Vital Businesses Need Nationalization
by Ted Rall | June 27, 2008 - 9:27am

SAN ANTONIO--The gas station attendant came outside. Wow, I thought, full serve! Ignoring me, she flung a magnetic price decal on top of the price per gallon. Regular unleaded had gone up 20 cents in the time it took me to drive from the curb to the pump.

"You're kidding me," I moaned.

"It's 3 o'clock," she shrugged. "Just got the new price."

There has to be a better way, I thought.

And there is.

It isn't drilling in the Alaskan wilderness. It sure isn't John McCain's plan to offer $300 million to the first person to come up with a longer-lasting car battery

Gas prices could hit $7 a gallon before long, Wall Street analysts say, but Americans--always optimists!--take a little comfort in the fact that Europeans have paid more than that for years. But a lot of foreigners are laughing at us even harder than we're laughing at the Euros.

Did you know that Venezuelans pay a mere 19 cents per gallon? It's 38 cents in Nigeria. Turkmenistanis might not have electoral democracy, but they only shell out $4.50 to fill a 15-gallon tank. Before we replaced Saddam Hussein with...with whatever they have in Iraq now, Iraqis paid less than a dime for a gallon of gas.

One of the things that these countries have in common, of course, is that they're oil-producing states. Countries that export oil and gas have trouble explaining to their citizens why they should pay for their own natural resources--and most are smart enough not to try. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Burma, Malaysia, Kuwait, China and South Korea are just a few of the countries that keep fuel prices low in order to stimulate economic growth.

But they also share something else: common sense. Strange it might sound to Americans used to reading about big oil windfalls, they consider cheap gas more of an economic necessity than lining the pockets of energy company CEOs. So they don't consider energy a profit center. To the contrary; government subsidies (Venezuela spends $2 billion a year on fuel subsidies) and nationalized oil companies keep gas prices low.

Unlike corporations, governments don't care about turning a profit. They care about remaining in power. Their reliance on political support (or, if you're cynical, pandering) allows them to do things our much-vaunted free market system can't, such as make sure that people can afford to eat and buy enough gas to get to work.

Like the rest of the world, Venezuelan consumers have been squeezed by rising prices, and even shortages, of groceries. In 2007 Venezuela's socialist-leaning government decided to do something about it. First they imposed price controls on staple items. When suppliers began to hoard supplies to drive up prices, President Hugo Chavez threatened to nationalize them. "If they remain committed to violating the interests of the people, the constitution, the laws, I'm going to take the food storage units, corner stores, supermarkets and nationalize them," he said. Food profiteers grumbled. Then they straightened up.

Not even international corporations are immune from Chavez's determination to put the needs of ordinary Venezuelans ahead of the for-profit food industry. Faced with severe shortages of milk earlier this year, Chavez threatened Nestle and Parmalat's Venezuelan operations with nationalization unless they opened the spigot. "This government needs to tighten the screws," he said in February 2008, promising to "intervene and nationalize the plants" belonging to the two transnational corporations.

Miraculously, milk is turning up on the shelves.

When it works, nothing is better at creating an endless variety of reality TV shows than free market capitalism. But when it doesn't, it isn't just that extra brand of clear dishwashing liquid that goes away. Businesses fold. Banks foreclose. People starve. And no one can stop it.

The G8 nations met in Osaka last week to try to address soaring food and energy prices--a double threat that could plunge the global economy into a ruinous depression. But the summit ended in failure. "Any hope that the G8 meeting would result in coordinated monetary action--or concerted intervention in foreign exchange markets--to counter rises, principally in commodity prices, was dispelled by their failure to agree on the phenomenon's underlying causes," reported Forbes.

So the G8 ministers punted. "Due to the lack of consensus, they have stated the need for further study," wrote the magazine.

The problem isn't the weak dollar or the non-existent housing market. It's capitalism. A sane government doesn't leave essential goods and services--food, fuel, housing, healthcare, transportation, education--to the vicissitudes of "magic" markets. Non-discretionary economic sectors should be strictly controlled by--indeed, owned by--the government.

Consider, on the one hand, snail mail and public education. The Postal Service and public schools both have their flaws. But what if they were privatized? It would cost a lot more than 42 cents to mail a letter from Tampa to Maui. And poor children wouldn't get an education.

Privatization, particularly of essential services, has always proven disastrous. From California's Enron-driven rotating blackouts to for-profit healthcare that has left 47 million Americans uninsured to predatory lenders pimping the housing bubble to Blackwater's atrocities in Iraq, market-based corporations' fiduciary obligation to maximize profits that is inherently incompatible with a stable economy whose goal is to provide people with a decent quality of life.

P.S. If you're reading this in Caracas, please mail me some gas.
_______



About author
Ted Rall is the author of the new book "Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?," an in-depth prose and graphic novel analysis of America's next big foreign policy challenge.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/15520

Kill the Nazis.


consumerism and money has been Americas main religion since the 1950s and it continues to BOOM.

