China: The Wet Dream of American Oligarchs

By Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News

28 April 14

f you have all the money in the world, but there’s nothing in the world worth buying, then what’s the point of having so much money in the first place?

Two crucial new tidbits of information coming out of China are helping to paint a fuller picture of the long-lasting damage from the unrestrained capitalism that’s evident in the world’s most populous nation. A newly-released Chinese state secret revealed that one-fifth of China’s farmland is unusable due to toxins in the soil leaked by industry. Worse still, 60 percent of China’s groundwater is undrinkable, for the same reasons.

When you combine China’s dwindling natural resources with its massive population that encompasses 20 percent of the planet, it’s easy to see how China will inevitably lead itself to societal collapse if it continues its brand of entirely unregulated capitalism. While China is technically known as a Communist country, it's actually outdoing the US when it comes to establishing a completely unregulated business environment.

China's Ruthless Capitalism

Labor regulations in China are almost nonexistent – 30,000 workers just recently went on strike at a factory that produces Nike and Adidas shoes, protesting low pay and dangerous working conditions. And China’s Foxconn plant, responsible for the manufacturing of Apple technology, has gotten plenty of attention since its workers – many of them children – threatened mass suicide several years ago.

Environmental regulations are similarly loose in China, which is home to 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities. China also burns as much coal as the rest of the world combined, meaning much of the air is so polluted that residents of certain cities can’t go outside without a mask. Lung cancer rates have skyrocketed by 465 percent in just the last three decades, and 1.2 million people died prematurely due to pollution in 2010 alone.

One thing China has in common with the US is cronyism, evident in some businesses getting favorable treatment and paying no penalties for breaking the law. In China, state-owned businesses get around having to abide by laws passed by the central government. And in the US, the business-owned government, purchased through campaign donations and lobbying, allows rampant abuse of workers and the environment with very little accountability.

The End Game of Oligarchy

American politicians purchased through the campaign donation and lobbying processes are quick to enable US corporations by dynamiting regulations and further reducing their tax obligations. When David Koch ran as the nominee for vice president on the Libertarian ticket in 1980, one of his talking points was abolishing the minimum wage. He also proposed dismantling the entire social safety net, including Social Security, Medicare, and welfare programs. Other proposed reforms included repealing laws passed to protect workers on the job, like the Occupational Safety and Health Act; privatizing all domestic water sources that supply houses, businesses and agriculture; and eliminating the Environmental Protection Agency.

Koch’s platform would also abolish all agencies responsible for protecting citizens from predatory corporate behavior like the Consumer Product Safety Commission, get rid of state usury laws that protect debtors from high interest rates, and deregulate medical insurance companies to make it easier for them to rip off poor and sick people. The Libertarian platform of 1980 also called for the repeal of all taxes that weren’t paid by consumers, like capital gains taxes for investors and corporate income taxes, and the immediate cessation of criminal and civil penalties for tax evasion.

Even though that failed campaign happened 34 years ago, Koch is actively using his billions to push for all of the above as a behind-the-scenes string-puller for other candidates in the state and federal political arenas. None of Koch’s reforms would make our country any more “free” – all they would do is rapidly distribute wealth from the poor to the very rich and strip all protections and safety nets from the vulnerable, all so the very rich could become richer. The idea of “trickle-down” economics is a myth, given that we saw most of the wealth created in the last decade concentrate into a smaller group of hands while wages stagnated or decreased.

Profit or Planet?

US corporations are quick to complain about “unfair” regulations and taxes that don’t allow them to “compete.” To corporate oligarchs like David Koch and their pet politicians, the only things stopping corporations from being successful are the critical laws passed in the 20th century that protect consumers, workers’ basic rights, and the environment. Business leaders openly salivate over the “Chinese model” of doing business, complimenting China for its “pro-growth” economic policies and “business-friendly” laws and regulations. Even though corporate profits are already hitting consistent record highs and stock numbers have never been higher, corporations are still making the argument that the US business climate is too hostile for them.

While China is indeed outpacing the rest of the world when it comes to Gross Domestic Product, its citizens suffer from the side effects of rampant, unrestrained capitalism. The US is at a crossroads. One road leads to a new economy that values meeting human needs over GDP. The other leads to an autocratic corporate state where oligarchs gorge themselves in celebration of the end of workers’ rights and environmental protections in their never-ending, greed-inspired quest for more profits.

Do we really want to be a country where we neuter every law that creates a fair playing field for the average citizen, so a few tax-dodging oligarchs can have even more money they’ll never be able to spend? Do we want to become a country where the vast majority of citizens have largely unusable farmland and water as a result of corporate destruction of natural resources? If we deregulate everything and sacrifice our land, air, and water all for a slightly higher GDP output, is that really worth not having a world to pass on to future generations?

Carl Gibson, 26, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary "We're Not Broke," which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin. You can contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and follow him on twitter at @uncutCG.

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