To Protect & Serve - Corporations?

A new bill is being proposed in New York to go after those ‘knock-off’ handbags.

You know the ones that have a $500 price tag but perfect 'look-a-likes' can be bought on the street for under $30?

Basically I do not have a problem with protecting the originals as the companies who spend a great deal of money producing and marketing and maintaining an image of snob appeal do have a right to make whatever money hey can when they dupe the public into buying their quite overpriced product.

This is the essence of America and as they say, Caveat Emptor.

If people are dumb enough to pay those exorbitant prices for items they could get for far less that perform equally as well that’s their choice.

As long as they do not harm the rest of us we should not pass judgment on their sanity.

I would offer that we must use the same laissez-faire argument for same sex marriage as those who enter into it do not diminish any one else’s marriage unless of course that marriage was not all that good to begin with!

However our government sure does spend a great deal of time and effort to help private companies and corporations make and maintain profits.

They also tend to give many of these large non-human entities equally large tax breaks while the consumer is left holding the bag.

How about asking profitable corporations to kick a little of their gains back into the coffers that spend so much protecting their rights?

How about treating the rest of us with nearly the same respect given to undeserving entities such as Exxon/Mobil?

When an average citizen is lucky enough to make a profit on an investment the IRS knows about it and lays in wait for that amount to show up on the individual’s next tax return.  And woe be he who tries to hide that profit!

But when the fore mentioned polluting oil giant breaks all kinds of records with unbelievably large and obscene profits not only do they pay zero tax they receive subsidies!

We associate the word oily with sleazy for a reason!

But one should not place all the blame on the large, ‘not a person my friend’ corporation as it is only doing what it can to keep raking in the money while raping the land and the people they call customers.

Much of the blame must go to the very same law makers who look for high profile cases to pad their resumes while accepting funds; some might say bribes to stay the course of increasing corporate profits.

Remember all the ballyhoo by the hypocrites in government after the BP oil spill that killed countless birds and other wildlife in the Gulf?  Judging by the television commercials that inundate the airwaves about how wonderful BP is and how they have made commitments to the Gulf I’d say not too many people DO remember. 

But I’ll bet the families of those who were killed by the disaster remember.

I’ll bet the people who lost their jobs and businesses due to the disaster remember.

I'll bet all those who still suffer due to the disastrously poor cleanup efforts afterward still remember.

And I’ll bet the people who will suffer after the next inevitable disaster will remember as well!

But Congress will not remember, just as they have already forgotten about the massacre that took the lives of those children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut.

The National Rifle Ass and other groups such as the Gun Owners of America are spending fortunes to stop Congress from enacting or even debating any rules or regulations that might limit their sales and profits.

And Congress naturally listens to the money; I mean voices from these small self serving organizations.

One must ask who does Congress exist to serve?

The founders of this nation tried to create a document that would set forth laws to live by but realized their Constitution must be able to evolve with the times.

And it has evolved with amendment after amendment correcting unseen flaws ever since.

As long as we the people make certain that our Constitution remains a living breathing entity that may be questioned and tweaked we will keep our place in the World as the worst form of government that is still better than all the rest.

But back to the latest issue at hand, we definitely should have laws protecting the intellectual property of those poor set upon handbag designers and manufacturers and others of their ilk.

But we must also get back to basics and start thinking about laws to protect the citizens of America against the real evil that goes on every day.