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Etats-Unis -
Dixit John Kenneth Galbraith : "Les
grandes entreprises conduisent la politique étrangère
américaine..." - John Kenneth
Galbraith : " Corporate power is the driving force behind US
foreign policy"...
A
cloud over civilisation
Corporate power is the driving force behind US foreign policy - and the
slaughter in Iraq
JK Galbraith, The Guardian 15/07/04
"...In 2003, close to half the total US government discretionary
expenditure was used for military purposes. A large part was for weapons
procurement or development. Nuclear-powered submarines run to billions of
dollars, individual planes to tens of millions each.
Such expenditure is not the result of detached analysis. From the relevant
industrial firms come proposed designs for new weapons, and to them are
awarded production and profit. In an impressive flow of influence and
command, the weapons industry accords valued employment, management pay
and profit in its political constituency, and indirectly it is a treasured
source of political funds. The gratitude and the promise of political help
go to Washington and to the defence budget. And to foreign policy or, as
in Vietnam and Iraq, to war. That the private sector moves to a dominant
public-sector role is apparent.
None will doubt that the modern corporation is a dominant force in the
present-day economy. Once in the US there were capitalists. Steel by
Carnegie, oil by Rockefeller, tobacco by Duke, railroads variously and
often incompetently controlled by the moneyed few. In its market position
and political influence, modern corporate management, unlike the
capitalist, has public acceptance. A dominant role in the military
establishment, in public finance and the environment is assumed. Other
public authority is also taken for granted. Adverse social flaws and their
effect do, however, require attention.
One, as just observed, is the way the corporate power has shaped the
public purpose to its own needs. It ordains that social success is more
automobiles, more television sets, a greater volume of all other consumer
goods - and more lethal weaponry. Negative social effects - pollution,
destruction of the landscape, the unprotected health of the citizenry, the
threat of military action and death - do not count as such.
The corporate
appropriation of public initiative and authority is unpleasantly visible
in its effect on the environment, and dangerous as regards military and
foreign policy. Wars are a major threat to civilised existence, and a
corporate commitment to weapons procurement and use nurtures this threat.
It accords legitimacy, and even heroic virtue, to devastation and death.
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Power in the modern great corporation belongs to the management. The board
of directors is an amiable entity, meeting with self-approval but fully
subordinate to the real power of the managers. The relationship resembles
that of an honorary degree recipient to a member of a university faculty.
The myths of investor authority, the ritual meetings of directors and the
annual stockholder meeting persist, but no mentally viable observer of the
modern corporation can escape the reality. Corporate power lies with
management - a bureaucracy in control of its task and its compensation.
Rewards can verge on larceny. On frequent recent occasions, it has been
referred to as the corporate scandal.
As the corporate interest moves to power in what was the public sector, it
serves the corporate interest. It is most clearly evident in the largest
such movement, that of nominally private firms into the defence
establishment. From this comes a primary influence on the military budget,
on foreign policy, military commitment and, ultimately, military action.
War. Although this is a normal and expected use of money and its power,
the full effect is disguised by almost all conventional expression.
Given its authority in the modern corporation it was natural that
management would extend its role to politics and to government. Once there
was the public reach of capitalism; now it is that of corporate
management. In the US, corporate managers are in close alliance with the
president, the vice-president and the secretary of defence. Major
corporate figures are also in senior positions elsewhere in the federal
government; one came from the bankrupt and thieving Enron to preside over
the army.
Defence and weapons development are motivating forces in foreign policy.
For some years, there has also been recognised corporate control of the
Treasury. And of environmental policy..."
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