Sell your soul and see whatcha can get for it. Ooops, we already did that. We in America think our morals have nothing to do with our prosperity......and why we're losing it.

Why don't we just completely sell our souls and get a 10 dollar gas card with every abortion. Or just put innocent blood directly in our tanks.

Actually what Americans are forgetting is that the government isn't, and shouldn't be responsible for your happiness from your cradel to your grave. We like to start programs that hold everyone's hand, and we are now focusing more on equality than freedom.

Sorry to get off track, now to get back on track again. You do realize that when the value of the American dollar goes down the price of gas goes up right? Not so much the war in Iraq (although the conflict has probably pushed a few countries to raise the price in anticipation), it's more our outsourcing that is hurting us than anything. Businesses are pretty much being paid to outsource. Why, you ask...? I don't have an answer for you, only theories.

The problem we have here is too many people blaming every single problem on Bush, and Iraq. I wish it were that simple. If that was the case we should be sitting pretty very soon. But no one wants to address the real problems (I.E. illegal immigration, excessive outsourcing, dependibility on foreign trade, government is too big, etc.)

O think governments are formed forthe benefit of all if not why do we need them? I have no problem with essential servicesbeing nationalised and food and fuel are essential, the past 8 years have proven that the free market will not correct itself that is why we had the New Deal after the great depression

Interesting article. I think it's hard though for most Americans to see how corporations are ruining this country. Everyone identifies capitalism with democracy, but the two are opposed to each other.

Our government is handpicked by the corporations, not the people. To see which corporations run the country, all one need do is to look to the sources of the campaign funds. It's money that creates the nominees. That's how both presidential candidates won their primaries, through corporate money.

Who had the biggest corporate donations? The two nominees. So, who are we voting for? The Democrat who is owned by the drug companies or the Republican who is owned by the oil companies.

The word capitalism needs to be made distinct from the word democracy. Will it happen here in the United States? Not as long as American politicians answer to corporations instead of the people.

When the politicians answer to the people again, then we'll have our democracy back.

Our government was not formed for our benefit my friend. It was formed merely to protect our freedom. It protects our right to persue happiness, but we still need to find it ourselves. Programs like "no child left behind" is an example of them overstepping their bounds. And as far as wellfare programs are concerned, it should be rare that anyone spend more than a couple years on it (at most). The problem we have is that everyone thinks we should benefit from our government. Isn't depending on government contradicting to being independent?

No one is realy independent we are all in this together that is why the roads get plowed in the winter. again the Neo con myth that the government isnt meant to help us is finaly unwinding, basicly the government is what we the people decide it should be.

You are right. Instead of nationalizing anything, we first need politicians who have our best interests in mind. Nationalizing anything won't solve a single problem. In fact, it will most likely make corporations more powerful.

My friend, the government is merely supposed to protect our independence, not to hold our hand from cradel to grave. If you dont like the government now why on earth would you want them to control us even more? Government control = BBBAAAAADDDD JUJU. Our country was found for freedom and independence. There are other contries that have more control as you say. They nationalize medicine, food, etc. Instead of people changing our country to cater to them, maybe they should seek happiness elsewhere (this was not directed at you). I believe in the constitution, and sometimes the cost of freedom is more than the blood of patrons, or tyrants. Sometimes freedom may cost you $5 per gallon at a gas pump, or maybe there will be a time of financial struggle where you can barely feed yourself for a little while (i am reflecting on stories my grandparents told me). Sometimes you gotta pay the price, literally. (But yes, things should be done about corporations taking too much control over government. Once again this will never be solved through natiionalization)

That is the high school history version of our government. I think our country is haveing a paradigm shift and I expect things to improve socialy as long as we dont have ww3 or martial law.

When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. - Benjamin Franklin

This is what happens when the people start believing that should transform the government into something that benefits them. Think about this for a while, seriously. There is a difference between "need" and "want".

The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.

-Benjamin Franklin

As long as we have candidates like Obama, or McCain, you wont see much improve. Although, republican libertarians are becoming more popular. Maybe they will finally shrink the government down, and give more power to the states. Maybe they will stop paying companies to outsource. But who knows.

Nationalization would be a geat crsh. Anyone name one gov't program that actually works efficiently?

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" - JFK

I really like this quote. Kinda what people need to be thinking right now. The only thing we should ever feel the need for our country to do, is protect our freedom, and stay out of our business.

makes cents

social security the TVA, post office road dept fire dept police dept, libraries, state collages.shall I continue?

OSHA, EPA, FMLA, Medicare, Food stamps!
I can name many!

One that hasnt worked well of late is the Constitution. Its suppossed to protect us from illegal wars, (which if you'd just admit to yourself is why we have these high oil prices now,) and the Patriot act!

Good thread madman!

thanks Bro

I predict just having Obama elected the price of gas will drop 1 dollar the first year!