Monday, May 05, 2014

Cinco De Mayo: Greed and Beer

By Douglas V. Gibbs

I have no problem with a company wanting to make money.  It is the American way.  Profit can be a good thing.  People start businesses for the purpose of making money, and living a better life.  Small businesses sometimes grow into huge corporations, and that is fine.  They began as entrepreneurial dreams of lone business owners that took a chance, rode the risk, and made it successfully in the business world.  Corporatism, however, where the business goes into realms beyond the business world, working to integrate into the political system, using their financial strength to alter government to their benefit, to achieve a favored status with politicians, or to engineer society, can be detrimental, create societal ills, and enable the rise of corruption and fraud that infests the political realm.

Mercantilism does exist.  Politicians and corporate types both have no problem with engaging in crony capitalism, which mixes the political lust for power with the corporate desire for influencing government so that they may continue to dominate whatever market they are a part of.

Wishing to succeed, and taking action to improve one's company so that it becomes more profitable is not greed, but when these corporations cross over into the realm buying politicians, or manipulating a segment of society culturally to increase the wealth and power of the corporation, they become no different than the merchants playing a similar game with the British Crown, which was a large part of what led the American Colonists to revolution.

Sometimes, we don't seem to be able to find the line.  Occupy Wall Street folks screamed about corporate greed, while punching on their smart phones.  Politicians rage against private money in the political system accept large corporate donations for their campaign.  Democrats rail against big corporations and bankers as they use stimulus money to bail out failing corporations and banks.

One of the biggest hypocrisies of all is when the Latino community, a group that is largely supportive of Democrat Party policies, and scream their anti-corporation rants, has no problem celebrating the fake holiday of Cinco De Mayo.

Mexican Holiday?  How about American Beer Company Holiday, using the Mexicans as tools?

Cinco De Mayo is not a holiday in Mexico. The Mexican population south of the border does not get the day off down there, nor do they celebrate the make-believe Mexican holiday. Cinco De Mayo is a purely American celebration, a celebration of a small battle between France and Mexico created by Corona Beer in the hopes of making a little more money.

That's right, all you "Nation of Aztlan" supporters, and anti-corporate types, Cinco De Mayo exists because of a bunch of Capitalists getting the big idea that if they gave you a day to celebrate, you'd buy more of their "Mexican" beer on that day, and they'd make a boat-load of money off of you.

Talk about sheep.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Buena Pregunta: What Is Cinco de Mayo? - WCCO CBS News

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