Should the 1% Run America?

Economic inequality has been growing since 1980,and continues to grow. Inequality in wealth creates inequality in power.
“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Warren Buffett in 2006.
What have been the power consequences of this inequality?

Question 1) Who Owns the Media? Six massive corporations dominate the U.S. TV media landscape: Time Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., CBS Corporation and NBC Universal.  Together, they dominate news and entertainment.  Then there’s Clear Channel which now owns over 1000 radio stations across the United States.  Companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft increasingly dominate the Internet.  These companies have concentrated their control over what we see, hear and read.  Unless we are skeptical, they shape our thinking.  New dangers loom: the proposed merger of Time-Warner and Comcast, and powerful threats to Internet neutrality.

During national election campaigns, these companies can easily dismiss, laugh off, or ignore any candidate who genuinely challenges their power or the power of their advertisers.   By the time you and I enter the voting booth, we are choosing between two candidates who are acceptable to the multinational corporations. read more