The lawyer, activist, and Nader advisor Carl Mayer spoke this evening at Traditions Cafe on the topic of "Capitalism and Democracy." The talk was co-sponsored by the Alliance for Democracy and The Social Justice Committee of the Universalist Unitarian Congregation of Olympia. The audience was very receptive to his message, and there were many comments and questions after the talk. The core of the presentation that Mayer delivered was about the ways in which corporate power have perverted and impaired government's ability to function as it was originally designed.

Mayer prefaced his discussion by showing a short video segment from 60 minutes that documented his experience with corporate lobbying as a member of the city council of Princeton, New Jersey. The relationship was simple, Mayer said. "The deal is always the same. Corporations buy projects from elected officials of municipalities through bribes, kickbacks, perquisites and campaign donations." Mayer cast himself as the Ghost of Christmas Future to predict that we will experience a similar nexus of corporate money and government in Washington State.

Then followed a brief history of the corporation, and the gradual process by which the concept became imbued with ever more power, until the present time, when corporations actually have rights (as people do) under current US law. He noted that those who complain about judicial activism usually omit the fact that corporatations were not granted rights under the constitution (even though the framers were aware of them). Corporate rights are a legal construction that is nowhere present in the constitution, yet they give corporations vast power in our present system of government.

Contrary to what many believe, Mayer claims that modern corporations are so dependent on government subsidies and projects that they actually limit the market from operating freely. Ralph Nader uses the term "corporate socialism." The implication seemed to be that if corporations had to exist without subsidies and bailouts, they would have to adopt much different practices.

Mayer's summarized his view as follows: "The 21st century will not be about a class of civilizations -- Islam vs. the West -- rather, it will be a clash between corporate power and the people's need for effective government."

What are the solutions that Mayer suggests?

• Public funding of elections. Based on Mayer's description of the connection between corporate money and governemnt projects, public funded elections would be the best investment that taxpayers could ever make. Mayer described situations where municipalities payed twice the cost of a project to a particular bidder (because of bribes).
• Change the charters of corporations such that they are no longer able to accept money from the government. Make it illegal for corporations to participate in politics, period.
• Revoke personhood from corporations. Deprive corporations from having the same rights as people. This would allow them to be controlled more easily by government.
• Citizen initiatives could be used to achieve these goals.

Mayer's final message was twofold: he said, "Don't fall into the following two traps. First, don't get stuck on 'anti-Bushism'. He's not the real problem. Second, don't get pessimistic. Maintian a civil debate, especially with other progressives." Mayer noted the perennial tension between Democrats and thrid-parties in American politics. He encouraged everyone to work together, because progressives (green or blue) share many of the same goals.

There was one book that Mayer especially recommended:

American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips.

Watch in April for the broadcast of Mayer's talk on TCTV (ch.22) during the Alliance for Democracy timeslot (Fridays @ 6 pm).