0971
Resource Type: Book
A collection of essays discussing aspects of the role of corporations in late-20th-century Canada.
Abstract: A collection of essays published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that discuss aspects of the role of corporations in late-20th-century Canada. According to Finn, corporate power plays a dominant role in Canadian society and is stifling democracy. Since only an "informed, dedicated, militant, and mobilized populace" could challenge the existing socioeconomic order, Finn collected essays intending "first to inform, second to infuriate, third to encourage, and fourth to galvanize" his readers. He hopes to inspire a popular uprising against Canada's corporate rulers.
Corporations placed themselves in their current position of societal power by buying control of the media and coercing political parties. This granted them total legal freedom while simultaneously allowing them to keep the public uninformed about efforts to privatize as much of the public sector as possible. The media is an indispensible part of the maintenance of corporate rule as it allows corporations to preserve the "illusion of democracy" and "[convince] the masses to acquiesce in their own subjection." These media efforts have largely been successful, as a number of corporate-sponsored myths have apparently become part of the public consciousness. Among these falsehoods are the conviction that government spending cutbacks are good for society and the idea that the Canadian government is a democracy as opposed to a plutocracy.
Corporate actions have caused widespread poverty in developing and developed countries alike. Though social action groups may try to "rescue" victims of "the free market," Finn holds that as long as governments remain corporate "servants," real change will be nearly impossible to attain. However, he writes with the hope that informing Canadians about their true economic and political situation might encourage them to take steps against their "corporate overlords."
[Abstract by Oliver Mao]
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