Everyone knows that Washington is broken, government is primarily in the hands of special interests and their lobbyists over the needs of Americans or even the country as a whole. The FIRE (financial, insurance, real estate) sector and fossil fuel industries are probably the worst offenders, capturing agencies and departments to formulate policy which serves their needs over ours. While supporting Democratic candidates for office can sometimes deliver some incremental reform and progress, there are things that we can do as individuals to start curbing the power of the giant multinational corporations that harm us.
The first thing is to remember that there is no silver bullet, no magical formula that will change things overnight, nor is there a great leader out there on a white horse who will ride in and hold them accountable. It is far easier, as dubya proved, to wreck society than to make it better. And, these things aren't always easy, but doing something is better than doing nothing. Power and privilege is naturally organized and focused on their goals, while regular people are concerned with securing some measure of security in financial matters which usually precludes working and organizing for abstract goals like justice and fairness or equality.
The biggest thing is, don't give them your money. As much as possible, avoid big box stores and chain restaurants. Recognize need from want, cultivate your bullshit detector to see through all forms of advertising because it is just propaganda. Then you can begin to understand not just nightly news (go shopping, the economy is collapsing!) but the capitalist-reinforcing themes of TV and movies. If you must, and admittedly there are many human needs, shop at a store like Shopko over walmart because they have less political power and are at least Wisconsin-based.
The flipside of not shopping for wants is, not falling victim to debt. I know it is hard to make ends meet but every time you use credit cards it gives that much money to the issuer that can be used to lobby and arm-twist for undermining regulation that protects you. And in that frame, take your money out of the big bank and put it in a credit union, where you are a member and not a sheep to be sheared and the profits come back to you in the form of higher interest rates on your deposits instead of financing the lobbyist that corrupts the system. We need to scale back our expectations, marketing and advertising have unduly influenced our values and priorities, that shiny new product will probably not bring you happiness and is certainly not worth going into debt for. On the investment side of the coin, there are quite a few newer mutual funds that emphasize social responsibility and environmental consciousness, they return a reasonable rate but are not striving to eek out that extra fraction of a percent by doing rotten things.
In the longer term, getting back at the corporate elite will involve organizing and patronizing institutions that one usually associates with dirty hippies. Even in the conservative county I live in we have community gardens, farmers' markets, and are beginning to have things like time banks where you can trade an hour of your time for an hour of someone else's time. Everyone has certain skills and pooling them together can really make a difference and take a bite out of corporate profits if employed effectively.
If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that no matter what we do or how hard we try to follow the establishment's prescription for restoring prosperity and the economy, they are still going to screw us. So it is time to reject the whole thing, the other guy is still going to get laid off even if you buy the new car or whatever the case may be. They just don't care about anything but the bottom line and any part of the American dream can and will be sacrificed to further the third-worlding of America. So don't buy it.
Fixing things will be a long road, but during the Great Depression we overcame the same rabid business uber alles mentality and had almost forty years of the good life before apathetically letting the elite take over again. It will be hard but we can do it again.
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