"Your liberty is in direct competition with Corporate America's bottom line, and your liberties are getting their asses kicked"

I mentioned this gem some time ago. Now it appears to be getting even worse.

Before I continue off on my diatribe, let me get a couple things straight:

Firstly - I am in no way against people and companies making a living or even a good living

Secondly - I work in corporate America. I understand how things work and I also understand the need to be employed. I also know that simply working for a large company does not make one evil by default. That said, taking the "FYIGM" attitude or not at least attempting to do right as opposed to merely legal *is* wrong and evil.

Thirdly - As I point out ills in the federal government, understand that my point of view is that it isnt just the fault of this current administration; this administration has just been more obvious about whoring itself out than others have been.

With that in mind let us understand that corporate america is kicking our individual asses and getting a sweet handjob from our federal government. And it is getting worse.

This week there appeared an article covering the result of a law suit stemming from personal data loss. Forgive me for not having a link to the article handy. However a brief net search will turn it and other events up. In this particular case, a contractor for a company that handles student loans had his house robbed and an item stolen was a laptop that contained upwards of 500,000 accounts with no encryption to protect that data. Of course a student sued the company.

Now...the facts of the case, as I understand them didn't support a lawsuit. At least in my opinion it didn't. The individual was suing over potential harm and not actual harm nor was it proven that his information was on the machine that was stolen. So what the student did was to sue for the cost of having to protect himself by changing information, blocking credit access, etc. And the judge ruled against him.

Okay, that happens. And that isnt what really frightened and angered me. No..rather it was the opinion stated that noted that because the company had security policies and audit methods declared and that it had informed the potential victims of the issue, they were not at fault. Note that nothing at all was noted about testing the security procees or even auditing whether or not they were followed. Hell they didnt even have to do anything with the audits.

So in effect the company only had to put in writing that they would try to protect the data and got bonus points for saying "oops". And was allowed to leave 500,000 people holding a bag containing a hand grenade. It might never go off or maybe in a decade they will get a facefull of financial shrapnel.

So let me put this into something a bit more basic: Suppose I borrowed your car. And suppose I promised to be very careful with it. Now suppose I went racing on public streets with it. Now suppose I got popped by a dozen red light cameras, not to mention mashing gears and slamming the clutch. Now I bring it back. A few weeks later you start getting tickets in the mail. What do I say? "Oops sorry" and now you start to wonder when the clutch is going to give out. Or when the over-revved, overheated engine will start to knock from oil starved bearings and end up costing a couple months pay to fix. And all I say is "Oops. Sorry"? Dont you think that would earn me a hefty bill not to mention a swift kick in the nuts?

Every day and in every way, companies are demanding sensitive information from individuals. Information that if placed in hands attached to a dark or desperate mind, will cause a great deal of harm. How long before you end up on the streets living in a box if you are wrecked financially? That information is traded like pokemon cards between companies and you have no say in the matter.

Oh sure, you are invited by those same companies to simply not participate. But really, how viable is that option? Tried to get medical care without giving up valuable information lately? How about renting a place to live much less buying one. Sure there are some valid reasons for that data...but what about less necessary info gathering? Those "super saver cards" for instance...there has been more than one news article showing how you have to participate in those programs just to get the MSRP price on goods. If you dont, you get jacked for another percentage as punishment. Sure you can fake those cards. But this is just an example. Every day more and more companies are digging your information up to use and bullying you if you refuse.

Once they have that information, it is thiers. These companies in America view that information, your personal information as thier property. And the laws support that. In this country you cannot demand that your information be removed and destroyed if you are no longer engaged with that company. Try it. Drop a letter to the bank that you used to use or the car insurance company you were with before you found this latest great deal. tell them you want your information deleted and destroyed. If you arent outright laughed at, they will pat you on the head and tell you yeah sure...it's gone. And you have no way of demanding proof or compensation if you are lied to.

The state and federal governments are willing participants in this orgy. Everytime a citizen or group of citizens manages to get a word in edgewise on the matter, those elected and nominated officials look to daddy warbucks for the answer. And daddy responds with more drinks for the legislative sorority and the skirts go flying up over thIer whorish heads. Usery laws have been all but abolished, allowing banks and other credit offerers to raise loan rates to numbers that would have made Al Capone blush. I recently got an offer from Bank America that would put the interest rate at 30% for a single tardy payment. Of course so long as I pay ontime everytime, it will stay at a nice low 15%. Oh but it would be 0.0% for the first year. Remember the old anti-drug movies where the pusher offers the "first hit for free"? Yeah..just like that. And after hooking the gullible on this credit crack, the feds turn around and wreck the ability for folks to start over in bankrupcy court. Yes it is
foolish to get so far under. Sure it is easy to blame the addict. But it seems a bit suspicious to pull that ability from individuals and then to turn and let corporations just call an "oops" and walk away with a bankrupcy.

Now not only is the government allowing corporations to prey on citizens like feeding sharks, they are in the business of protecting outmoded businesses as well. For over a hundred years, media companies have had a chokehold on distribution of news, music, movies, books and other content. One hundred years to modify a business model to keep up with changes in technology and delivery. I remember when CDs were introduced thay cost about 20 bucks. The word was that when they became more ubiquitous they would become much cheaper...oh really? Then they said that online delivery would never be an option...Itunes just sold its one billionth song. Now these scumbags want to tell me what I can do with the media I *buy* when I can access it, where I can access it. Media moguls are partnering up with their favorite government whores to force other companies to change the products they make in order to protect thier business as usual methods. CD DVD player manufaturers as well as TV, computer
and other media display device manufacturers are being bullied into making products that obey those who when where rules. Of course one might feel some sympathy until you realize that only the tiniest fraction of income actually ends up in the pockets of the person who actually generates that content. or when you realize that the numbers the Media pimps like to promote about "piracy" are grossly inflated because they represent potential sales not actual sales. If every single item produced was a number one hit, oscar winner or pulitzer prize recipient, then *maybe* those numbers might mean something. I am reminded of the analogy about the buggy whip manufacturers. Imagine how pissed they were about automobiles as they became popular? I seem to recall some articles that described the whip boys spreading Fear Uncertainty and Doubt about autos in order to try to preserve thier business model too. So in the end I had thought this was a free market? I guess the real answer is
"Sometimes".

And this is just the tip of the iceberg, boys and girls. You have to understand that to corporate america we are just a resource to be exploited. I dont see it ending anytime soon. The Cotton, Railroad, shipping and newspaper robber barons are all still right there, lubing us all up for the nth time for a good reaming.

And we just take it. Again and again. How many people will have to have lives ruined by getting ground under the wheels of irresponsible corporations before people fight back? Will we ever fight back? Or will we just keep on spreading for them so long as the bread and circuses keep flowing?

I dont have an answer. But I know I am pissed off about it. Very pissed off.